MYTH BUSTERS

Myth vs. Truth

The world is full of misleading and confusing information about health, nutrition, and training. It can be difficult to find the truth amongst all of the myths. In reality, things are much more complicated than a single answer, so when you read prescriptive advice with words like 'always, never, every time, everyone,' you can guess that it might not be completely accurate.

 

We're doing our bit to debunk some of these myths. Check out our responses to some common misconceptions below. 

MYTH: Doing sit ups will give you a strong core.

TRUTH: Sit ups done on their own won’t build a stronger core. They tend to work your hipflexors more than your core, and overworking these can make them overly tight, potentially leading to back discomfort. Substitute these with a plank instead.



MYTH: Weight training makes you bulky.

TRUTH: You would likely have to weight train most days for hours at a time over months and years and follow a careful diet to even look slightly bulky. If you want to get toned though, weight training is one of the best ways forward.



MYTH: If you don’t have muscle soreness the next day, you’re not training hard enough.

TRUTH: DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is not something that should necessarily be aimed for as it is not an indicator of progress. Muscle soreness usually happens after you have some time off from training or have done something new or at a higher intensity than usual. A better way is to track something more measurable like weight, reps, time, distance or speed etc. depending on what activity you are engaging in. If you are feeling sore regularly, it may be a sign you need to recover more carefully as it may compromise your output in subsequent training sessions. Not to say it’s a bad thing when it does happen, it just doesn’t mean much.



MYTH: You can only burn fat through slow and steady cardio.

TRUTH: You lose fat by being in a calorie deficit. This can happen either by reducing calorie intake or increasing calorie burn through activity. You burn calories by doing all kinds of activity; it doesn’t matter what type.



MYTH: You have to put in 100% to every workout.

TRUTH: It’s a nice idea, but putting maximum effort into your workouts every single time will likely lead to injury, exhaustion, and your subsequent workouts will suffer. Put 100% of your attention and intention into your session, but reaching for maximum output each session is not sustainable over the long term.