Let’s bust a dozen fitness myths …

Not only do most people walking into a gym not know how to exercise properly and effectively, they often have been exposed to a slew of myths relating to fitness that can impede their efforts in achieving their personal fitness goals if left unaddressed.

So, let’s identify a dozen common fitness myths and bust them! (I busted other fitness myths in a different blog post you can find by clicking here.)

Myth: Being slim or skinny = being fit or healthy.
There’s nothing about being either slim or actually skinny that makes for an automatic equivalent of being fit or healthy. In fact, there are millions (at least!) of people who are either slim or skinny who have poor physical fitness or may have health issues. This myth comes from irrational thinking that, since reliable medical science reveals that being overweight or obese is often a root issue to significant health issues, and generally results in poor physical fitness, that doesn’t mean the opposite — being slim or skinny — equates to fit and healthy. The slim or skinny person must care for their bodies adequately (e.g., exercise, nutrition, rest) like everyone else to actually be physically fit and/or healthy.

Myth: You can be overweight or obese and still be healthy.
Many would immediately argue this isn’t a myth, and I would give some wiggle room and say it’s mostly myth.

Many would immediately push back and say they know several people (or they are one of those people) who are overweight or obese but are “healthy” for their weight.

I understand that argument, but it’s a shaky argument at best.

Let me explain.

Yes, you could find any number of people who are obese who, for the moment, have “good numbers” following blood tests and a visit with a physician — those are people identified as being “metabolically healthy.” However, research shows that being a metabolically healthy obese person carries with it a greater cardiovascular risk, and other research shows simply being overweight — and certainly being obese — puts a person at greater risks for various health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and other issues that can become serious health problems.

Being satisfied with being metabolically healthy and choosing not to address being overweight or obese could be a slow game of Russian roulette with your health, and it will impact your fitness almost immediately.

Myth: Protein shakes are a great solution to weight loss.
A diet called by any other name (like protein shake) is still that, a diet, and diets are ineffective and generally not good for your health. Your body needs more than liquid protein to proper fuel it! I addressed this issue in a previous post titled, “Why diets don’t work and are bad for you …” which you can read by clicking here.

Myth: Protein shakes build muscle.
It’s true that protein is used for the body in building lean muscle, but you don’t gain that muscle just by drinking protein shakes! Protein should be an important component of consistent balanced nutrition, and that is adequate to provide your body with what it needs. Consuming protein doesn’t produce more protein that then magically builds bulging muscles where you want them! It takes a lot of physical work (exercise) over a sustained period of time to build lean muscle, and consistent nutrition that includes adequate protein is sufficient for your fitness goals. So please don’t become one of those guys who manically start shaking up a protein shake immediately after “lifting” thinking that is a key component to seeing muscles quickly bursting forth on their bodies! It’s an ugly (and even silly) myth.

Myth: Exercise can erase bad eating habits.
So many people think they can eat whatever they want because they’re working out at the gym multiple days each week. What they’re not admitting is they’re really thinking they’re burning enough calories so they can indulge.

There’s problems with that thinking.

First, they usually aren’t burning as many calories as they think they are.

Second, just “burning off” some indulgent calories doesn’t mean they are properly and adequately fueling their body. You cannot exercise junk food into good nutrition! Poor nutrition will always yield in your body only what poor nutrition can yield, and physical exercise doesn’t (can’t!) change that. You might exercise so intensely that you keep your weight slightly in check, but a) even if you’re likely to maintain such a regimen for a limited period of time, it’s not a sustainable, healthy lifestyle, and b) all the while, the content of that food will have its impact on your body, potentially moving you toward health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, etc.

Third, there’s an old saying (based on good medical research) that about 80 percent of what you look like has to do with what you eat. To be fit and healthy, there’s no replacement for consistent good nutrition and adequate physical exercise and rest.

Myth: You should always stretch before working out.
This is mostly myth. What is true is that you should always warm up before working out. Research shows that stretching “cold muscles” before a workout can result in injury. However, that’s because many uninformed people who have heard “You should stretch out before working out” then launch into “static stretching” rather than “dynamic stretching.” There’s an important difference, which Dr. Anne Rex explains:

Dynamic stretching is actively moving joints and muscles with sports-specific motions for around 10-to-12 repetitions, targeting certain muscle groups.

“Dynamic stretching mimics the activity or the movement that you’re going to do in whatever sport or activity you’re about to start,” Dr. Rex says. “It helps rehearse the movement patterns so the muscles tend to get excited a little bit earlier and faster which can help improve power and increase coordination.”

In fact, dynamic stretching has been shown to acutely increase power, sprint, jump, and improve performance.

