From the fact that you need to do abs to make your belly go down to the fact that sweating makes you lose weight and the illusion that running is useful against cellulite, in sport there are a lot of false myths and urban legends that are hard to disprove. Because they are useless and make us waste time and energy unnecessarily.
1. Sweating makes you lose weight
No, sweating doesn’t make you lose weight. Sweating causes you to lose fluids and therefore, consequently, and only for a short time at the end of the activity, you could have the illusion of having lost weight. But it is only an illusion because then the liquids are reintegrated by drinking and the weight returns to the usual one. For this same reason, even training with insulating or non-breathable material that has the sole purpose of increasing sweating is useless and could actually be really harmful.
2. Doing sit-ups makes your belly drop
No, not even that. Apart from doing the abs means everything and nothing, the truth is that the exercises for the abs serve to strengthen the muscles of the central part of the body, or of the whole abdominal corset to be precise, but they are not used to eliminate the fat which is deposited on top of it. To reduce the waistline it is necessary to consume excess fat and yes, it is also useful to train the abs to better contain the bowels, avoiding that the waistline is too prominent.
3. Only intense activities make you lose weight
Not necessarily, and the answer depends mostly on the energy system involved. For example, running: if you run at high intensity, sugars are mainly burned; if you run at low speed you burn fat mainly. But then high or low speeds are absolutely subjective, and then what matters is the heart rate: as an indication, to burn many calories with running you need to run at 80% of your maximum heart rate. In practical terms: at a pace that already prevents us from speaking.
4. Running is useful against cellulite
Depends. Cellulite is in fact caused by a combination of physical and psychological causes (unbalanced diet, stress, genetic factors, water retention and others) that are completely individual. In general, acting on all of these factors can be useful in the prevention and fight against cellulite. So no, running alone is not useful against cellulite (indeed, lactic acid would even be counterproductive) but a cardio activity that improves blood circulation and tissue oxygenation is certainly to be included among the good habits to counteract cellulite.
5. When you train, fat becomes muscle
No, absolutely no. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle, and one is deposited on top of the other. There are activities that burn fat, sports activities that build muscle mass, and sports activities that, in the long run, can do both. But no, working out doesn’t turn fat into muscle.
6. After a workout, a beer is good for you
Ni. It is true that after a workout you need to rehydrate and take proteins and carbohydrates for cellular reconstitution. It is true that beer contains water, carbohydrates and even some protein. But no, despite the third time of rugby players, a beer immediately after a workout is not good for you: an average means more or less 1 gram of alcohol per kilo of body, and this inhibits the restoration of glycogen levels as well as introducing back calories in excess .
7. Having sex before sports reduces athletic performance
No, there is no scientific evidence that sexual intercourse before sporting activity reduces athletic performance. Then it depends, because everything about this topic is subjective: of course a feeling of exhaustion or satisfaction could arise, but this does not mean that you cannot do your daily workout or that your legs will not go. If anything, the opposite is true, namely that too much sport is bad for sex.
8. Before intense physical activity you need to eat meat
No, on the contrary: the ideal energy source for muscles that have to face an intense effort are carbohydrates, in particular those rich in fiber and with slow absorption. The proteins present in meat, on the other hand, require a long digestive process before being able to supply the necessary energy and are not suitable to be consumed in the vicinity of physical effort. Which doesn’t mean avoiding protein altogether before a workout: a bresaola sandwich at least 3 hours before a workout remains a great snack.
9. After playing sports you need to take a cold shower
Ni. In general, the cold can help eliminate toxins and recover faster from fatigue, as shown by sportsmen who undergo cryotherapy after a particularly intense workout. But a cold shower is another thing, because it subjects the cardiovascular system to further stress, and this is not necessarily a good thing.
10. Before playing sports you shouldn’t drink
False, the opposite is actually true: precisely because sport causes sweating and consequent loss of fluids, and the greatest danger is that of dehydration, it is essential to drink before, during and after sporting practice. In small sips, with regularity, certainly water, not necessarily sports drinks, certainly not sugary drinks, but it is essential to drink.
Photo on Andrew Piacquadio and Pexels
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