FITNESS SAYINGS

There are so many fitness sayings. You know, those things we tell ourselves to motivate ourselves. Some are great, but honestly, some are just bunk! Here are some of my favorites, either to love or love to hate!

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" - Alright, this absolutely ranks #1 on my list of "Love to hate". Being healthy feels wonderful, but being thin does not necessarily mean healthy. And frankly, whoever came up with this has never eaten pizza! I would reword this to read, "Nothing tastes so good that it's worth poisoning myself with!"

"Consistency is more important than intensity" - Love this one! With all my heart, I believe this to be true. You MUST be consistent if you want to make real changes in your body or your habits. It's better to work out every day for 30 minutes than to kill yourself for 1 1/2 hours every other week or so.

"When doing cardio, you can tell if you are at a good intensity if you can say the name of the song, but can't sing it" - Another one I love! You have to get a little uncomfortable during your workouts. If you can carry on a conversation with no problem while you are doing your cardio, you probably need to step it up a notch. In exercise, as in life, to get what you want, give it your all!

"No pain, no gain" - Hate it and don't believe it. There is a difference between pain and being a bit uncomfortable. Exercise should not cause anyone PAIN. It should move you out of your comfort zone, but if your shin is hurting or your knee is hurting; either change the activity or decrease the intensity. The only thing pain is going to get you is a spot on the couch trying to recover!

"This exercise will target your _______" - This one I'm a bit on the fence about. Obviously certain exercises do target a particular area, but you cannot specifically burn fat in that one area by doing that exercise. Crunches and abdominal work may help you to get a six pack, but without fat burning cardio, that six pack will have a big ol' fluffy blanket over it!

"Let your body just "be"" - Our trainer, Mandy, has said this before and I love it. Instead of trying to whip my body into sculptured submission, I now try to just let my body be what it is. I'm always going to have more in the hip area, a bit of a tummy (4 kids, hello!), and my arms will never look like Madonna's. So instead of frantically trying to remake my body, I think I'll just let my body be and be happy. It's been good to me and I'm happy to return the favor!


On the lookout for more sayings to embrace or smack down!