Fat Into Muscle

       You may have heard marketing ploys for exercise supplements like “Replace fat with muscle!”.  But does lifting weights literally turn fat into muscle?  Not so much.  Adipose (fat) and muscle are two completely different types of tissue and are no more capable of turning into one another than say, nervous or bone.  You can however, burn fat and build muscle.  In an article on Yahoo! Health, Joy Bauer walks through what goes on behind the scenes of fat burning.

The scale: Frind or Foe?

       One of the main tools we use in our healthy lifestyle is the scale.  It helps us know how much progress we are making with our fat loss or musclebuilding goals.  But should hopping on the scale be a daily activity?  Debbie Rocker doesn’t think so.  Obsessing day after day over whether or not you have lost a pound or two may be doing more harm than good.  In her article Stay Off the Scale Rocker goes in depth on the proper use of the scale.

Abb-olicious

       I am going to address a subject many people want to know about, and yet much of the information out there on this subject is misleading…  Ab’s.  Here a six-pack there a six-pack, everyone wants a six-pack.  And what are we told to do to get those washboard ab’s?  Exercises. 

       Go ahead, pick up almost any fitness magazine that offers information on ab’s and you will most likely find doing ab exercises as their road to a shredded midsection.  But just as simply doing countless sets on the bench press won’t make your chest look like it was chisled out of marble, neither will fancy ab work alone give you a washboard stomach.

        Diet is the key here readers.  Doing exercises alone is not going to cause you to lose weight (or MUCH weight).  If your diet isn’t up to par, all the situps and crunches in the world are futile.  Sure you will be building muscle, you may even be sculpting your ab’s to perfection if you get creative with your exercises.  But it will all be hidden away under a layer of fat.

        Do you see what I am getting at?  Resistance training WILL strengthen and/or enlarge/ sculpt wichever muscle is being trained.  The real package comes when you combine your exercise routine with a healthy diet.  Only then will you see muscle definition.  

       I am NOT suggesting that you cut out abdominal exercises.  Indeed they play a vital role in your fitness world.  Not only is it nice to have a strong looking midsection, but it will also help keep you away from common ailments.  Like lower back pain and injuries. 

       My point is this. Train your ab’s hard for they need to grow and strengthen.  But if you want to see them, you have to watch your diet.