Weight Loss Myth #12 – Runner’s World Magazine

Myths to be covered – (Topics already covered are in bold)

1. To lose weight cut carbs or fat
2. Exercise in the fat-burning zone
3. Mini-meals are better than three hearty ones
4. Lift less weight with more reps to get toned
5. You can “make up” weekend splurges
6. You have to ban “bad” foods
7. Eating at night causes weight gain
8. Low-fat foods are a healthy choice
9. Weight lifting will only bulk you up
10. Running on empty is a smart way to burn extra fat
11. You can spot reduce fat
12. Longer exercise sessions equal better results
13. You can’t overcome your genes
14. Keeping it off is the easy part

Well we are finally coming to the end of these weight loss myths. I apologize once more for not hammering these out as fast as I hoped but my excuse is still life is getting in the way. On a happier note people are actually responding back to these posts. Sorry if I sound a bit surprised, I am never sure if anyone out there finds my rambling worthy of their time to read. So I am thankful to those who have taken time out of their schedules to read these posts and for those who have responded. You know maybe just maybe this Fitness Buddy thing might actually work out in the long run.

OK on the the myth – Longer exercise sessions equal better results.

The article -

Running for an hour straight is a great calorie burner and will undoubtedly help runners shed pounds. But you might actually accrue more fitness and fat loss by occasionally breaking that hour long workout into two half hour runs or three 20-minute sessions, says kinesiologist Greg McMillen, an online coach at mcmillan-running.com. “A person may run at a harder pace if tackling two shorter runs instead of a single longer run,” says McMillen, “so the cumulative calorie burn could be greater.” A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that healthy men who performed two separate 30-minute aerobic sessions burned more calories postworkout compared with a single 60-minute trial.

McMillan often prescribes same-day split sessions to help his clients overcome time constraints and boredom, and accumulate the same training volume with less injury risk. He suggests doing a steady pace, moderate-intensity run for one session and a more intense calorie burner, like interval training or hill running, the second time. Conversely, try a high intensity morning run followed by an after work weight training session.

Jim’s thoughts -

Man I wish I knew this when I started. It just proves there is as many ideas is there are people out in the world. I agree with this article in two ways. I am sorry running on a treadmill for an hour takes a special person. It is boring. By splitting up the sessions I can see were the boredom ends and you can run/walk faster for two half hours. The second way I agree training for an Ironman I have found doing one form of exercise early in the morning and follow that up with another session after work does wonders. In the end what can be said about this idea is you will be working out more often meaning probably putting more hours in during a week, but feel refreshed and less chance of burnout. Chances are you will burn more calories each day.

So I get it…

I hope to have the remaining two myths done this week because I do have some new topics I like to cover.

So until next time this is your Fitness Buddy…