“In terms of warming, when you’re actively moving the muscles, you’re improving blood flow circulation,” says Dr. Rex. “It increases muscle temperature, which then reduces the resistance and increases the flexibility.”

While there can be some benefit for dynamic stretching after warming up, static stretching should be reserved for after a workout:

The growing popularity of dynamic stretching sets it in contrast to static stretching. While dynamic stretching is based on movement, static stretching involves moving a joint as far as it can go and holding it for a length of time, typically 30 to 90 seconds.

According to Dr. Rex, static stretching fell out of favor as a warm-up routine because research found that static stretching induced some detrimental effects, like reducing maximal strength, power, and performance after a single bout of a static stretch.

“When you’re static stretching, the muscles aren’t warmed up. It’s really more of a relaxation movement. So the better recommendation would be to do static stretching as part of the cool down process instead,” said Dr. Rex.

I taught my personal training clients to warm up before working out, then stretch afterward. In fact, I was certified in Assisted Stretch, so many of clients would head for the stretching table in the gym after their workout for an assisted stretch session, and I also taught them how they could do those stretches themselves.

Myth: Working out takes too long.
I don’t mean to intentionally offend anyone with this statement, but it’s usually only the uninformed “gym rats” who spend hours at the gym thinking time working out equates to a ripped body or better fitness outcomes. The truth is, in most cases it only equates to a lot of wasted time.

This myth directly connects to the next myth, which is:

Myth: Long workouts produce better results.
The truth is that executing a well-designed strength training program —executed with proper form and technique — usually takes only 30-45 minutes. Now, you do need to add to that at least an additional 30 minutes for cardiovascular exercise (preferably 45-60 minutes for cardio). But people who spend three or more hours in the gym for a single workout regimen of strength training and cardio are almost assuredly doing something wrong or wasting a lot of time in how they are exercising.

Still, to properly execute strength training AND cardio exercise, a workout regimen could take one and a half hours or one hour and 45 minutes; but good, proper exercise requires what it requires! Dedicating a couple hours a few days per week to achieve and maintain your fitness goals will reap a lifetime of results. That’s why exercise and nutrition aren’t for a temporary goal, it’s a life-long lifestyle.

Myth: I just want to tone up.
I don’t know how many times (it was a lot!) I heard that sentence as the identified fitness goal from gym members. The problem is, you can’t really do this. Your body has a “tone,” and you can adopt the nutrition and exercise needed to remove the layer of fat covering your body’s tone, and/or you can build lean muscle, which also requires a proper regimen of nutrition and exercise. Either way, you’re still talking about a whole nutrition plan, and a whole exercise regimen.

Myth: I just want to do some spot reducing.
It isn’t possible to lose fat in specific or chosen areas of the body, that isn’t how the body works.

Here’s how it does work.

To lose fat, you have to burn more calories than you take in. That creates a caloric deficit that causes your body to to use energy stored in your cells as fat. When those cells are used for energy, the body will begin to reduce in size because it holds less stored fat.

HOWEVER, the body doesn’t just draw energy from cells in the area you want to “spot reduce,” it gets energy from your body as a whole. That means just doing a ridiculous amount of crunches won’t magically result in removing the layer of fat on your belly, although it can strengthen your abdominal muscles. The same goes for other unrealistic goals; doing leg lifts won’t directly burn fat off thighs, and doing squats or lunges won’t take fat off glutes.

You can “target” certain areas of the body for exercise in order to build lean muscle and shape that area, but it doesn’t mean you’ll lose fat in that area. Losing fat still relies on an overall nutrition plan and complete exercise regimen.

Myth: Lifting weights makes you “swole.”
A well-designed strength training program, executed with proper form and technique, and supported by a healthy nutrition program, will result in making you leaner, not “swole” or bulkier. If your goal is to actually “bulk up,” you’ll have to be consistent at implementing a specific exercise and nutrition program for “body building.”

Myth: Women need different exercise than men (or vice versa).
There were many times working with female clients in the gym when I started to take them over to the free weights section and that simple act caused them to suddenly freak out.

“I don’t want to look like a body builder!” they would shriek.

“I don’t want to have big muscles!” they would say.

Okay.

No problem!

Just by doing certain exercises, or using certain equipment, doesn’t mean a woman will suddenly become a slightly more feminine version of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Here’s the deal – men and women do differ hormonally (men have more testosterone — as much as 20 times more testosterone than women have) which aids in muscle building; that’s why men build muscle quicker, easier, and bigger than do women, but they have the same muscles. Those muscles can be exercised in the same way, and with the same equipment, but that doesn’t mean doing so will make women look more masculine, just as much as it doesn’t mean men would look more feminine!

For more helpful information about fitness, check out my recently released book, “Getting & Staying Fit,” which you can find out more about by clicking here.

Scotty