days off & why they are so important.

When starting/continuing a fitness/workout program, it's easy to get into what you are doing & forget to do something VERY IMPORTANT! Take days off! Why? It gives you time for your body to rest, and gives muscles time to 'recoup' and 'grow'. It's necessary, don't forget it...don't skip it. Ever.

while we enjoy our days off, lets take a look at some exercise fitness myths! All you have to do is look on the internet to see, and become informed of these yourself.

here's a few

Myth #1: Weight training makes women manly


This by far the biggest myth when it comes to exercises for women. Men produce a hormone called testosterone due to which they build those huge and swollen muscles. But since a woman's body hardly produces any amount of testosterone, she simply cannot get muscles the size of a man no matter how hard she tries. Unless she is taking in male hormones, injecting, etc. she can not do it. You won't do it. Period. Not some times, or unless, or except...it's just impossible. Not only does weight training NOT make women bulky, but it helps to lose weight efficiently.



Myth #2: Strength training makes women's breasts smaller

The argument here is that since women's breasts are made up mainly of fatty tissue, weight training reduces the breast size because it lowers the amount of fat in the breast. However, it doesn't quite work like that.



Agreed, weight training will make you lose fat in the breast area also, but subsequently it also helps to build muscle in that area. The muscle so built replaces the fat lost and gives your breasts a lean and firmer look. It is only if you lose a lot of fat from your breasts (for example through very heavy cardio exercises), without building muscle, that the size will shrink.



Myth #3: Only crunches can help to rid women of their paunch

This again is a huge myth but sadly women think it is the truth. Doing crunches cannot help you to achieve washboard abs if crunches is all you do. You need to have a systematic workout routine that includes cardio exercises and weight training. With such an exercise routine you will achieve fat loss all over your body.



Doing crunches will then help to tighten the muscles around your abdomen, thus giving you a flat stomach. But if you only concentrate on crunches without cardio and weights, you will not get the results you're looking for.



Abs have a lot to do with diet, not just exercise. My great results have come from adding weight resistance to my ab workouts & even decreasing the days that I do them in order to give them longer rest times (and more time to get 'hard'). I know that I may not ever get the abs I want...but golly I'm trying!

Monday was workout day or me, posting that soon!