15 Most Common Fitness Tips That Are Doing More Harm To You Than Good

There are so many mixed opinions on exercising and working out that people are often confused who to listen to. While some experts say yes, the others say no. What exactly is right or wrong, it is truly difficult to figure out because of the vast amount of information available on the net. This fact becomes a very demotivating factor to anybody’s weight loss goals. The conflict about health advice may also prove harmful to many following the wrong practices. We have narrowed down the myths and truths about working out and exercising. Here are the 15 most common myths surrounding working out and the truth that counters them.

1 Myth: Exercise cannot counter the negative effects of aging

THE TRUTH: Is that what many think?? This is so wrong. Exercising regularly is one of the most valuable things you can do for health and live longer. It doesn’t take brains to understand that when you exercise, you increase your blood circulation giving your organs and tissues vital doses of oxygen that helps them remain healthy. It decreases cholesterol, and burns calories decreasing the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Research found that people who were more physically active decreased the risk of heart disease associated with age. This was measured by the main markers of damage in the blood. The recent study involving 1600 volunteers measured the activity levels and they made comparisons with heart disease indicators like cholesterol precursors as well as a cytokine, interleukin-6. The levels of negative biomarkers decreased in those who were physically more active.

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2Myth: The main reason you gain weight through aging is a sluggish metabolism

TRUTH: Concerning calorie burning, your metabolism hardly varies after 30. This means metabolism isn’t always the problem when it comes to gaining weight as you age. The main culprit is the activity of most people which decreases with age and that is what piles on the pounds. The ideal way to avoid weight gain as you age is to be more physically active.

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3Myth: To stay in shape, you need to work out only once or twice a week

TRUTH: That is far from the truth. For sustained health, once or twice won’t do a thing. If you work out just once or twice a week, it hardly matters as you will be consuming more calories than you burn. Chris Jordan an exercise physiologist who created the seven-minute workout based his plan on a study in the American Heart Association Journal. It found that for optimum heart health, one should exercise at least 4 to 5 times a week.

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4The best time to work out is early morning

TRUTH: The truth is that a convenient time to perform a good consistent workout is the best time. It could be at any time of day but preferably 3 to 4 hours after a meal. The aim is to make physical fitness a routine habit so even if you like hitting the gym late at night, then do so. If you are an early bird and love that morning run, you should do that too. If you don’t have any preferences, then research says that exercising the first thing in the morning can prime your body to burn fat throughout the day and is better for your weight loss goals.

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5Myth: Weightlifting turns fat into muscle

TRUTH: How can you turn fat into muscle? Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. You burn fat for energy and muscle growth is from protein synthesis which happens in the muscle itself. So muscle grows into more muscle. You can’t turn fat into muscle. Both fat and muscle are two different parts of your physiology. Adipose tissue which is fat is found under the skin and around internal organs while muscle tissue is consistently found throughout the body. Weight training increases the muscle mass around the fatty tissue. A good way to reduce fat is to eat a healthy diet of veggies, lean protein, whole grains and healthy fats like omega 3’s found in fish, nuts and olive oil. Moreover, you have to avoid refined carbs, sugars, and processed food. A lot of people like to try and gain muscle by working hard, some also like to use supplements to help them out. If this is something that interests you then you might want to check out these Product Expert Reviews
on what supplements you could get.

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6Myth: Puzzles and games are great workouts for your brain

TRUTH: This is an age-old myth that says these things exercise your brain. Just physical exercise is the best thing for brain health along with a healthy sleep pattern. Recent studies found that aerobic and those exercises that can increase your heart rate are the best type of activity for your brain which protects you against cognitive decline due to aging.

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7Myth: The best way to lose weight is through exercise

TRUTH: This is far from the truth. Regardless of how much you exercise, if you keep consuming junk food, sugars, and refined carbs or even overeating, then you’re just wasting time doing so. Along with exercise, you need to abide by a healthy diet because that plays a major role in your weight loss goals. Phillip Stanforth, an exercise scientist at Texas University says “In terms of weight loss, diet plays a much bigger role than exercise.” That being said, both exercise and diet are an important part of losing weight.

