Common Misconceptions and Correct Concepts about Exercise for Weight Loss

Some women complain that they can't achieve satisfactory results when trying to lose weight through exercise. In fact, many people's failures in trying to lose weight through exercise are often related to their wrong ideas and practices.

1. Slimming down means losing weight.

The goal of weight loss is to reduce excess body fat (including subcutaneous and visceral fat) to improve body shape, treat obesity complications, and improve quality of life.

Some people, in the process of losing weight, pursue weight loss in an uncompromising manner, and therefore resort to methods such as dieting and taking laxatives.

It's important to know that fat is not excreted with feces; what is reduced is only water in the body.

2. The more weight you lose, the better.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines successful weight loss as including the following: weight loss, changes in body shape, feeling good about oneself, positive external feedback, and control of complications.

This shows that "weight loss" is only one aspect; more importantly, it is about building self-confidence and improving health.

Obesity is caused by an imbalance between the body's calorie intake and expenditure. Weight loss aims to reduce excess fat and bring the body's calorie intake and expenditure into a balanced state, thus preventing further weight gain.

Therefore, maintaining weight and preserving the results of weight loss is more important than simply pursuing weight reduction.

The WHO recommends an optimal weight loss rate of around 10%.

3. You can achieve your weight loss goals simply by exercising more.

While exercise can burn calories, it is not very effective for weight loss if you rely solely on it.

Studies have shown that even if you play tennis for several hours every day, just drinking one or two bottles of sugary drinks or eating a few pieces of Western pastries can wipe out all your hard-earned weight loss results.

Therefore, in order to achieve lasting weight loss results, in addition to exercise, you should also make reasonable adjustments to your diet.

4. Do not eat before exercising.

In fact, it's better to start exercising after eating.

Doing some gentle exercise after a meal can burn more calories than exercising much later.

5. You can lose weight by jogging for 30 minutes every day.

While a 30-minute jog can achieve the purpose of aerobic exercise, its slimming effect is minimal. Practice has shown that only when the exercise lasts for more than about 40 minutes can the body's fat be mobilized to provide energy along with glycogen. As the exercise time increases, the proportion of energy provided by fat can reach 85% of the total consumption.

It is evident that exercise lasting less than approximately 40 minutes, regardless of intensity, does not result in significant fat burning.

6. Exercise for weight loss can be chosen for the whole body or specific areas.

People often hear or see phrases like "reduce waist," "reduce hips," and "reduce belly" in advertisements. So, can localized exercise reduce localized fat?

First, localized exercises consume less total energy, are easily fatigued, and cannot be sustained. Second, fat function is regulated and controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems, but this regulation is systemic; you can't reduce excess fat in a specific area just by exercising that area.

In reality, fat is burned and weight loss occurs wherever blood supply is good.

For example, after exercising for a period of time, people who are trying to lose weight may not see much reduction in their waistline, but their cheeks may become thinner, and this is the reason why.

When the calories burned during exercise exceed the calories consumed, it leads to a reduction in body fat, rather than just reducing fat in one area while keeping other areas unchanged.

7. The greater the intensity and the more vigorous the exercise, the better the weight loss effect.

Only sustained low-intensity aerobic exercise can burn excess fat. This is because during low-intensity exercise, muscles mainly use oxidized fatty acids to obtain energy, thus burning fat quickly.

High-intensity exercise only burns 15% of the body fat.

Therefore, easy and gentle, long-duration low-intensity exercise or long-duration exercise with a heart rate maintained at 100-124 beats per minute is most beneficial for weight loss.

Excessive or strenuous exercise can have the opposite effect; moderation is the best approach to exercise.

Everything should be done in moderation, whether it's eating, drinking, or exercising.

The following are some exercises that are not conducive to weight loss.

① High-intensity exercise.

If the amount of exercise increases, the body's need for oxygen, nutrients, and metabolic products will also increase accordingly. This requires the heart to increase its contraction force and frequency, and increase the amount of blood pumped out by the heart to transport them. When doing a lot of exercise, the heart's output cannot meet the body's need for oxygen, which puts the body in a hypoxic metabolic state.

Anaerobic exercise does not use fat as the main energy source, but rather relies on the breakdown of glycogen stored in the body for energy release.

