Sadly, a lot of people are put off from doing exercise because they believe fitness myths and falsehoods, and therefore believe they’re unable to participate in a healthier lifestyle. To ensure you reach that you reach your highest level of fitness, and also avoid doing damage to yourself and your body, we suggest taking a look at some of the popular fitness myths below and the truths behind them.
- Only hard exercise loses calories - This couldn’t be further from the truth. This fitness myth is one of the main culprits to people not bothering to do exercise at all. What you need to know is that walking is just as good for you as running. In fact, if person one runs one mile and person two walks one mile, they’re both likely to lose a similar amount of calories.
- You’ll eat more when you exercise - If you’re at the gym for an hour and burn a few hundred calories, it doesn’t mean you’ll need an all you can eat buffet afterwards. Research actually shows that hunger is supressed during and after exercise so if you’re finding yourself a bit peckish, try eating a banana before you go in to boost your energy levels.
- If you’re exercising you can eat what you like - This fitness myth is devastating to those that want to lose weight. Different foods will equal a different amount of calories and you can’t expect to lose a significant amount of weight and body fat if you’re relying on fitness alone. There’s a reason they say fruit and veg is good for us, and that’s because they don’t raise blood sugars (which increase our appetite) and they’re largely water based which means less calories.
- I don’t need fitness, I’m dieting - Similar to myth number three, dieting is nothing without a steady fitness regime. When you want to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle, diet and exercise go hand in hand. One of the great things about exercising is that it will help you to build muscle which uses less space in the body than fat.
- Exercise is good at any time - If you’re doing low key exercise like taking the dog for a walk then by all means do it at any time of day. However, if you’re doing a rigorous exercise routine try doing it in the afternoon. By early afternoon your body has reached its highest temperature which means your muscles are in the best condition for working and your strength is peaked.
In general, a good fitness routine is equal parts common sense and critical thinking. Any exercise that claims to do more than is reasonable, or any accompanying diet fad that seems too good to be true may well be. It’s the desire for quick and easy solutions that create bad fitness myths, when in truth the only way to achieve good fitness is to have the right level of determination, endurance and dedication to put in the right amount of effort and reach your desired goal.
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