Fitness Jasper: The Truth About Fitness Myths

DISCOVER YOUR GREATNESS

The Truth About Fitness Myths

September 13, 2017

Being fit takes time, that is one thing you need to know before you start working towards your fitness goal. You may be tempted to try and take shortcuts, to take advice from the article posted all over social media stating “exercises to do in bed” and “five workouts that will help you lose weight fast”. Many of us fall for these claims in hopes that we can skip a gym sesh and get the result we want quickly.

But this never works. You can try these tips and tricks as often as you want, but nothing will get you in shape faster than hitting the gym regularly and eating a nutritious diet. It is hard to know what will or will not work when it comes to new fitness techniques and workouts, but we are here to bust a few common myths.

There are many myths about fitness, health, and exercise, and this blog is going to give you the facts. At BodyPlex Fitness, we care about our members and want to give them the knowledge to make the right fitness decision and the motivation to hit the gym everyday and reach their goals. Because of this, we are going to help clear up some common fitness misconception. Keep reading to learn if you have fallen for a few fitness myths!

Myth 1: Sweating more means you are trying harder.

While sweating may seem like a good indicator of working hard, it doesn’t show how hard you are working. Think about when you sweat throughout the day—playing ping pong, walking from your car to the doors on a hot day, even in your sleep. Are you working hard and exerting energy while you are sleeping? Most likely not, so why do we assume sweating more means we are working harding.

And then there is the opposite view. You can be doing a great workout and burning calories without a single bead of sweating dripping down your face. Sweat is your bodies way of cooling down the skin and regulating the internal body temperature, so if it is hot, you will most likely be sweating, that doesn’t mean you are burning calories while sitting in an office chair. This is such a common myth that it is mentioned in a Health, WebMD, and Men’s Fitness article.

Myth 2, 3, and 4: A few myths about running.

Since running is a popular workout, we figured we would cover a few myths about running.

One running myth comes from the WebMD article and is related to knee health. This myth states that running on a treadmill is less harmful to your knees than running on pavement or asphalt. They state that both of these forms of running have the same impact on your knees. Your body weight on joints is what causes the stress on your knees, so no matter where you run, you will be impacting your knees. And this bring us to our next running myth!

The second myth mentioned in the Health article, states that running is bad for your knees. A study done at Stanford University has actually found that this is a myth. They found that the knees of older runners were no worse than the people who didn’t run. However, women are more likely to suffer from knee injuries related to running than men. This is due to the fact that women have “an imbalance in the strength ratio between their quadriceps and hamstrings, which can increase the risk of ACL injuries.” Building this strength and regularly doing workouts that can help target this area can help reduce the chances of getting injured, so don’t worry running women of the world, you don’t have to quit anytime soon.

The final running myth that we will cover, but surely not the last one that has yet to be busted, comes from the Men’s Health article. This myth states that running helps shed pounds. While running is a great workout and offers many different benefits, weight training could be more effective when it comes to dropping pounds. Interval training and weight training can help you lose fat quicker than hours on the treadmill.

Myth 5: Crunches can result in great abs.

Unfortunately, crunches are not going to give you the best six-pack you have ever seen. While they can tone a portion of your abs, there are other workouts that can more effectively give you the abs you want. The Health article mentions that workout moves that incorporate your shoulders and butt will engage your entire core and help burn more fat than crunches alone.

The Men’s Fitness article agrees, stating that crunches are ineffective when the goal is to get a six-pack. They recommend a combination of interval training, getting enough sleep, utilizing carbs, and choosing the right workouts. Workouts that have nothing to do with a crunch or the abdominal region whatsoever often have better ab results. Try different workouts that target the entire core.

Myth 6: Stretching is important.

Stretching before a workout may seem like a great idea. But static stretching could actually cause you more harm than good, at least when used as a pre-workout stretch. Instead, the Men’s Fitness article says you should use dynamic stretching at the beginning of your workout.

Static stretching is the stretching we are used to, it is a position that is held for a few second to improve flexibility. But when it is done before a workout it could lead to injury. A dynamic stretch is a stretch while moving, often mimicking the move you will be doing during a workout. Think of it like this: a cold rubber band that is stretched as far as possible and help for a while will most likely snap, but a rubber band that is slowly warmed up and stretched a little bit at a time will be able to stretch further without snapping. It is the same instance with your muscles.

These are only a few of the many fitness myths we hear daily. Hopefully you have learn some valuable lessons about fitness in this blog, we are sure to debunk some more myths down the road, so stay tuned for those! BodyPlex Fitness has a team that is knowledgeable and determined to help our members receive the same knowledge. If you are a member, feel free to ask us about any other myths you aren’t sure about, if you aren’t a member, sign up today!

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