FITNESS MYTHS DEBUNKED!

FITNESS MYTHS DEBUNKED!!

There are so many different common misconceptions within the health and fitness industry, usually it is much simpler than people make out. There is always someone trying to convince you that the reason you aren’t getting results is because of something daft like you are training inn the evening as opposed to the morning, or that because you only got 9000 steps and not 10000 steps that is why you aren’t getting towards your goals.

The danger with some of these are that if someone told you that morning is the best time to train to get results, but you are not a morning person. You already may feel rubbish about the fact that you aren’t training at the ‘optimal’ time so I may as well not bother training at all. They can be damaging to people who see them as an excuse not to keep themself fit and healthy, whatever you read or hear you should always try find some form of research or evidence that backs it up before taking it as gospel truth.

Here are some of my favourite fitness myths:

1. Women get big and bulky lifting weights - Research shows that strength training will make you strong, powerful and change your body composition. BUT it resistance workouts alone will NOT build a bulky body.

2. Morning workouts are the best and most effective - There is no credible research to show that there is one specific time that is better to workout for everybody. The best time to workout is whenever you are going to be able to be most consistent.

3. 10000 steps is a must for optimal health - The 10000 step rule supposedly came from a marketing commerical for a pedometer. Getting steps in is incredibly important for everyone, however if you are currently getting 2000 per day, upping that to 5000 (which has been proven to lower risk of heart disease) is enough to start with. We should be trying to get a few more steps than last week whatever number that is.

4. Exercise turns fat into muscle - As you exercise you are able to ‘burn body fat’ by using it as energy. By doing resistance/strength training along with a balanced diet you are able to build muscle. You will struggle to ‘burn body fat’ without some form of exercise and you will struggle to build muscle without resistance training

5. NO PAIN NO GAIN - Muscle soreness is what happens when our body has been put through extra stress, such as during a hard workout. But soreness does not equal results. The amount of soreness you feel comes from how much stress you put your muscles through, not how much progress you’re making. Too much soreness can be detrimental and be a side effect of overtraining.

6. Sit ups burn stomach fat - Unfortunately you have no control over where your body stores fat, only the control to burn fat overall. Unless you are incredibly lean it is very difficult to use ‘targeted exercises’ to equate to ‘targeted weight loss’. Sit ups aren’t the worst exercise for your core but you should not be doing them to reduce your stomach fat. Everybody stores fat cells differently so what may work for you doesn’t mean it will work for someone else.

7. Squatting is bad for you knees - This couldn’t be any further from the truth, if your knees hurt when squatting you are most likely doing them wrong. Research has shown that the stronger our lower body is the easier everyday life becomes for us, and also that strength (including lower body strength) is directly linked with life longevity and quality of life as we age.

Anyway, that rounds up todays knowledge drop. Always question things you may hear within the health and fitness indisutry because a lot of the time it is bull s**t and it is someone trying to manipulate you to buy something they are selling that will not help you get to where you are wanting to go.

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