Exercise Myths
How Many Chest Muscles are there?
Most people believe that the chest has at least 4 different muscles. It would seem logical that incline bench works your upper chest, decline bench works your lower chest, flat bench works your middle chest, and flies work the side of your best. This would be true if the chest had all of these muscles. The fact is, the chest only really has 2 muscles and the one we are trying to protrude, Pectoralis major, is just one giant muscle!
The misconception is now revealed. However, working out the chest at different angles is always good for different types of stimulation. Studies show that bench pressing on a 15 to 30 degree angle works out the chest the best. Doing different types of exercises for the chest is always good when trying to switch up your exercise program. But make no mistake, there are only 2 chest muscles. Choose an exercise that works best for you!
Will Running on an Empty Stomach will Burn Strictly Fat?
A lot of people believe that if you run on an empty stomach (when you first get up in the morning) you will burn strictly fat. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint all of you, but that is completely false and if anything, you are setting yourself up for catabolism. The body uses carbohydrates as the main source of energy. If there are none available at the time needed, the body is going to use your protein and fat storage and in result, you will start burning muscle. You should have a well balanced meal 1 to 2 hours prior to a workout.
If I do Ab Exercises, will I get a 6 pack Abs?
No, doing ab exercises by themselves WILL NOT get you a 6 pack abdomen. You cannot choose an area of your body and say, “Hey let me workout my legs so I can lose fat there”. The body does not work like this. By performing exercises in those areas, you will be increasing strength and building muscle. In order to lose fat, you must lower your overal body fat percentage. Typically, the last spot for fat to come on will be the first spot for fat to come off. For males, you must lower your body fat percentage below 11% in order to start seeing a 6 pack abs. For females, you must lower your body fat percentage below 16%.
Does Muscle Weigh More than Fat?
No, muscle does not weigh more than fat. Don’t fall into the common mathematical misconception. If you have a pound of feathers and a pound of iron, which weighs more? They both weigh the same…1 pound!
With that said, the correct terminology to use is, muscle is more dense than fat. That means you can fit more muscle into an area than you could fat. For example, let’s say we had 2 barrels. We filled one of the barrels with fat and the other with muscle. We filled both barrels to their maximum stoarage capacity. If we now weighed both barrels, the barrel with the muscle would weigh more because we are able to stuff a whole lot more muscle into a barrel than we could fat.
Let’s compare the above example to pennies and pillows. If we were to fill 2 barrels to their maximum storage capacity, one with pennies and one with pillows, which would weigh more? The barrel full of pennies of course. Why? Due to the density of a penny, we are able to fill several 1000 pennies into a barrel which of course increases the weight substantially.
Muscle is hard and dense like a penny. Fat is soft and fluffy like a pillow. For this reason, gaining 10lbs of fat is very noticable due to the amount of space it takes up compared to muscle.
5:37 AM on April 24th, 2010
Consume correct. Consume wholesome meals in one of the most natural state. Meals like lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are all loaded with protein, carbs, and healthy fats. They are the kinds of foods that fuel your entire body to burn belly weight and construct washboard abs.
8:17 PM on August 5th, 2010
Good post, i know people who do the running on an empty stomach one, it sounds crazy to me, i would die if i did it
4:36 PM on August 15th, 2010
I heard about the running on an empty stomach too. That is a bad idea cause you are going to burn mostly muscle off. A lot of people think that if you run on an empty stomach, you are going to simply just burn your fat storage. Before any type of exercise, you should consume a small meal maybe 30 to 45 minutes prior that contains a good source of protein, carbs, and fats.