The Gym Divide

The common leisure facility has been split into two distinct sections. They are of course  cardiovascular machinery and resistance. With this device of equipment comes a device of gym member types. I get aggravated by misconceptions, stereotypes and bro science.

Walk into your local gym between the hours of 5pm and 8pm. This is when the gym is at it's busiest. You will notice members who are in shape and members who are out of shape. By out of shape I mean high body fat or poor muscle tone. You will also notice that the out of shape members are saturated around the cardiovascular machines. I don't care where you are in the world. This is always the case. I've visited various gyms around Wales but have also traveled to gyms on the continents and the USA. 

New gym goers are tempted by cardiovascular machinery as cardiovascular exercise has been associated with weight loss. This assumption stems from the device in the gym. One section is for muscle, the other is for lowering body fat. In actuality your metabolism and heart rate is boosted with lifting some poundage and therefore will be more beneficial. You can be burning calories for several hours after exercise as oppose to 40 minutes in a steady state cardiovascular workout. 

There's also the concerns. People believe that training with weight is guaranteed to bulk up the muscles which isn't always desired. Saying that weight training will build muscle mass is like saying that all Range Rovers and white. It depends on how you tailor your diet. If you're eating 500 more calories than you are burning on a daily basis then yes you could very well be bulging those biceps. However if you're eating less you will find that muscle mass is impossible. 

Listen to people who are in shape and experienced. They'll show you the ropes as they've been there and done it. More importantly make sure that you are being mentored by a qualified fitness professional. This will iron out your chances of being coached by a fool who developed his biceps with steroids, growth hormone or other substances that WADA will slap your wrist for. 

Take athletes physiques into consideration. It's extremely rare that they fill their programme with cardiovascular machine based exercise but they're in better shape than the lot of us. Leaner and more toned. 

Feel free to read my other posts:

What's Up with Bread?

icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/what-up-with-bread.html

Herbs for Health Benefits and Healthy Cooking

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/herbs-for-health-benefits-and-tasty.html