8 Weirdest Fitness Myths of All Time

Exercising on a regular basis can help improve brain performance, sharpen memory, and prevents the signs of aging. These are facts.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few myths and untruths about fitness and exercise “out there.” If you believe these myths, you may find that you aren’t only not meeting your overall fitness goals, but that you are actually causing damage to your health.

Get to know some of the most common fitness myths, and the truth about them, here.

1. Spot Reduction is Effective

This is untrue. If all you do to lose your gut is sit-ups or crunches, your effort is going to be futile. Doing a million ab exercises per day isn’t going to flatten your stomach if it is covered by layers upon layers of fat. 

A better option is to burn calories by engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise. This is going to help you shed belly fat, especially when you combine it with a healthy diet.

While spot training can help to tone certain muscles, these are only going to be visible once you eliminate the excess fat on top of them.

There are also some other, more unusual exercises you can do to get rid of fat. By keeping things varied you are more likely to stick to your routine and achieve the desired results.

2. You Have Upper, Middle, and Lower Abs

This is actually all one muscle.

If you want to target the various parts of your abdomen, then you have to work and pre-fatigue specific parts of it. For example, when using a crunch series, you need to fatigue the top portion of your abs first, then the middle, to effectively work the bottom.

These are the muscles that are also responsible or expanding your rib cage, which is somewhat of a myth itself. Find more info about this here.

3. Never Squat Past Your Toes

This is probably one of the biggest exercise and fitness myths heard. Most people believe they should not squat past a 90-degree angle.

The truth is, squatting with your knees over your toes is actually considered a healthy and bio-mechanically safe move. It is something you do every day.

4. Deadlifts are Hard on Your Back

You are not going to hurt your back just because you are doing a deadlift. Instead, you hurt yourself when you try to sacrifice your technique to move a higher amount of weight.

There are several ways you can compromise your deadlift form to get the weight up. Unfortunately, none of these are good for your back in the long term.

5. You Need to Drink Electrolytes Each Time You Workout

While there are more than a few sports drink commercials that are going to work overtime to prove this is necessary, plain water can get you through most workouts. The sports drinks that are full of electrolytes are only really necessary if you are planning an intense cardio workout or if you plan to spend several hours in the gym.

The extra sugar found in these drinks can actually hinder the fat-burning process. As a result, you should only drink these when they are really needed.

6. If You Aren’t Sore, You Didn’t Get a Good Workout

While the intensity of your workout and your soreness are occasionally connected, how tired your muscles feel isn’t always an accurate representation of whether or not you got a good workout. If you are sore it doesn’t mean you got a great workout, it just means that a lot of stress was put on the tissue.

It is possible to get a great workout and not feel any soreness the following day. When you recover properly, achy muscles are typically prevented. The best way to recover is by refueling within 45 minutes of your exercise session, remain hydrated, and get plenty of sleep.

7. Yoga Isn’t a “Real” Workout

If you have ever written off yoga because you don’t believe it’s a real workout, then you probably imagine it as a series of gentle stretches, and this is simply not the case. Yes, there are some extremely relaxing yoga classed out there, but there are harder options, too.

If you want to get a great workout, and walk away covered in sweat, then try out power Vinyasa yoga or Bikram yoga. You can even find class options online if you can’t make it to the gym.

8. You Have to Work Out Daily to See Results

This is definitely a myth and something most people are thankful for. Each time you work out, you are breaking down the muscle fibers, which allows them to rebuild and be stronger than before.

However, if you want this to happen, you have to give your body plenty of time to recover from your workout. It’s best to set aside one or two days each week and designate them as active recovery days.

This means that you do something that doesn’t put any stress on your body. Examples of this include taking a walk or stretching. The takeaway here is that you don’t have to exercise seven days a week.

Fitness Myths: Now You Know

Now that you know what some of the most common fitness myths are, you can reevaluate your own goals and methods. This will help ensure you have the best chance of success when it comes to your own fitness and health goals.

Now that you know some of the weirdest and most common myths about fitness and exercise, you may want to learn some other fun and weird facts and information. If that’s the case, then be sure to check out our blog on weird garden tips that work.

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