Fitness Myths

There's so much heath and fitness information out there it can be hard to know what's true and what's false. Today I wanted to touch on a few common fitness myths to hopefully help clear up any confusion on these specific topics.

Fitness Myths

1. Cardio is the best (or only ) way to burn calories and lose weight.

FALSE!!!!

First let me say that cardio is a great tool for overall health and fitness. It is wonderful for cardiovascular health and can assist in burning fat. However, it is NOT the only way to burn calories or fat. In fact, resistance training is an overall better tool for fat loss as it will help you to build muscle which in turns helps to increase your metabolism and burn more calories just doing your day to day activities.

2. You can spot reduce.

FALSE!!!!

I hear it all the time. I want a smaller waist so I need to do sit-ups. This is simply not true. Our bodies do not choose one place to burn fat. Rather, our bodies will burn fat in all areas through time. This is why it is important to strength train the entire body with the intentions of building muscle. By doing so, you’ll find yourself getting stronger AND losing fat all over which in my opinion is better than losing it in just one place.

3. Lifting weights will make you bulky.

FALSE!!!!

False, false, false! I repeat that because nothing could be further from the truth but yet we continue to hear this statement. While some females are predisposed to developing significant muscle tone and size, this is not the case for all. Testosterone is a fundamental ingredient in building muscle mass. It is a hormone found in high concentrations in men, but not so much in women. Which is why men tend to bulk up more than women do AND why women should not fear lifting weights!

3. No rest for the weary!

FALSE!!!!

Rest and recovery are key aspects to any training plan. Incorporating a few days of rest here and there will allow the body to repair muscles that have been stressed from workouts. It also helps to keep us from getting burnt out and keeps our immune system healthy.

4. You can sweat out toxins.

FALSE with a tiny bit of truth.

While you can eliminate a small amount of toxins through sweat, your liver and kidneys do the majority of that job. Way more than even sitting in a sauna. So rather than spending hours in a gym and sauna trying to sweat out toxins, focus on drinking lots of water and eating a good amount of fiber to help out your detox organs.

5. Longer gym sessions are better.

False!!!!

Yes it's true that you CAN burn more calories if you are at the gym for two hours compared to one. However, doing as little as 5 minutes of exercise can benefit your body more than doing nothing. In fact, spending too much time in the gym can counteract your progress and cause you to suffer from over-exercising. You don't need to spend hours in the gym to get the benefits from exercise!

Hope that helps to clear up any misconceptions on those specific topics! Have any others you're curious about? Send me a message and I'll see if I can help!