To achieve a sculpted, beach-ready body, you have to commit to a long-term health and fitness routine. You should do a lot of research to determine what kinds of exercises are suited for you. Online, you can find a ton of free resources regarding fitness and workout that you can use as guides throughout your journey. However, be warned that not all that you come across are reliable. There are many myths on working out floating around the web that are simply not true and might not give you the results that you want.
The following are common misconceptions about working out that you should wary of:
1. You should work out everyday to get fit as quickly as possible.
The human body is not invincible. It needs to get enough rest to recharge and reboot. If you work out on a daily basis, you are not giving your tissues and muscles time to recover from the damages that they sustained during your workout sessions. Over time, this can lead to serious injuries and complications that can drastically affect your lifestyle. Thus, it is essential to have one or two rest days in between for recovery.
2. You can get rid of fat from certain parts of the body by spot-training.
If you want to have a slimmer waist or get six-pack abs, you cannot just do crunches or sit-ups. That is not how things work. You have to do a wide variety of exercises to start burning off as much of the excess body fat all over your body as possible. Focusing on specific body parts for fat loss is not a thing at all, and will not help you move closer to your fitness goals.
3. It is best to exercise on an empty stomach.
While there are many people that prefer to work out before having a meal, there are also others that can perform better on a full stomach. Your body needs fuel to be at its best. It should have enough energy to let you get through strenuous activities, like working out. At the end of the day, it all depends on how your body feels and what your goals are.
4. Longer workout sessions yield more satisfactory results.
Not everyone has the luxury to spend more than a couple of hours on exercising each week. You might be among them who are too busy with work, school, or family. If this is the case, do not worry so much about falling short of achieving your goals. The efficacy of your workout is not just determined by duration or frequency. It has a lot more to do with intensity. The higher the intensity of your routines, the more calories and fats are burned. Thus, even if you only have about half an hour of workout time every couple of days, as long as you stick to high-intensity exercises, you will see improvements.
5. You can solely rely on exercise to lose weight.
If you work out two hours a day, seven times a week, but eat a lot of junk food, do not expect to find yourself a few pounds lighter than the last time you weighed in. Losing weight is pretty much all about your diet. If you get rid of foods high in sugar and fats from your typical daily meals, and replace them with fruits and vegetables, you will lose weight even without exercising. Exercise is more like an enhancer, something that you can incorporate to your new and healthy lifestyle to help you reach your ideal weight and body faster.
6. Feeling sore all over equates to a great workout.
Treating how sore your body feels after a workout as an indication of how good your workout routine is is not advised. The reason for this is that soreness can sometimes stem from not doing warm-ups or stretches in the beginning, dehydration, or practicing bad form all throughout. It is not always because you successfully completed a solid, high-intensity session.
7. You need gym equipment for a good workout session.
It is possible to enjoy good exercise sessions even without getting a gym membership or buying your own treadmill or rowing machine. Even at home, you can setup a small area that you can transform into your personal gym, with only your bodyweight and a few tools to help you out. By making use of what you already have and other easily accessible resources, you can enjoy working out on your own, in your private space, without breaking the bank.
8. The more you sweat, the harder you exercised.
Sweat should not be used to gauge how hard your work out. While it is true that you sweat buckets the more intense your training is, there are other factors that can contribute to the amount of perspiration you get. If the temperature in the room is in the 80s and the humidity is high, you will obviously get your clothes soaked sooner than if the conditions are cooler.
9. Doing crunches is the best way to get great abs.
While crunches have their list of benefits, including helping strengthen your ab muscles, they are not the most efficient workout option available. There are other exercises, like planks, leg raises, and standing crunches, that are better designed to achieve a sturdier and firmer midsection.
10. A cardio-only workout is the best way to get fit.
Cardio exercises are great for losing weight. They can help burn a lot of calories, keep your heart and lungs healthy, and promote better blood and oxygen flow throughout the body to allow your organs to function and perform well. However, to say that they are the undisputed best option for people wanting to lose weight is not at all true. Once you start shedding off those extra pounds, your muscles will need your attention too. They have to be worked to boost your lean muscle mass so that you can develop faster metabolism and be able to burn calories faster even if you are just resting.
