Top 10 Fitness Myths

There are many common misconceptions about fitness and exercise, many of which are repeated as absolute truths, which can often cause confusion for those new to fitness. Here are some of the top fitness myths.

Myth One: Lifting weights causes women to bulk up

Truth: Lifting weights will not cause women to bulk up as they simply don’t have enough testosterone in their bodies. The only way for a woman to have a high enough testosterone level to cause massive muscle gain would be if they were to inject steroids.

Lifting light weights and doing high repetitions will help a woman tone and shape muscles, but it won’t cause large muscle gain or the manly physique that some women fear.

Myth Two: Crunches help you lose fat

Truth: This is a common misconception. Performing crunches cannot help a person to lose fat, no matter how many they do. However, what crunches will do is to help tone the stomach muscles.

If a person really wants to lose fat from their stomach, then they need to introduce an aerobic exercise program to their routine in order to lose fat from all over the body, including the abdominals.

Myth Three: If you are not sweating, you are not burning enough calories.

Truth: Decades ago we were encouraged to “feel the burn” and work up a sweat and some exercise instructors still maintain that the more of a sweat a person is working up, the more calories that they are burning. This is completely untrue.

A person can burn a large amount of calories without working the body too hard. Even light exercise such as walking – if done correctly – can burn up plenty of calories without the need to break a sweat.

Myth Four: Squats are bad for your knees

Truth: Squats are not bad for your knees provided that they are performed correctly. Squats are a great exercise for toning the lower body so they should not be avoided if the aim is to create a toned lower body, but care should be taken to use proper form and not put any undue pressure on the knees.

Myth Five: Going to the gym is essential to getting fit

Truth: While it is true that having someone to provide motivation can help, for many people going to the gym simply isn’t the best option for them. In that case, home workout routines are just as effective for getting fit and many people find in much easier to get the motivation to exercise at home than to go to the gym.

Myth Six: Exercising for longer is guaranteed to show better results

Truth: Some people believe that the longer they exercise and the harder they push themselves, the more likely they are to see results, but this isn’t true. Genetics play a vital role in how our bodies react to exercise, so some people could exercise for as long and as hard as they like, and they still would not get the results that they desire.

Myth Seven: Sports drinks are essential

Truth: It has become popular in recent years to reach for an energy drink after a fitness session to restore the all-important electrolytes. However, these drinks are not essential to the body and are more often than not filled with extra sugar and other ingredients the body doesn’t need.

Some experts would argue that water is enough to replenish the body after exercise, while others advise people to add some lemon juice and maybe a tiny bit of salt, as this would have much the same effect as an electrolyte drink.

Myth Eight: Stretching will help a person to prevent injury

Truth: Some fitness instructors advise people to stretch the muscles prior to exercise to help prevent an injury. However, this isn’t necessarily true. While everyone should be warming up before they start a fitness session in order to prepare their muscles for what is to come, there isn’t a lot of evidence to show that stretching is important before exercise.

Myth Nine: No Pain, No Gain

Truth: This is another common myth that has long been dispelled. It was once thought that a person had to push themselves as hard as possible to get results. However, this is more likely to cause damage to the body rather than encourage fitness.

Experts advise that while people are exercising, they should be able to carry out a conversation with a friend. If a person can’t do that because they are too breathless, then they are pushing themselves far too hard.

Myth Ten: You can spot tone

Truth: Everyone has problem areas and parts of their body that need toning up. However, in order to lose fat from a trouble zone, it is important to burn fat from all over the body and not to just focus on one problem area.

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