Debunking Fitness Myths

Debunking Fitness Myths
I often hear lot’s of myths around fitness that many people believe. Bro – science that has some how become fact or at least in the eyes of the person telling me. With so much crazy conflicting misinformation out there it’s hardly surprising we all can get led astray sometimes so here are a few of my favorites with my lets say opinion afterwards.
 1. You can spot reduce body fat in one particular area.
Fat is burned through a combination of cardiovascular and strength training that decreases your body’s overall fat content when coupled with a healthy diet. That’s right the fat is burned from your WHOLE body, I personally love HIIT and a great tool in the box but just one of many. Newsflash all the crunches in the world alone are not gonna give you a six pack.
 2. Running is the best exercise for weight loss.
It can be great, I boxed for many years and road work was a staple part of that and great for building your stamina too. But as I have gotten older I have come to realize it is very tough on your joints and I believe there’s a better way. A lot of people think steady-state cardio is best form of exercise to lose weight, but strength training combined with short spurts of high intensity interval training creates better results in my experience and raises your resting metabolic heart rate creating the after-burn effect.
3. When working with weights it’s better to use machines.
Resistance training is great in all forms, from bodyweight to free weights and machines have their place. Machine-only based programs train your body in a single, linear motion, this can be particularly helpful as we get older but only target one specific area or muscle group. Completing multi-joint exercises such as squats, lunges, and dead-lifts are a better bang for your buck giving you a chance to work your whole body as opposed to one small area.

4. Losing weight only happens in the gym.

It takes 1000's of crunches to burn one pound of fat I read somewhere once, crazy nano science possibly but for sure can take a lot. I believe that a large percentage of all fitness success begins in the kitchen. If you spend one hour of your day working out, you have the rest of you day to nullify your hard work. Generally when we are talking weight loss we really mean fat loss which will require a combination of the correct exercise regime for your goals and your body type. Proper nutrition, sleep, hydration, and stress management.
5. Women  get big muscles if they lift weights.
One of my personal favorites always wants to make me say “do you know haw hard it is to build muscle?’ Women and men are not created equal. Testosterone is a key component to muscle building, and women have up to 20 times less testosterone than men so pushing weights or any form of resistance training can be an excellent way to work out and shape up.
 6. You need a gym membership to stay in shape.
Another nonsense, the gym environment can be great but body weight exercises and workouts are all the rage lately, and for great reason. You can get a better workout more safely when you use just your body to challenge yourself than when you use a machine or equipment as you may not know how to use correctly. Also, this style of exercise allows your body to work on all different planes and challenge muscles from all angles. Also it greatly depends on what you wish to achieve, my policy is above all your workouts should be fun and in whatever environment are convenient and you most enjoy to workout in. There’s no real need to join an expensive gym to workout unless this is something you fancy. You can do it simply and easily in the comfort of your own home. I would, however, suggest you engage a trainer – at least initially – to help assess your goals and to design a workable program to get you where you want to be. You may want to keep a trainer on retainer to hold you accountable and change things up. Though that’s not entirely necessary it has been my experience that very few people are sufficiently driven to maintain a high-intensity workout regimen over the long run.

 

7. If it works for him / her, it’s going to work for me.
Everybody’s body is different. I hear many people talk about a certain celebrity’s favorite workout or quote someone else’s trainer about a new training plan or workout they should try. However, the main reason anyone finds success in their fitness routine comes down to more than just what type of workout they’re doing. It’s because they’ve adapted it into their lifestyle, it keeps them committed, and they’re comfortable with it. Find a workout that you enjoy that does the same for you and you will reach your goals.
8. Getting in shape takes a long time.
Science has shown that high-intensity interval training really works when it comes to building muscle and burning calories in less time. Now these workouts can be as short as 15 minutes. I don’t think it’s the only tool your gonna need to use to build the body of your dreams but it’s a great one to have in the tool box. Also, there are simple exercises, like jumping rope, that burn major calories in not a lot of time.The days of hours in the gym could be over, unless you just happen to love that, then I'm happy to bring da pain.