The Truth Behind the Top 5 Fitness Myths : Part 1

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Published: Tuesday, 25 March 2014 10:56

Do you ever feel as though you have tried everything and still not yielded the results you’ve desired? Don’t fall trap to this defeated mentality, exercise DOES work and with a good knowledge base of facts and myths, YOU can achieve your goals.

To be honest, some of the ‘harmless’ half-truths’ can actually be harmful and could be what’s keeping you from results.

These little myths about fitness need to be side-lined and the truth be told!  There are so many out there I could go on forever, so I’ve decided to make this a series. This serves as part 1, so please read through, question, laugh and comment. I’d love to hear yours!

Myth #5:  Heavy weights will bulk you up

The truth:  Yes, lifting weights build muscle and strength, but women do not carry enough levels of testosterone to bulk up the same way that men do.  Building muscle actually revs up the metabolism, which burns more calories than fat—even when you’re sitting down on the couch or at your desk after a workout.  Ladies, you won’t bulk up by lifting weights…unless you are eating like a horse and/or taking steroids.

Myth #4:  The best way to lose weight is to drastically cut calories.

The truth:  You don’t have to resort to eating rabbit food (carrots, lettuce—essentially all salads).

When we drastically cut our food intake, we are actually slowing down our metabolism and your body remembers this.  It thinks that you are starving, so it will hold onto every ounce of fat that you have because it doesn’t know when you will ‘feed’ the body again.  Keeping the metabolism up by eating smaller portions and between 5-6 times a day will help in losing weight.  There’s no magic number of calories each one of us should take in—it’s all dependent on what you’re burning throughout the day.  Calories in versus calories out: It’s called the Law of Thermodynamics.  You have to burn more than what you take in to see those results!

Myth #3:  More exercise is better

The truth:  Exercising to the extreme every single day will do a number on your body.  You will ultimately burn out and lose interest—which is where most people fall off of their routine and get stuck in a rut.  It also seems to be the ideal thing to do to increase the amount of time on a treadmill/elliptical or some sort of cardio routine.  Cardio is great—it’s the most effective way to burn the most amount of calories in a short time frame.  BUT…if you spend more time with cardio and include no weight training, you will become what I call ‘skinny fat’.  You will lose weight, but still be flabby because you have built no muscle.  Finding that balance between the two is all mapped out for you in the FitStrongandSexy community.

Myth #2:  You can target (spot reduce) trouble areas

The truth:  Unfortunately, we cannot choose where we want to store body fat.  The cold hard scientific truth is that our genetics dictate where we burn fat.  In order to lose fat in one area, the entire body has to lose the fat.  All the crunches in the world will never show a six pack from under a layer of fat you haven't burned off.  Short, high intensity exercises are great for reducing body fat all over (as seen on AmandaRussellTV).

Myth #1:  The infamous ‘Fat Burn Zone’

The truth:  This universal myth has been around in the fitness industry for some time (we see these little stickers on the treadmill and often have often opted to use this type of workout), and just will not go away.  Let’s lay this to rest—There is no fat burn zone!  While it sounds appealing—only having to put forth 55-65% of your maximum heart rate into a workout—it is VERY misleading.  This suggests that you can take it easy, drink a latte on the treadmill, and work less to burn more fat.  The question of whether you’re burning fat or glycogen (form of glucose in the body to store energy) is the biggest debate with this myth. Take a look at this!

*Source:  From BuiltLean

Doesn’t look so appealing now, right?  The higher the intensity, the more calories you will burn.  You don’t burn ‘fat’ in one particular zone.  As soon as you begin exercising, you burn—regardless of whether it burns fat or glycogen. 

As humans, it’s in our nature to want to take the path of least pain and resistance, so justifying an easy workout or yoga session versus an uncomfortable ‘push-your-limits’ sweat session is tempting to justify, but make no excuses ladies and gentlemen, the direct map to your goals WILL entail you to push a little harder, get uncomfortable, after all, nothing truly great is ever attained easily.

We often hear of these myths—like little rumors.  Leave me a comment with other fitness myths that you’ve heard.  I’d love to investigate those too! 

Checkout my post on Five Fabulous Fit Strong and Sexy Appetizers!

XOXO,