Another Fitness Myth Debunked

IrishChik

Somewhere along your journey to fitness, whether in the gym, reading the latest books, or talking with your friends, you'll hear a lot of advice about exercise--not all of which is true.

Fitness Myth
If you can't exercise hard and often, there's really no point.

Truth
Even moderate activity is shown to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. If you don't have 30 minutes in your day to exercise, try splitting it up into 10-minute segments instead. Everyone can find 10 minutes to spare sometime during the day! There are simple things you can do to increase your activity without having to go to the gym: take the stairs instead of the elevator, jump rope or do body weight exercises (push ups, crunches) at commercial breaks, take a short walk after lunch. Remember that any exercise is better than none!

Exercise Extra: Clip on a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps daily, which equals about 5 miles.

byHISstrength

That may be true, but to build strength and endurance 10 minutes here and there, I really don't think will do it.

MattySparky

didn't know there was such a myth

kendrafallon

That may be true, but to build strength and endurance 10 minutes here and there, I really don't think will do it.

For those starting out, little and often is a good place to start, especially if you haven't exercised in a long while. Though I do agree with your post that to build strength and endurance you need a more intensive workout.

squoozyq

Any exercise is just that, EXERCISE. For someone who has been bound to the sofa and never exercised, can you imagine what doing even one block of walking would do? I say 10 minutes here and there is better than no minutes anywhere!

HOSED49

Well, we all know that beginning to workout is much like the movie "What about Bob"... babysteps! Everyone has to start somewhere. I will say that a newbie does not need to go hard in their first few weeks of training(or longer). If you go hard at first, your gonna go super sore even more, which in turn discourages you from even wanting to workout or go to the gym. Funny how a little pain can trick us into reverting back to the days of sitting on a couch and doing nothing. How easily our minds can be convinced that all that pain really isnt worth the effort! Even though I might lose weight and get in shape, its too painful to squat down and get my clothes off the floor since I started working out! We can almost convince ourselves we were happier being out of shape, just because we didnt hurt. But thats not true is it...we did hurt,even before working out, we still had trouble bending down or over, lifting our kids or moving a chair out of the way, our knees hurt, our backs....we forget that some of those aches and pains might go away if we drop the weight we want, but that means pain from working out , walking, running! So babysteps for the beginner, forget what you could do in High School, those days are long gone, see what you can do now, without overdoing it. Check your ego at the door and start small, even if it doesnt feel like you accomplished much, in two days or less you will feel the effect it had as your body gets sore. Welcome the soreness, it means progress for the most part (sometimes means injury). Keep pushing yourself as your body gets accustomed to these new things, but push slowly. Thats the hardest part, the slowly, because we want results right now, so we overdo it...babysteps remember.
Going hard for some is what they have trained their bodies to endure. They have to go hard to elicit a response from their training, so it isnt a myth, it just depends on each athlete and their abilities or fitness levels. Listen to your body, accept the soreness as it means progress, remember your goals, take babysteps....until its time to run.