5 Fitness Myths and Their Origin

In the fitness and health world, there are hundreds of misconceptions, wrongful facts and myths. In this article you will discover the truth about five fitness myths and their origin.

#1 when women lift weights they become bulky

This myth is entirely false. Relax girls, lifting weights won't turn you into a giant muscular monster, no one will become huge only from lifting weights. The reason women will not gain as much muscle as men is because of their genetics. Women have a lot less testosterone in their bodies and therefore won't be able to grow muscles as men do. Testosterone is the muscle-building hormone and men are filled with it. When women lift weights they will become tighter, stronger and look more fit, but only if they don't believe in the next myth...

#2 hard workouts make up for a poor diet

Here is why this myth is false: When men and women work out, they train their muscles, tone their bodies and increase endurance and strength. But if you work out 3 times a week for approximately 1 hour, you spend 3 hours a week exercising. The rest of that week you should focus on your diet and what you put in your body. One week has 168 hours, you work out 3 of those hours, then you have to eat healthy and get enough rest between your workouts to get the best results.

#3 quitting exercise will make your muscles turn into fat.

This myth is an old one; I have no idea where it comes from or how it was ever thought of. But the real reason muscular men gain a lot of fat after they stop working out is because they often do not change their calorie intake. They keep eating the same amount of food, stops working out and then they gain a ton of fat, because they don't adjust their diet to their lifestyle.

#4 spot fat reduction

Ahh... they queen of all fitness myths. "I just want some fat off my midsection, thighs, hips, butt, etc." This is the worst myth of them all, and probably one of the most common too! The fact is that it is physically impossible to lose fat in one particular area by training it. You will get a more toned muscle, but it will not help you remove fat from the selected area only by applying an exercise. When you lose weight you lose it all over your body, from your toes to your face. You need a full body workout or a two-day split to get a nicer butt or more noticeable biceps.

#5 as you age you gain fat

This myth is also not true, the reason many older people get a belly or gains weight is from lack of exercise and poor diet choices. As you age your body will take longer to recover from working out, but this is not unnatural. Anyone who wants to become more athletic, healthy and fit can so, regardless of age and gender.

Where does these myths come from?

Workout myths comes from a variety of places, they come from supplement companies, bodybuilding magazines and podcasts. But why is there such a big difference in what all the so-called "reliable" sources tell you?

The supplement companies will dump you with untrue information and poor workouts, promising it will work as long as you consume their supplement. They do not care about your health or your results. They want you to buy into their supplements, having you believe their brand is the magic pill to get ripped.

The bodybuilding magazines loves spreading the new "routine", this is usually a 3-4 day split program. The only way a program like that will work is if you are on heavy steroids. When you use the programs it will give you the illusion of results. You might have some initial results after the first two weeks, but after that they just don't work anymore. Many people are hooked on this kind of information. That is why they sell so many magazines! People love to try the new super routine to whip them into shape in an instant.

In this day and age most people own a computer and many have microphones, so it is not hard to start a podcast about fitness, or any other topic for that matter. But not everyone is really qualified to give out advice, and even if they are they might accidentally spread wrongful information and it will be carried on for god knows how long. I am not meaning to bash podcasts, but you should double-check your facts

Before you cite them as facts.

What have you learned today?

You have learned the truth about a variety of different fitness myths and how they might have occurred. Next time you read an interesting fact in a magazine or hear it on the radio or anywhere else, I urge you to double check it before citing it. I wrote this article to inform you and help you make informed decisions before you buy some silly product from a television infomercial or something similar!