Ballerific Health: Stop Doing These 10 Fitness Myths – blogged by: @proudlylauren

In a time where everyone is into fitness, and swears they are a fitness professional, it’s easy to get caught up in myths and convoluted information along your weight loss journey. Because of all the bad information out there, some people believe water is the coming of Jesus, Waist trainers are the root for all skinny, and cleanses of any kind are the answer to everything. And they’re wrong. So if you are currently gulping down some green cleanse concoction, or maybe you’re simply friends with a fitness nincompoop, read the following fitness myths to make sure you are actually getting fit, and not on a witch hunt for health.

1.     Drinking Water Makes You Lose Weight: If people believed the all the myths surrounding water, it’d literally be a magical liquid. But its not, and it does not make you lose weight or burn calories. Water is good for weight loss however, in making you feel more full longer. It’s also an excellent substitution for all of those high calorie juices/soda you usually consume. Water is also good for helping you flush out the bad things you take in daily, so make sure you are drinking at least half your weight in ounces daily.

2.     Lifting Weights Will Make Women Look Bulky: For some reason, women believe weights of any kind, will have them looking like a male body builder. But that’s just not true. Women’s genetic makeup, first of all, preserves our femininity and makes it very difficult to get too bulky. Women that are heavy in muscle, have chosen to do that, and have gone through extreme measures to get them. You don’t just wake up one day, lift a ten pound dumb bell, and look like The Rock. Weights, however, can help you achieve certain goals. Looking to perk up your glutes or slim those arms? Heavy weights will help that.

3.     Doing Crunches Will Get Rid of Belly Fat: Yes crunches help you define your abdominal muscles, but that doesn’t mean anything for the fat that sits on top of your ab muscles. The only way to get rid of that fat and see the ab’s underneath, is to do high calorie burning exercises and CLEAN EATING. Crunches just don’t burn enough calories and as they say, abs are made in the kitchen. Look for high protein/fiber and low carb diets to boost your weight loss regimen.

4.     I Can Spot-Reduce My Problem Areas: Using Waist Trainers, Trash bags, and other spot targeting tools to reduce fat is all a big myth. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that shows where someone was able to lose/gain fat in targeted areas. If you want to lose fat all over you have to just burn the calories. There is however, a way to target strength, and that comes from muscle specific workouts like squats for your glutes.

5.     Skipping a Meal Helps With Weight Loss: Some people believe forms of fasting, or skipping meals, helps in their mission to lose weight. But it actually hurts your progress. By starving yourself you are depleting the body of essential energy and nutrients. Furthermore, when you finally do eat, instead of your body processing it normally, it will hold on to the calories longer in case you decide to fast again, and drain nutrients.

6.     Cleanse Products are Necessary For Weight Loss: Again, there is no scientific data that supports the necessity, or effectiveness of a cleanse. As long as you are eating a healthy and regulated diet, the body is naturally set up to rid itself of toxins and waste, and will do so. But if you want to spend all that cash drinking god knows what, go right ahead.

7. All Protein Supplements are the Same: There are a ton of different types of protein: soy, casein, egg, and whey (to name a few). Each of these proteins have a different use, and each kind of protein has a different amount of carbs, fat, cholesterol and calories. Protein also varies depending on brand and type. Choose a protein that’s right for your goals and price point.

8.     The Only Way to Lose Weight is by Cutting all Carbs: All carbs aren’t created equal, and all carbs aren’t bad for you. Anything with an excessive amount of calories, or more calories than you need, can make you lose weight: carb or not.

9.     The More I Sweat the More I Burn: I know tons of people who go to the gym solely to produce sweat. They do a bunch of low intensity workouts, and feel like they’ve accomplished something just because they are drenched. In reality, sweat is no accurate indicator of how hard you worked out. It’s simply our body’s way of cooling us off and regulating body temperature.

10.  Long Steady Cardio is the Best Cardio: Any blanket statement like this is BS. There are tons of different kinds of cardio, including HIIT, jump rope, and running, that burns a significant amount of calories. If you actually do the right cardio workout, you can burn the same amount of calories in half the amount of time. In fact, studies show that interval cardio is much more effective than just running a steady pace for a long period of time. Google different kinds of cardio workouts, and stop standing on the elliptical for forty minutes.

Staying fit is hard enough as it is, don’t make it harder on yourself by practicing all of these fitness myths.