Whats one of the biggest exercise myths?
Steve Zim, celebrity trainer, owner of the Los Angeles gym A Tighter U and author of The 30-Minute Celebrity Makeover Miracle (Wiley, 2008) (www.atighteru.com): Stretch out before you start working out. Most people come in and think they need to stretch and then begin exercising. That’s incorrect. You need to first warm up your body with a minimum of five minutes of aerobics — run, walk, ride a bike, whatever you do to raise your body temp. Then you can begin either stretching or exercising because the temperature of your body is elevated, your muscles are much more pliable, and you won’t get injured. Think of your muscle as a piece of taffy and think of your fingers as tendons. If you put the cold taffy between your hands and try to pull it apart, the taffy won’t move but your fingers will come off it. Warm up that piece of taffy and now try to stretch it. Your fingers have no problem holding on and the taffy stretches perfectly. So if you try to stretch cold muscle, you can actually
