12 Most Perpetuated Fitness Myths

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I don’t know where or how these myths get started but apparently they sound good enough to repeat over and over again until you have a never ending game of “telephone.” Knowing the FACTS is the only way you’ll ever hit your goals otherwise you’re just wasting your time and frustration. Getting fit is never fast but it can go relatively quickly when you know what’s right and follow through.

1. MYTH: If girls lift weights, they’ll get big

TRUTH: First, girls are physically and physiologically incapable of getting as big as men. You need testosterone, and lots of it. Getting “big” also takes strategy. You don’t just lift weights, you have to lift heavy… and a lot… and often. Yes, women will grow muscle, but that’s a good thing! That’s what makes you strong and keeps you fit.

2. MYTH: Working your abs will make your stomach flat

TRUTH: Working your abs shapes and tightens the muscles and actually makes them grow, but in the 6-pack kind of way. The FLAT comes from nutrition. You can have the best abs in the world but if you don’t eat right, they will remain covered by “layer.” Work the muscles to shape them; eat well to SEE them.

3. MYTH: Doing lots of cardio will get you in shape

TRUTH: Cardio works the heart and can be great for losing pounds and fat burning BUT you have to eat right and work the muscles too. In fact, too much cardio can slow down your progress as the body will adapt to long bouts of activity. Your best bet is HIIT cardio — that is, “High Intensity Interval Training” which is bursts of power followed by a slowing-down phase. Sprints are a great example, but you can do HIIT on cardio equipment or by running hills, stairs, or even doing full body circuit training.

4. MYTH: You need hours at the gym to get in shape

TRUTH: You don’t need a lot of time, you need a lot of focus and intensity. You need to make sure you hit all your different muscle groups and combine with cardio, or combine resistance and cardio in a full-body workout. This can be achieved in as little as 15 minutes. But generally, you don’t need much more than an hour to get the whole body pumping.

5. MYTH: When you stop working out, muscle turns to fat

TRUTH: Muscle and fat are made from completely different tissue. You can no more turn muscle into fat than you can turn fat into muscle. What happens when you stop working out is your muscles atrophy and get smaller and softer. Add to this the fact that most people may not be sticking to the most nutritious eating plan and they get “soft.”

6. MYTH: If you workout you can eat whatever you want

TRUTH: Food is the clay, exercise is your sculpting tools. If you eat junky food with little to no nutrition, the body has no raw material to build a tight lean body. You need enough protein to build muscle. Period. You need good solid carbs for energy, and you need all the micronutrients from whole grains and produce so your body can run efficiently. If you eat junky and workout, you end up even-steven — never getting ahead, and never achieving “lean.”

7. MYTH: Exercising a certain body part will make it slimmer

TRUTH: You can’t spot reduce. If only. Love handles and a squishy tummy are primarily nutrition based but you have to workout the whole body and eat clean to be lean.The beauty is, your whole body gets lean too, not just that one spot. Certainly, you should work your problem spots but then when you eat clean, your the body has nothing to store in your problem spots.

8. MYTH: The more you workout the more weight you lose or the better shape you’ll be in

TRUTH: QUALITY not quantity. Hours at the gym doesn’t guarantee fitness. In fact, overtraining can cause you to stall and cause irritability, moodiness, trouble sleeping, perpetual soreness, trouble concentrating and exhaustion. It can also cause Cortisol to rise, a hormone known as the “stress hormone”. Too much and the body goes into protection mode and holds onto fat to keep itself protected from over-activity. An hour (give or take) of solid focused workouts 3-5 days a week is plenty.

9. MYTH: Exercising in the morning on an empty stomach will help you  burn more fat or lose weight

TRUTH: Your body needs fuel to work and it needs glucose (carbs) to do it. When you sleep, your body depletes this storage which both your muscles and your brain needs. Working out with no fuel hampers a good workout and could be dangerous if you begin to feel light headed. If you want to hit an early morning bike ride, or cardio session, try eating something small like a banana, or some whole grain toast.

10. MYTH: You shouldn’t eat after 8pm

TRUTH: Your body doesn’t care what time you eat, it cares WHAT you eat. Often people succumb to cravings and binges at night so “no eating after a 8pm” can be a good guideline. But if you’re truly hungry, EAT — especially if you’re working out. If your body doesn’t have a food source it will look to your muscles for fuel. There is nothing wrong with snacking on fruit, protein or veggies late at night. The body will use it up, not store it. But snack on junk and it may *stick* with you.

11. MYTH: You can’t gain muscle and lose fat at the same time

TRUTH: Of course you can. Every time you fuel your body with the right nutrients and hit your workout, you’re building and burning. You’re building muscle by pushing through your reps and burning with the energy you’re expending doing it.

12. MYTH: In order to get get fit you have to watch calories

TRUTH: Fitness is about balancing nutrients not calories. If everything you ate was whole, natural and healthy, and you balanced your meals throughout your day, you’d never have to think about calories ever again. You need to set the right nutritional strategy for your goals, but no one gains weight eating too many vegetables, lean protein, or fruit. People have a tendency to restrict their calories so much that they don’t have the right nutrients to build a strong body or the energy to do it. Plus… with too few calories, the body simply slows down to conserve the food it has. The best, most athletic bodies don’t starve, they EAT — and eat right.

Featured image courtesy of freeflyer09 via Creative Commons.

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Heather Frey

http://smashfit.com

Heather Frey is the founder and president of SmashFit.com, the first personal trainer and fitness matching website on the net. Both client AND trainer match so it's a match *both* ways. Think matchmaking for fitness. Heather is also the fit-xpert on the new NBC show, "Miami Moms" on the new NBC Miami Nonstop station talking exercise, nutrition, and the fitness-mindset needed to get both new, and experienced Moms to their strongest best, as well as the whole family.   On top of being an entrepreneur and TV personality, she is also a blurber, artist, speaker, and Figure Competitor. As a Blurber, her description for her short and to-the-point posts, Heather writes and motivates daily about fitness and life strategies. Her get-it-done fitness advice, and daily inspiration have ranked her #22 of the most influential fitness tweeters out of almost 10,000 (according to WeFollow.com). Her inspiration comes from her passion to educate, motivate and mojovate people to get healthy and grab their life back. This passion earned her the honor of being named in the Huffington Post as one of the "16 Health Experts To Check Out On Twitter" as part of the TwitterPowerHouses series (16 Health Experts To Check Out On Twitter). She has also been featured in SELF Magazine and written up in Oxygen Magazine.   The inspiration for SmashFit.com comes from Heather's passion to motivate people into a healthier and more fulfilling life. Her words demonstrate she understands that fitness is all in the mind and by motivating and reconditioning the mind, anything is possible.