Buying into some commonly held fitness beliefs may keep you from making the most of your workouts – or even lead to injury. Experts debunk six persistent myths.
Myth#1–You can target fatloss in certain areas.
Toshrink a specific area, you must lose overall body weight, saysphysical therapist Kellen Scantlebury,owner of Fit Club NY. Toburn more, do exercise that usesmultiple muscle groups,such as walking.
Myth#2–Your workouts shouldlast at least a half-hour.
Get at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week. You can do 30 minutes, five days aweek or get the same benefits by breaking it into three 10-minute sets on each workout day.
Myth#3–Stretch before exercise.
没有证据表明它能降低受伤的风险。In fact, stretching cold muscles may cause受伤。Warm up with light cardio to prep muscles for activity, and stretch after working out toincrease flexibility
Myth#4–Lifting weights addsbulk.
Unless you’re doing aspecial body-building workout,strength training won’t bulk you up. It will build lean muscle, which can speed yourmetabolism and help you lose weight.
Myth#5–No pain, no gain.
A littlemuscle soreness is normal, butintense or lingering pain is asign you’ve done too much.Take a break and scale back your time and intensity.
Myth#6–Having arthritis meansyou shouldn’t push yourself.
A small study found that high-intensity interval workouts (alternating hard and easy effort)didn’t worsen pain; it did improve fitness in women withinflammatory arthritis. But it’s important to listen to your body. –SHARON LIAO
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