ittle or no weight loss (84). The lack of results due to incorrect work-out strategies are very discouraging for beginners, and more often than not, the novice abandons the gym and returns to the couch. Another problem beginners encounter is the realization that they have to work up to a level where they are even capable of exerting themselves safely in order to lose enough calories to make a visual impact. On average, overweight people should aim for longer, more frequent workouts, in effect, work harder than others to get an excellent aerobic workout (85).Another common misconception among the masses is that spot reduction (targeting a specific area of your body from which to lose weight during a workout) works. Dr. Wescott emphasizes that where we concentrate the exercise has little effect on where we lose fat. We lose fat first from the last place we added it (52). This falsity also adds to discouragement because people eyeing a certain place on their body that they consider hard to get rid of--say the love handles --exercise without seeing this area diminish in size. They dont realize that in order to lose fat in that area, they have to lose it everywhere else first. Misconceptions such as these lead to the disheartenment of many trial gym-goers, creating an even larger gap between those who are in shape and those who arent.All in all, the rise of the fitness industry has impacted almost everyone in America, whether it means being more health conscious, body conscious, or fitness-a-phobic. This new fitness movement, if it continues growing at the rate it has been, will keep coming out with innovative ways to motivate the unmotivated into leading more active lifestyles. Ultimately this will lead to an American public that enjoys longer, healthier lives....