In an oxygen-deficient environment, fat not only cannot be utilized, but also produces some incompletely oxidized acidic substances, such as ketone bodies, which reduce the body's exercise endurance.

A drop in blood sugar is a major cause of hunger. After a short period of high-intensity exercise, blood sugar levels drop, and people often experience a surge in appetite, which is detrimental to fat loss.

②Short-duration exercise.

When engaging in aerobic exercise, the body first uses glycogen stored in its cells to release energy. After 30 minutes of exercise, the body begins to switch from using glycogen to using fat for energy. After about an hour of exercise, the energy required for exercise is mainly supplied by fat.

③ Rapid explosive power movement.

Body muscles are composed of many muscle fibers, which can be mainly divided into two categories: white muscle fibers and red muscle fibers.

When performing explosive power training, the primary muscles being trained are the white muscle fibers. Since white muscle fibers have a larger cross-section, the muscle groups tend to develop and become bulky. Using this method to lose weight will only make you "fatter".

8. The more you exercise, the faster you burn calories.

In terms of calorie expenditure, the duration of exercise is more important than its intensity.

A slower, steady pace burns more calories than short, sudden bursts of tiring exercise.

9. No pain, no gain.

For most people, pain is a warning; if you feel pain during exercise, stop immediately.

10. Abruptly stopping exercise can cause muscles to "turn" into fat.

Some people say that muscles turn into fat after you stop exercising, otherwise why would muscles atrophy and fat accumulate?

That's not actually the case.

Muscle tissue and adipose tissue are two different components of the human body, and they cannot be directly converted into each other.

Exercise can burn and break down body fat, while also effectively increasing muscle strength and promoting muscle development.

Therefore, people who enjoy physical exercise tend to have well-developed muscles and less fat.

When people who exercise regularly stop exercising, their muscles will gradually atrophy and shrink, and their muscle strength will gradually decrease. At the same time, because the energy intake exceeds the energy expenditure, the fat tissue in the body will rapidly expand.

These changes significantly increased and decreased the proportion of body fat and muscle in body weight, respectively.

Although no actual conversion occurs between muscle and fat, the result is objectively that muscle "turns" into fat.

This is clearly something dieters don't want to see.

This once again demonstrates the importance of consistency in weight loss exercises.

11. It's best to exercise in the morning.

That's not entirely true; you should exercise whenever it's most convenient for you.

The reason people often choose to exercise in the morning or evening is simply to avoid the hottest and most humid times; it has no direct relation to the exercise itself.

12. Adolescent girls should not participate in any sports during their menstrual period.

Some girls may experience discomfort such as lower back pain, abdominal pain, and irritability during their menstrual period, and therefore believe that girls should not participate in sports during their menstrual period, and even avoid physical education classes and morning exercises at school.

Actually, this approach is not entirely correct.

Menstruation is a normal physiological phenomenon, and it is generally not necessary to stop physical exercise during menstruation.

Conversely, engaging in appropriate physical activities during menstruation can improve blood circulation in the pelvic cavity, regulate the excitation and inhibition processes of the brain, and help people maintain a pleasant mood and reduce worries.

However, the following points should be noted when exercising during menstruation.

① Reduce the amount of exercise.

It is advisable to continue participating in some sports that you regularly participate in and are accustomed to, such as jogging, gymnastics, boxing, table tennis, basketball, etc.

Shorten the exercise time and slow down the pace to reduce the amount of exercise and achieve the effect of relaxing muscles.

② Avoid participating in strenuous or high-vibration sports.

During menstruation, it is not advisable to participate in sports such as high jump, long jump, throwing, 100-meter sprint, and soccer. It is also not advisable to do strength training exercises that increase abdominal pressure, such as push-ups and dumbbell exercises, in order to avoid excessive menstrual bleeding or changes in the position of the uterus.

③ Cannot participate in any water sports.

Avoid participating in sports such as diving, swimming, and water polo. Also, avoid taking cold showers or washing your feet with cold water to prevent infection and menstrual disorders.

④ Avoid participating in highly competitive competitions.

Participating in these sports during menstruation can lead to endocrine dysfunction and menstrual irregularities due to high levels of mental stress.

Of course, if menstrual symptoms are severe and menstrual bleeding is excessive, you can temporarily refrain from exercise and seek medical attention promptly.