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8Myth: The quickest ticket way to a six-pack is sit-ups

TRUTH: How is that supposed to happen? Sit-ups target only your abdominal muscles. Bit for six packs, you need to target several groups of muscles. The plank targets all these groups along the front, sides, and back of your abdomen. For a strong core and six packs, you need to work out all these muscles.

Harvard Health authors revealed in their newsletter that “Sit-ups or crunches strengthen just a few muscle groups. Through dynamic patterns of movement, a good core workout helps strengthen the entire set of core muscles you use every day.”

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9Myth: Weight training is for men

TRUTH: And if that is so, then don’t women need muscles to perform their activities? And shouldn’t they strengthen those muscles for a healthy body? Gender doesn’t have anything to do with weight training. Granted that women produce less testosterone and thus it isn’t necessary for women to have bulky muscular bodies unless they choose to do so. Studies have also found that hormones play a role in determining muscle build up.

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10Myth: Getting out of shape doesn’t happen fast, it takes a couple of weeks

TRUTH: Wrong! You can get out of shape within a week if you don’t exercise. Once you stop training, deconditioning starts within a week of rest. This is why you should not stop exercising unless of course, you have valid reasons not to do so.

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11Myth: Running a marathon is the ideal way to get fit

TRUTH: Seriously, can everybody run a marathon? Even if you run a distance of under five miles, you gain several fitness benefits for your body. In fact, running fast and hard for just 10 minutes daily will give you the same results as running a marathon. In fact, this is based on HIIT (High-Intensity Interval training) which breaks the monotony of simply running and creates different forms of high-intensity activity for ten minutes. Even after rest, you will still be burning calories. Studies have found that those who run regularly for under an hour a week get the same benefit as those who run more than three hours each week.

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12The best way to monitor what you eat is to keep a food diary

The moment people do anything to become more conscious of what you are eating and your activity, they tend to give themselves more credit than what they deserve. By keeping a diary, people overestimate their physical activity and underestimate the amount of food they eat. A diary gives you the feeling that you have worked out more and eaten less. It is best to stick to your routine as a regular part of your daily life without writing about it unless you are a sportsman that needs to abide by diet protocols for achieving certain weights.

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13Myth: The best way to rehydrate after exercising is a sports drink

TRUTH: That red bull you think is a sports drink may be doing you more harm than good. Sports drinks are laced with sugar and synthetic ingredients. Water with a high protein snack or a sugar-free protein shake with natural ingredients is the best post workout drink or nourishment. Protein reconditions your muscles after a workout. But, since many protein powders are not regulated it is best to rely on a protein snack.

14Myth: Your body mass index is the best way to size up your overall health

TRUTH: BMI measurements are outdated. They are not a reliable way of measuring your health. A person with a higher BMI may have a healthier cardiac and health profile than a person with low BMI. Your waistline measurement is a more accurate way of assessing your health. Waistline and belly fat is a better indicator of being underweight or overweight. It is also linked to heart health and the risk of diabetes as well as cognitive function.

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15Myth: You have to sweat for your exercise to count

TRUTH: On a cool day you can briskly walk for 6 km and still not sweat much. That doesn’t mean your walk has been futile. You don’t have to do a hard workout like kickboxing to make your workout count. All physical activity is good. Even your regular housework can be regarded as a workout. Whatever activity makes you move around and breathe irrespective of the type of activity, has benefits for the body and brain. Studies have proved that those who exercised for roughly 30 minutes a day decreased their risk of the demise of any causes in comparison to those who didn’t. The bottom line is that for good health and to live longer, you must be physically active and eat healthily rather than live a sedentary lifestyle and eat junk.

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