There are various fitness myths that people hear and believe. They don’t bother doing some research or asking from qualified experts. These myths are taken as fact by people who desperately want to get in shape. As a result, they end up doing more harm than good.
The problem with these myths is that you can end up getting injured as you go out of the way to achieve your fitness goals. Sometimes, you will not see the results and frustration builds up.
We’ve listed down five common fitness myths in this article to fix common misconceptions.
#1 – The more time you spend in the gym, the more health benefits you get:
When you work out every day, you burn yourself out. You over-train and that often leads to injuries. After a tough training session, you need to relax your body. Therefore, it is important to have a rest day after a strenuous workout session. Giving your body rest for a day will help your muscles rebuild and your body to improve.
Likewise, many people believe the more you sweat, the healthier you will get. That’s far from true. You don’t need to burn yourself just for the sake of sweating. Sweating more doesn’t mean you are burning more calories than usual. It’s just a normal response of the body to control your internal body temperature. Hence, it has nothing to do with your fitness. So make sure to take breaks between the workouts and schedule the rest day to let your body recover.
Also, try new exercises because following the same routine each day can cause injuries.
#2 – You need to work out for at least an hour to get the health benefits:
In order to get the health benefits, you don’t need to spare 45 minutes or more on a daily workout. Even half an hour or a mere 10 minutes of exercise is enough to boost your cardiovascular health. According to recent research, short quick sessions offer more benefits than stretched strenuous strolls.
According to a study published by Arizona State University, various people logged lower blood pressure readings after splitting their workout time into 3 segments. It was revealed that a 30-minute stroll, when split into three segments, offered more health benefits. However, in order to keep your general health up, it’s important for you to be active most days of the week. At least 250 minutes of exercise a week is recommended.
#3 – Exercises are enough to balance out your unhealthy eating habits:
You cannot continue to eat unhealthily and expect exercise to reverse the damage. You need to keep your eating habits in check to stay fit. You are what you eat. You cannot give in to your cravings for unhealthy food, then spend 30 minutes on running, and expect to get all benefits. It doesn’t work like that. If you take your fitness goals seriously, eat healthy and workout to maximize the health benefits.
#4 – You must stretch before you work out:
According to a study conducted on the effects of post-workout recovery methods, stretching before a workout doesn’t affect your lactate level significantly. A lot of people believe that stretching elongates your muscles which eventually prevent injury. However, that is only a misconception. Research has revealed that stretching before you work out you weaken your muscles by 30%. This actually increases the risk of injury.
#5 – Men and women are supposed to have different workout plans:
This is a common misconception as women fear lifting heavy weights will bulk up their muscles. That’s not true. In order to achieve extraordinary muscular growth, women need to have the same hormones and body types as men. Since testosterone level is low in women, they can’t bulk as much as men can.
Besides, 3-pound lady dumbbells don’t offer much resistance. When you lift a lighter weight, you don’t challenge your body enough to see any change in muscle size. According to fitness experts, in order to enjoy the health benefits, everyone should do 6-8 reps with the weight that challenges their body.
Conclusion:
Everyone wants to be fit. But before you start to follow an exercise routine, you need to know some basic facts about fitness. You shouldn’t blindly follow all that you hear from your peers or believe everything you read on the internet. Do your research. Interact with fitness experts before starting to workout. This will help you get better fitness results within the shortest period of time.
