Here are few excuses people make to avoid regular exercise
Everyone wants to be healthy and fit, but most of the people are not so because their reasons for why they cannot exercise are always more than why they should. Since the myths about exercising are as many as those which revolve around diets, here is a look at how your much often used exercises excuses stack up against scientific fact. Here few excuses people make to avoid regular exercise.
1. Weight-training makes you bulky
It takes several months, often years, of hard training with very heavy weights and prescription supplements to bulk up. Moderate weights and many repetitions help tone and strengthen muscles without making you look like the Hulk.
2. I have a high blood pressure
As long as you do not plan to overdo it, you don’t need a medical certificate to start exercising. Exercise helps to lower blood-pressure and help control diabetes better. Everyone over 35 years, however, should get a medical exam done that includes a treadmill stress test to measure heart fitness to avoid making exercise excuses.
3. Running wrecks the knees
Among many exercise excuses this excuse is completely false. In fact it actually protects your knees from damage and pain by conditioning the joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles to withstand the stresses of wear-and-tear associated with ageing. Studies have shown that regular runners have 25% less musculoskeletal pain and arthritis than non-runners when they get older.
4. Too old to start weight-training
We all lose some muscle with age, but weight-training in fact helps slow the decline. Muscles support bones and improve balance, prevent falls while exercising improves alertness and immunity while lowering depression. Even the very old and frail benefit from resistance training, with studies showing that using free weights and machines with adjustable tensions for 45 minutes three times a week raises muscle mass slightly and muscle strength substantially even in people in their 80s and 90s.
5. More intense workouts burn more
Not necessarily. It’s best to go by your target heart rate, which is 70 to 85% of your maximum heart rate, calculated by subtracting your age from 220. If you exercise too hard, you may end up burning fewer calories than in less intense workouts because your body cannot get enough oxygen to burn fat effectively.
6. It’s too polluted to exercise
The benefits of exercise outweigh the many ways in which polluted air hurts your body and mind, but it’s best to take some precautions. Don’t walk, cycle, run or play outdoors when pollution levels are high, which is usually in the morning or late evening. Instead, walk indoors in a shopping mall or head for a gym. Cover your mouth and nostrils with a facemask if you are out exercising near a busy road.
