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Five Common Exercise Myths

Posted by Mindy on March 26th, 2009 at 08:33am

Don’t fall prey to these common fitness myths:

1. No pain, No gain. Many people believe that a high intensity workout is the only way to stay in shape and lose weight. Moderate-intensity exercise is key and is equivalent to a walking pace of 3 to 4 mph. The advantage of high-intensity workouts are that they save time, a 40-50 minute walk can be converted into an equally beneficial 20 minute run.

2. Sweating = Good Workout. Sweating means your body is trying to cool itself, it is not an indication of intensity. There are intense exercises that may not cause you to break a sweat, such as weight lifting and swimming.

3. Crunches will give you washboard abs. You see people at the gym every day doing hundreds of crunches in an attempt to blast belly fat. But the truth is that you can’t pick and choose where you lose fat. The best thing you can do is combine cardio and strength training to help burn body fat.

4. Strength training will make you bulky. Strength training helps build muscle and burn body fat, it will not make you look like a bodybuilder. If you find yourself looking bigger than you like, use lighter weights and more reptitions.

5. Small weights on your arms or legs will build muscle while walking/running. There is no need to add weight while you are walking or running. All you are doing is slowing yourself down and creating a less effective aerobic workout.