Fitness goals

4 Common Fitness Myths That Have Been Debunked

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If you’re looking to get fit and/or lose weight, it’s likely that you’ve researched quite a few online articles on the subject. The reason why is obvious – we all want to know the quick secrets to getting slim and staying fit. The problem is that unless you’re getting this information from a credible source then it’s likely false.

When it comes to online info about weight, use this rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here are four common fitness myths floating around out there – as well as the truth behind them.

“You must work out to lose weight.”

Many men and women often think the secret to slimming down their waistline and getting rid of those love handles is to keep exercising and exercising. Don’t think that exercise isn’t part of getting fit; that isn’t the case at all.

The reality is that losing weight deals primarily with what you eat, not how you work out. Getting lots of exercise can help expedite the weight loss process, but eating the right foods and eating correctly sized portions are the real secret to losing pounds.

“You can choose where you lose problem fat.”

Articles are out there that tout certain exercises that help you get rid of fat in certain areas. Exercise is how you help tone a muscle, but exercise alone doesn’t get rid of fat.

For instance, doing squats and sit-ups can help you tone your glutes and your core, respectively – but these exercises alone won’t actually help to eliminate those extra pounds. Some scientists believe there’s no true way to target fat in a specific area, as much as we wish there was a miracle solution.

“It’s okay to eat whatever you want if you work it off.”

If you eat 2000 calories and burn off 3000 calories, it’s all good right? Even if those 2000 calories consisted of cheeseburgers, French fries and a chocolate shake? Wrong.

It’s common that people rationalize their workout routine as a means to eating the wrong things – as long as they work off the calories that they consume it’s okay to eat whatever. The reason this is false is because calories aren’t the only reason we gain weight. You can work out all you want but that doesn’t always help to expel the toxins and bad fats found in junk foods.

“Breaking a sweat” is a good thing.

Sweating can help your body release toxins and it’s often therapeutic, which is why saunas are so popular in health centers. Sweating isn’t unhealthy by any means, and this may be why you think the more you sweat during your workout the better off you are.

Again, this is fault. Instead of having anything to do with weight loss, sweating is all about regulating body temperature. There is no correlation between the amount of sweat you produce and how much weight you’ll lose, especially since sweating varies from person to person.

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Finance and Fitness: Getting in Shape Without Breaking the Bank

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There is a common misconception that you need to buy, buy, buy to stay in shape. The media helps to perpetuate this with hundreds of ads touting products that keep track of weight loss, help you lose weight or help you exercise. From nutrition shakes, step counters, high tech running gear and the newest pair of Nikes, paying for all of this equipment can really add up.

The problem is that advertisers do this for a reason. They know that so many people, women especially, desperately want to lose weight.  If they think something will help them shed those pounds in an easier way, they’ll go for it. If these same people opened their eyes and realized if they put in as much effort to becoming healthier as they did spending money on gadgets that only sometimes work, they may actually get somewhere.

The long story short is that you don’t have to spend tons of cash on getting fitter. All you need is the willingness to get fit and the ability to put in the effort needed to make your dreams a reality.

Gym Memberships

A gym membership is in no way the only way to exercise. Are gym memberships cheaper than buying expensive exercise equipment? Short-term, yes. However, this conditional discount doesn’t matter. The best way to spend money is to not buy gym memberships at all.

If you are indeed hell bent on going to the gym, wait for promotional prices and always break down yearly membership fees by month-to-month costs. If you’re spending more than 20 dollars to go to the gym every month, you’re spending way too much.

Work with What You’ve Got

Do you have stairs at home? Use them to do lunges. Is your living room pretty free and clear of furniture? Use it as a space for yoga. Is your office close enough to walk to? Start doing it.

Getting fit requires some creativity at times, and you need to have an innovative mind to discover new ways to workout. Utilize any and all resources you already possess to help you get fit and you will, eventually, see results.

Committing to Routine

It doesn’t cost money to manage your time better. You can find small ways to exercise throughout the day, like using sitting exercises while you’re behind your desk for hours, but you also need about 15 to 30 minutes of cardio time that you can only get by focusing only on exercise.

This means mapping out your schedule and sticking to it. No “but I don’t have time”s or “I’m too tired today”s. Set aside this time to exercise and execute your schedule.

Budget Fitness Food

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to break the bank to buy the right foods for fitness. Go to your local grocery store and map out the cost of buying fresh produce, meats and grains. Look for discounts, coupons and sales. This also requires effort, but it will be well worth it in the end when you’re preparing home cooked, delicious meals that are simultaneously helping slim down your waistline.

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Incorporating Fitness into Your Everyday Schedule

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Incorporating Fitness

One common excuse you’ll hear people make for not exercising is that it simply doesn’t fit into their schedule. The fact of the matter is that this is exactly what it sounds like – and excuse. The reality is that you can always find time to exercise, but you have to be able to incorporate it into your schedule.

It’s possible to be fit at all times while still having a busy day, and just because you’re always busy doesn’t mean you’re being fit. Not eating and sitting at a desk all day won’t make you lose weight, and it certainly won’t make you healthier. The trick to being healthy and working is moving and eating right.

The following are quick ways to incorporate fitness into your everyday life while you’re at work, at home or anywhere in between.

  1. In general, move more. If you don’t want to concern yourself with actual legitimate exercises, you’ll have to find ways to be more active without them. Walk the long way around the office, job home instead of driving, or do leg exercises while you’re sitting. If you can find a way to be more mobile, go for it.
  1. Start planning a regular mobile activity. This can be 30 minutes of walking or 15 minutes of cardio. No matter what kind of activity it is, you can easily squeeze it into your schedule.
  1. If you don’t want to give up Netflix night so you can commit to your exercise evening, combine the two projects. You can easily do yoga and watch the latest episode of Narcos. Find exercise methods that still allow you to watch TV or enjoy your other hobbies you’d miss out on otherwise.
  1. Don’t commit to exercises you don’t like. If you hate burpees, don’t do them. There are tons of exercises out there that work every part of your body – enough to substitute one for the other. If you don’t enjoy an exercise, you’re likely to fall off the wagon with committing to it.
  1. If you’re looking to exercise more to lose weight, that’s a noble cause – but your main focus should be on being healthy. When it comes to your schedule, you shouldn’t focus your routine around a certain number of days or sessions in order to lose 10 pounds. You have to make working out and being mobile a commitment that’s long term in your appointment book.
  1. You have to focus on more than one area of exercise. For one day, schedule cardio. For another, strength training. Space these days out and schedule them so that you can have rest days for easier movement in between your harder days.
  1. Always try to get involved with fitness groups. Usually fitness classes have a set time that they occur, and this can make scheduling in a workout easier and more of a commitment than just picking a random time to do some sit-ups in the kitchen.
  1. Choose a time of day to work out and stick to it. Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, keep your schedule routine so you’re more likely to work out when you say you will.

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