Seven Myths of Exercise

Posted by Healthy Bitch Daily on Feb 11, 2013

Exercise experts talk about the workout myths that drive them bonkers 

The calorie counter on the Elliptical says I burned 900 calories.

So what if I inhaled a tub of bonbons faster than Peggy Bundy? I'll just walk the dog.

Lifting weights will make me look like Chyna, so I avoid the bench press like the WWF. 

Yeah, we’ll tell ourselves just about anything to put in fewer hours at the gym. But while our bellies appreciate the exercise, trust me, sweet tits—they’re not buying our commitment.

It’s all these shortcuts we take to limit the time and effort we put into exercise, that has us fooled into thinking we know exactly what’s working for that complicated little body of ours.

To get these myths out in the open, CNN.com went straight to the source, and asked trusted exercise physiologists, trainers and nutritionists just what exercise myths tick them off the most. So, here are a few that ticked us off the most.

May we all exit a stage of complete denial.

Seven Myths of Exercise

Myth #1: The cardio machine knows exactly how many calories you’re burning. That Stair Stepper is not a psychic. Sure it does its best to assess the calories you’re burning, but these machines don't know your body composition (some don’t even ask for weight or sex). What you’re seeing is a guesstimation that is subjective and can differ from machine to machine.

Myth #2: Women should stay away from weights because they’ll get all beefed up like a professional wrestler. Quit fearing the barbells. According to former female bodybuilder, Alice Burron, you really have to overload those muscles to build bulk. Plus, women have too much estrogen to beef up like a dude—you would have to be spending a lot of time in the gym to add significant muscle mass.

Bitchworthy: According to fitness expert and our favorite personal coach, Jackie Warner, every woman should include weight training at least three to four days a week in their routine. If you add three to five pounds of muscle to your body, you will burn 250 to 500 extra calories per day, which equals three to five pounds of fat loss per week.

Myth #3: Heart rate monitors know exactly how hard you’re working. Whatever. Though heart rate monitors are a great inclination, your body is the only true detector of how much energy you’re exerting and the intensity—not some athletic strap-on. Rather than depending entirely on a machine, Matt Fitzgerald, senior editor of Competitor group, says to practice the talk test: your intensity can be measured by whether you can talk in full sentences, short snippets or barely mutter a word.

Myth #4: Your weight says everything. Step away from the scale. Weight is not the ultimate measure for fitness. Whether you see a change in the lb’s right away or not, a few months of increased exercise reduces risk factors such as spiked blood sugar and blood pressure. Working out makes you a healthier person overall.

Myth #5: Low-intensity exercise burns more fat. Low-intensity workouts like walking and riding the stationary bike are less stressful on the joints, but there is a big fat myth that exercising too intensely burns carbohydrates instead of fat. Wrong. You need to burn those carbohydrates to start burning fat. The more intense the exercise, the more calories that are burned, plain and simple.

Myth #6: No pain, no gain. Who’s pleased to hear this one’s a myth? Um, that would be us. Feeling a bit of discomfort during a workout is good, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re in pain… ever. As Burron puts it, “You want to exercise smarter, not harder.”

Myth #7: Stretching prevents injuries. Not! Forget the standard static method of loosening your muscles by touching your toes or trying to clutch your ankles to your hips. A number of recent studies suggest that it can actually be detrimental to your body. Instead focus on dynamic stretching, which is where you practice a range of motions to help encourage movement. This would include plyometrics such as high knee jogs or walking lunges.

When it comes to exercise and working out, what’s the biggest heap of bull honkey you’ve ever heard?

Carly Harrill, Co-Founder of HealthyBitchDaily.com

A publicist and writer with a big mouth, Carly taps into mainstream media and the entertainment community to educate the everyday woman on making small changes that are better for her body and the earth—both on and off the plate. Outside of HBD, she works on upcoming installments of the Skinny Bitch book series, and is the strategic partnerships manager at Healthy Child Healthy World.