Level 3 l Advanced 1 Warmer Put these fitness activities in order from 1 (your favourite) to 6 (your least favourite).
1. _____________________________ a. swimming 2. _____________________________ b. running 3. _____________________________ c. weight-training 4. _____________________________ d. rowing 5. _____________________________ e. walking 6. _____________________________ f. zumba
2 Key words Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.
fluctuation inevitable soreness midriff myth
downtime awkward stubborn novice scales
1. A _______________________ is something that people wrongly believe to be true.
2. _______________________ is a feeling of pain and discomfort. 3. _______________________ is frequent changes in the amount, value or level of something. 4. _______________________ are a piece of equipment used for weighing people or things. 5. If something is described as _______________________, it is impossible to avoid or prevent. 6. Your _______________________ is the part of your body between your waist and your chest. 7. If something is described as _______________________, it is difficult to remove or cure. 8. _______________________ is time when you can relax and not work. 9. An _______________________ movement is one that is not natural and therefore difficult to perform. 10. A _______________________ is someone who is just beginning to learn a skill or subject.
3 Choose the heading
These five headings have been removed from the text. Read the text and match the headings with the correct sections.
1. Shorter is better 2. Exercise is bad for your knees 3. Scales are pointless 4. There is one ‘best’ way to train 5. Machines are pointless (or dangerous) D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA
NEWS LESSONS / The ten biggest myths in fitness / Advanced
CA O H •P The ten biggest myths in fitness Level 3 l Advanced Soreness is good and scales are are inevitable and don’t represent changes in pointless: the ten biggest myths body fat,” says Emma Storey-Gordon, of ESG Fitness. “But, over time, changes in scale weight in fitness are predictive of body fat. Even if you are also Advice for how to get fit and healthy is often building muscle, the rate at which you can lose confusing. But there are some simple truths fat will be much quicker than the rate at which Joel Snape you can build muscle.” 24 February, 2020 4 _______________________________________ With new exercises invented every week, it’s Actually, it’s more like the opposite: properly done easy to think that fitness is confusing – but it exercises will strengthen the muscles around isn’t. The fundamentals stay the same, and the your knee joints, safeguarding you against injury science is pretty well agreed. These are the ten as well as making you a bit more capable of biggest myths in fitness – memorize them, and running up escalators. As for running, a 20-year exercise with confidence. study conducted by Stanford University found 1 Soreness is a sign of a good workout that consistent runners (many of whom were well into their 70s by the time the research period Yes, there’s something satisfying about limping ended) showed a lower incidence of arthritis than your way down a flight of stairs the morning after non-runners as they aged. a big legs workout, but muscle soreness isn’t actually a convincing indicator of progress. It’s 5 You can ‘spot reduce’ fat thought to be caused by micro-tears in muscle Before the days of the internet, the myth and tends to happen when you do movements persisted that you could, for instance, target you’re not used to, when you deliberately the fat around your midriff by doing hundreds slow down the move you’re doing or just do a of sit-ups. The internet has destroyed that myth ridiculous number of repetitions. Conversely, but replaced it with the more subtle half-truth you can eliminate soreness almost entirely by that it’s possible to single out problem areas by keeping the reps low. There is such a thing as thinking hormonally: that since, for instance, the pain-free progress. stress hormone cortisol causes belly-fat build- 2 Lifting heavy will make you bulky up, a bit more sleep should help. And while this is technically, sort of, true, deliberately messing There are two key ways to get stronger: with your hormones is tougher than advertised increasing the size of your individual muscle and not really advisable. “The truth is, we all have fibres and getting more of them to work together stubborn fat areas that seem to take the longest when you need to use them. The first is what to get lean,” says Storey-Gordon. “Don’t give up, bodybuilders aim to do, but the second is what though. Stubborn areas will get leaner alongside your body would do – automatically – if you had everything else. Patience is the key.” to lift a car off a loved one. Getting big requires specific, targeted training, including lots of 6 Less rest means you’re working harder volume and extra calories and protein – and it “For most people – especially beginners – almost never happens by accident. periods of recovery between sets or intervals allows for higher-intensity, better-quality 3 _______________________________________ movement, lower risk of injury and a greater This one’s been popularized by modern fitness training stimulus that is likely to lead to superior gurus, who will (fairly sensibly) point out that results,” says performance and wellbeing coach weight isn’t a true measure of progress, as George Anderson. Or, in other words: if you push fluctuations in the amount of water being retained yourself for an hour straight, you’ll be forced to can lead to day-to-day shifts in the numbers, lift lower weights, go slower and generally put and putting on muscle can lead to the numbers in less work than you might with some strategic going up while you’re making progress in the downtime. And the optimum varies – for fat loss, right direction. This doesn’t mean you should anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds between sets throw away your scales entirely. “Yes, you is ideal, but for strength, you might spend five have to understand that short-term fluctuations minutes preparing for ultra-intense efforts. D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA
4 Comprehension check Answer these questions using the information in the text.
1. How can you avoid muscle soreness and still make progress? 2. What is required if you want to get bigger (more bulky)? 3. What don’t short-term fluctuations in body weight represent? 4. How can exercise benefit your knees? 5. Why are periods of recovery between sets or intervals recommended? 6. What are the benefits of machines? 7. What is the best full-body cardio machine? 8. What is the ideal physical activity? D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA
NEWS LESSONS / The ten biggest myths in fitness / Advanced
CA O H •P The ten biggest myths in fitness Level 3 l Advanced 5 Find the word Find the following words and phrases in the text.
1. a verb meaning walk with difficulty because of an injured leg or foot (section 1) 2. an adjective meaning silly or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at (section 1) 3. a verb meaning protect someone or something from being harmed or having problems (section 4) 4. a two-word phrasal verb meaning interfere with something in a way that causes problems (section 5) 5. an adjective meaning thin and looking physically fit and healthy (section 5) 6. a two-word phrasal verb meaning spend a particular amount of time doing something, or make a particular amount of effort in order to do something (section 6) 7. a verb meaning behave or work in the same way as something else (section 9) 8. a noun that means the fact of having a long life or existence (section 10)
6 Compound words Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make compound words from the text.
1. half- a. ups 2. pain- b. tear 3. sit- c. term 4. build- d. free 5. micro- e. truth 6. short- f. up
7 Word-building Complete the sentences using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence.
1. Muscle soreness isn’t actually a convincing _______________________ of progress. [INDICATE]
2. Some modern fitness gurus argue that scales are _______________________. [POINT] 3. Messing with your hormones is not really _______________________. [ADVISE] 4. Periods of _______________________ lead to better results. [RECOVER] 5. Changes in scale weight are _______________________of body fat. [PREDICT] 6. The ideal physical activity should include a mixture of cardio, _______________________ and mobility work. [RESIST]
8 Discussion Discuss the statements. • If you want to stay slim, diet is more important than exercise. • Running is bad for your body. • Going to the gym is an expensive waste of time. D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA
