A lot of information about fitness is completely false to make you buy stuff. Here are 12 fitness myths that are ruining your progress!
Before we start, you should note that these myths are 100% backed by science. This is not fitness advice! Everything that’s going to be said is for informational purposes only.
If you’ve ever taken a deep dive into the fitness world, you may have heard a lot of advice that seems like it makes sense, but seems off.
Most of the mainstream advice on the internet is false, so we’re going to debunk those fitness myths today…
You Can Burn Belly Fat
Wrong! There is no way you can specifically target your belly fat alone and reduce it individually.
Ab workouts like crunches and sit ups aren’t going to help you burn belly fat either. When you lose weight, your fat is reduced all over your body… not just in one spot.
If you’re trying to lose fat around your belly, you’re going to have to lose fat everywhere by going into a caloric deficit.
You Can’t Eat Past 6 P.M. To Lose Weight
You can absolutely eat past 6 pm. Your body doesn’t differentiate the times when it comes to eating your last meal.
Your body does make certain digestive changes during the night for the purpose of recovery, but eating between the hours of 6pm and bedtime isn’t going to change anything.
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Fasted Cardio is the Most Effective Cardio
One of the biggest fitness myths is that you will lose the most weight if you wake up early, don’t eat anything, and do cardio exercises.
It was intended to target your fat while doing cardio on an empty stomach, so your body doesn’t have to worry about any incoming food.
Studies have shown that there were no significant differences between a group that did fasted cardio and a group that ate before cardio.
If anything, it was recommended to eat something before the cardio to have more energy and last longer during the workout.
Lifting Heavy Weights is Ideal for Growing Muscle
There is nothing wrong with lifting heavy weights (unless you’re lifting an amount that is unmanageable). You are likely to hurt your form which may result in injuries/pain.
It is a myth that you can only use heavy weights to build muscle. Lights weights work just fine and are usually better on your body to keep your form correct.
You can make up for the lack of heavy weight by doing more reps with lighter weights.
Soreness Means It’s Working
While this is partially true, many people believe that if you’re not sore, you’re not building your muscles.
This part is completely false. Soreness is just the buildup of lactic acid in your body (which is released in your muscles when oxygen levels are low).
Soreness can definitely mean that you’re building muscle, but you can also build muscle without that sore feeling.
Many people that train everyday don’t feel sore anymore because their body is more used to the oxygen depletion.
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You Need Protein Immediately After Working Out
It is a popular belief in fitness that when you’re done working out, you have this small window where you have to fit in a decent amount of protein to maximize your gains.
This is false because your “anabolic window” is just saying that your body needs to consume something soon in order to keep energy at a maintenance level.
It is not necessarily meant for consuming protein. You don’t have to fit in a good amount of protein exactly 30-90 minutes after a workout.
Ab Workouts Get You Abs
One of the biggest fitness myths is that ab workouts will get you visible abs. This is completely wrong.
While ab workouts are excellent for building your ab muscles and getting them bigger, visible abs has mostly to do with belly fat.
If you have a flat belly, you are more likely to see your abs through your fat. Abs are made in the kitchen, so start dieting if you want visible abs.
You Can Turn Fat Into Muscle
Not even close! Fat does NOT turn into muscle in our body no matter how hard we workout and eat well.
You can build a lot of muscle and lose a lot of fat, thereby making it seem like you turned your fat into muscle. However, the literal process of turning fat into muscle is completely false.
Your muscles are working tissues that burn calories while fat is simply a storage space for unneeded energy. Don’t mix up the two.
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You Lose More Weight Working Out in the Morning
Your body doesn’t care what time you workout. That’s completely up to you and you’ll get the same results.
Some people have a preference to workout in the morning because it gives them some energy to start off their day. Others have a preference to workout at night because it helps them wind down or that’s the only time they have.
Either way, it’s a myth that you’ll lose more weight in the morning because there is no science showing any correlation between exercise and the time of day.
If You’re Tired, That Means the Workout Was Effective
While your workout may still be effective if you’re tired, it doesn’t mean that it’s not effective if you’re not tired.
You can still burn a lot of calories or build a lot of muscle without having to feel exhausted after every workout.
Plus, some people can walk 20 feet and start to feel fatigue, which won’t do much for your body. So it doesn’t work both ways.
Workouts can be effective as long as you put in the effort to make it effective. How tired you are has nothing to do with it.
You Need To Stretch Before Every Workout
Stretching before every workout is a fitness myth that has been debunked many times by science.
There is no evidence supporting the fact that you may reduce injury or pain if you stretch before working out.
If stretching is necessary to your specific activity (gymnastics, cheerleading, ballet, etc) then stretch. If you’re just lifting weights for example, you don’t need any sort of stretching.
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Eating Carbs Makes You Fat
No, no, no. Eating carbs does NOT make you fat. You absolutely need carbohydrates in your diet to be healthy.
Carbohydrates are essentially your main source of energy to keep you going during your day. Plus, it’s actually a major help to protein for building muscle.
The point is, you’re not going to get fat from any of the main 3 micronutrients:
- Protein
- Carbs
- Fats
You need all 3 to perform your bodily functions properly. If you want to lose weight, you have to lower your intake of every micro nutrient… not just one.
Hopefully these 12 fitness myths have been debunked for you so that you never have to believe another fitness lie again.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions leave them down below. Thanks for reading!
