The Worst Ideas About Fitness
With all of the fitness advice on social media it’s hard to figure what is the right information to listen and what you should ignore. Here are some of the idea you should avoid.
Have you ever seen posts about targeting specific parts of the body to reduce fat? Usually there is a fitness model performing an exercise that hits a specific muscle or muscle group and follows it up with a message stating something to the effect of, “if you perform these three times a week such and such will get smaller!” It has been proven that the only way to reduce body fat is to eat at a calorie deficit. And there are a number of factors that contribute to where and when you lose body fat. However, targeted exercises help increase muscle and strength. This also applies to core workouts. Core workouts will help build strength that increases your overall performance, but your abs aren’t going to pop unless you reduce body fat.
Spending hours in the gym will make you lose weight faster. With the holidays around the corner, this might be your go-to to burn off those sweets and treats you’re eating. However, exercising longer is not going to have the affects that you hope for. In fact, adding excessive amount of extra time in the gym or doing cardio can have the opposite effect. Your body will have a harder time to recover, you’ll become more fatigued, and your appetite might increase to overcompensate for the expenditure. The only way to insure you lose weight, is to keep your calorie deficit for at least 80% of the time. Now that doesn’t mean to overindulge, but when you have a less than great day of eating just jump back on track and stick to your routine. This promotes a healthy diet that’s sustainable and long-lasting weight loss.
Everyone’s favorite fitness phrase, “No Pain, No Gain.” This one is particularly irking to me because it suggests that actual injuries are just a part of exercise and you should embrace your level of dedication. But often times people will confuse pushing oneself with an actual injury that means they need to take a step back or finish their workout that day. Soreness and muscle fatigue are normal for anyone who is intensifying their workouts, increasing the frequency of exercise, or lengthening the amount of time they spend in the gym. But if your body is clearly letting you know you need to stop, (for example: if you feel a sharp pain when performing a movement) you need to listen and take a break. All the cool kids are ACTUALLY giving their body time to recover so they don’t have to take longer breaks from the gym to heal from an injury.
While these specific fitness myths are heard often enough that you might have already know them to be false, still be weary of the random information you find throughout social media. Often times people will put out ideas that they signify as truth. In other words, always make sure to double check your sources and verify it’s not just a fad!
