Continuing with our conversation that began yesterday regarding common misperceptions and myths that exist in the exercise realm, I thought I would share a personal experience before we get into the nitty-gritty.
When I was in high school, I was, I suppose you could say, at my peak in terms of athleticism. I was heavily involved with rugby and running, and I was entirely under the impression that in order to maintain the fitness I possessed, I had to exercise, hard, every single day, with no rest days.
As it turns out, this is not at all true, nor is it a healthy way to approach exercise. If you’re working your ass off and punishing yourself in workouts day after day, without allowing your body to recover, you’re going to end up causing yourself damage in the form of injury or exhaustion. It isn’t smart, and the notion that high-intensity exercise is required every day to maintain a given level of fitness is entirely a myth.
Getting back to our source now, again, this information comes from mayoclinichealthsystem.org.
“Myth 6: Cardio machines demonstrate burned calories with 100% accuracy.
Some people depend on the treadmill to tell them an exact number of calories burned during a workout. Unfortunately, this metric isn’t 100% accurate. Many factors determine how many calories your body will burn, including your sex, age and current weight. Some machines allow you to enter personalized data in one or two of these factors but rarely all three.
“Myth 7: Sticking to ab workouts will give me a six-pack.
Abdominal workouts are great for developing core muscles because they benefit your body in many ways, such as improving your balance and stability. However, a person’s overall body fat prevent abs from being seen. If you want six-pack abs, you have to dramatically decrease your body fat to 10%–12% for men or 11%–13% for women. While possible, this requires strict dedication to eating a healthy diet and exercise.
“Myth 8: Supplements and protein shakes after workouts are necessary.
Supplements and protein shakes are not necessary. The benefits you reap from them can come from natural and direct food sources, such as chocolate milk, turkey and a scoop of peanut butter. It’s important to remember that nutrition companies are out to make money. So they’ll sell their product by convincing consumers it’s the only product that provides what they need before, during or after a workout. The truth is we don’t need expensive shakes to get proper nutrients as we can get those directly from less expensive food sources. If you consume protein-rich foods after a workout, do so within 30 minutes. That’s when your muscles absorb that energy, as they’re still burning and working.
“Myth 9: If I’m not working up a sweat, I’m not working hard enough.
Sweating is an inaccurate way to measure how hard you’ve worked out. Sweating shouldn’t be a gauge of how hard you’re working during a workout. Many factors go into the amount a person sweats, such as the temperature, humidity and hydration levels. Your body just could be efficient at cooling itself, as well.
“Myth 10: No pain, no gain.
While feeling uncomfortable during a workout is normal, feeling pain is not. Many athletes live by the ‘no pain, no gain’ motto, but pain is the way your body tells you that something is wrong. If you start to feel pain during a workout, stop immediately. If you continue to push through it, you could end up with a serious injury,” the web page explains.
Here’s hoping this information helped clear up some misinformation that exists in the fitness community.
Photo by Jenny Hill on Unsplash
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