All of us have heard a lot of statements related to fitness that are actually fitness myths. Many of us easily believe in them but they are not always true.
Today we are going to bust 5 fitness myths. Each of the following statements seems as if could be true, but it’s not. Science explains why.
Fitness Myth 1: If I don’t eat anything before I exercise, i’ll burn more calories
BUSTED:
You won’t burn more calories by skipping eating; actually, the opposite is true. If you don’t have enough fuel in your body to get through a workout, you won’t be able to work out as long or intensely as you could if you were well-fueled, so you won’t be able to burn as many calories.
You should consume 200 to 300 calories 1 to 2 hours before exercise.
Fitness Myth 2: lifting weights is not good exercise if you want to lose weight, because it will make you bulk up
BUSTED:
Regularly lifting weights or performing strengthening exercises like crunches and push-ups can really help you maintain or reduce weight. Those activities can help in muscle building and muscle burns more calories than fat. So if you have more muscle, you burn more calories.
Doing strength training 2 to 3 times a week will not bulk you up. Gaining a significant quantity of muscle mass is likely to require only severe strength training.
Fitness Myths 3: Weight-training make women bulky
BUSTED:
Women do not develop large muscle mass as a result of weight training because they lack male hormones in the quantity necessary for significant hypertrophy to occur.
The advantages of weight training for women are:
- greater strength as they age
- better bone density
- easier mainteinance of desired weight without fat
Fitness Myths 4: No pain, No gains
BUSTED:
You’ll need to go to the point of discomfort to see fitness gains from exercise, but you don’t have to experience pain during exercise to gain improvements. Some soreness is common for first-time exercises. If the soreness continues, though, you’re pushing too hard. Muscles can remain sore for up to 48 hours after exercise. This is referred to as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and it is caused by minute rips and inflammations in the tissues surrounding the muscle fibers. To decrease the DOMS or risk of injury, start slowly and ease into a new training routine. If you do too much too early and hurt yourself, then you’re back like you were on your day 1 or even worse off than before you started.
Fitness Myths 5: Spot reduction is possible
BUSTED:
Spot reduction is not possible. You can not reduce or target fat reduction from one specific area of the body. Even if your body tends to deposit fat in some areas, burning it off doesn’t work the same way.
The human body can reduce fat from the entire body as a whole and not just from a specific area.
Just like we can’t decide or choose the area where we can gain fat, we also don’t get to decide where we lose it.
Let’s understand this with an example: When we lose weight by just walking, we lose weight from all over the body, not just from our legs. Similarly, When we target the chest by doing hundreds of push-ups, we can get a toned chest but it’s not like you have burned off fat from your chest only.
You should concentrate on diets in addition to exercise if you want to improve the general appearance of your body. Strength training can help to build solid muscle but don’t neglect cardio exercises and a proper diet.
Conclusion:
Today we busted 5 common fitness myths which we might hear during our fitness journey. Many other myths exist as well, which we shall address at a later time. Until then, don’t fall for these fitness myths and do research every time before you believe in something.
Have you heard any of these 5 fitness myths?