If you still believe that stretching your hamstrings and quads before a jog will help improve your performance, you’ve fallen for one of many popular exercise myths.
Confusing, conflicting and even ridiculous information about exercise gets repeated so often that many of us start accepting it as truth.
“People are always looking for a quick fix or that edge to maximize exercise time and results. However, some of these things are not grounded in exercise science,” said Kristin Ugrob, fitness program director at the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas.
Fitness misinformation can sabotage efforts to get in shape by leading us to waste time, effort and money on workouts that don’t really work. They can even harm our health and increase our risk for injury.
“Following (fitness myths) doesn’t allow you to maximize your workout and see results, so you’re not as likely to stick with it,” said Jessica Matthews, exercise physiologist with the San Diego-based American Council on Exercise.
Some common exercise myths:
Myth: Exercise allows you to eat anything and as much as you want.
Truth: “It’s calories in versus calories out. You can eat everything you want, you just can’t eat too much of it,” Ugrob said. “It’s important to make healthy food choices and not make up for the calories you’re burning (in exercise) at the table.”
Research has shown that one reason exercisers don’t always see a desired weight is because they misjudge both the number of calories burned during exercise and the number of calories in food eaten.
“Instead of sabotaging your workout efforts, reward yourself with healthful nutrition that supports your health and fitness goals,” Matthews said.
Myth: You can sit for long periods with no ill effects as long as you exercise.
Truth: “New research shows that even if people are physically fit, long, uninterrupted periods of sedentary behavior may be bad for their heath,” Matthews said.
Australian researchers at the Heart and Diabetes Institute at the University of Queensland determined that longer-than-average bouts of sitting and lying down are associated with a higher percentage of body fat in women.
“The take-home message is to try to be as active as possible whenever you can,” she said. “In addition to your regularly scheduled workouts, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from the entrance to the grocery store and take a 10-minute stretching break at work.”
Myth: Strength training gives women bulky, masculine-looking bodies.
Truth: Genetic factors are largely responsible for an individual’s muscular responses to resistance training. This is especially true for women, who typically are smaller in size, have less muscle tissue and produce lower levels of testosterone than men.
“Only a very small percentage of women possess the genetic potential to truly ‘bulk-up.’ Even most men are unable to add large amounts of muscle mass, despite their physiological advantages,” Matthews said.
One appealing aspect of strength training is that it positively affects metabolic rate, allowing the body to burn fat at a slightly higher rate throughout the entire day.