Fitness Myths Exposed

One of the most common things we see in the Fitness Industry is a proliferation of myths. These seems to come from a misquoted magazine article and get propogated on a global scale. In this article I try to dispel some of the most common fitness myths:

Long Periods of Cardio is Great For Fat Burning

This just isn't true. Yes you will burn some calories, but you'll be surprised how few. You need to be focusing on high intensity interval training if you want to really start changing your metabolism and burning fat. These intervals should include both cardio-based exercises and resistance training.

Doing Lots of Sit-Ups is Key To Getting a Flat Stomach

False. You can do all the sit-ups in the world, but if you have abdominal (belly) fat you won't lose it by doing sit-ups! Instead follow the recommendations above.

Lifting Weights Will Make Me Big

No it won't. In order to get big you will need to have the right hormonal environment, be eating thousands of calories a day and hitting incredibly heavy weights. In fact, many men who wish to get bigger find that they cannot achieve much growth despite heavy weight training. Even professional body builders find they have to supplement their diet with testosterone boosting support to create the correct hormonal environment for real growth.

If you stop exercising, muscle will turn to fat

No it won't. Fat and muscle are two different things. What happens when you stop exercising is that you may lose muscle mass and you will likely put on weight (fat) if you become inactive. Hence many people wrongly assume that their muscle has turned to fat - it hasn't.

Keeping heartrate in the fat burning zone will help me burn more calories
Ever seen those cardio machines in the gym that talk about fat burning zones? This low level intensity exercise would actually burn less calories than shorter bursts of much higher intensity exercise where your heart rate vastly exceeds the fat burning zone. Most exercise scientists now believe the fat buring zone is an outdated concept and one that's best to ignore if you're serious about burning fat.