Fitness myths are all over the internet. Most fitness myths started out with some truth but after further research was done, they were found to be wrong.
I am going to breakdown some of the fitness myths out there that I hear most often
Cardio will burn fat to help you lose weight when in fact cardio burns calories!
- Do not get me wrong, if you are running upwards of 30 miles a week, and have for many years, then yes this will help you maintain a healthier weight.
- However, if you find yourself doing a lot of cardio but not losing the weight, adding resistance training will help.
- By lifting and increasing your lean muscle mass, you will burn that fat. But remember muscle weighs more than fat meaning you will lose fat but gain weight in the form of muscle.
- Check out my post on weight loss tips for more info
When squatting, you must keep your knees from going over your toes: wrong!
- In school, this is what I was taught in my exercise physiology class
- But this is no longer the case.
- It is fine if your knees go over your toes, but make sure your feet stay flat on the ground.
- The research listed below found that to keep strain off your hips and low back, moving the knees slightly forward on the toes will help keep the load in the proper place.
- (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14636100/)
Running is bad for your knees
- Running is good exercise and if you are not over doing it or do not have pain, continue to run!
- Continuing to run when you have an injury or pushing yourself too much to cause an injury are what you want to stay away from.
- I know many people and I have had many patients that are older and run without knee issues
Competing in contact or collision sports as a kid will cause issues later in life.
- I cannot tell you how often I get this from my older patients: “Oh I played football when I was in High school, so my back is messed up” or “Gymnastics and really did a number on my shoulders and knees when I was a kid”.
- Please stop because this is untrue!
- Participating in sports as a youth, kept you healthy at that age, and most likely the issues you have as an adult are a sedentary lifestyle.
DO NOT stop working out when injured.
- With an injury, some kind of restriction will be put on your workouts.
- However if you injure one body part you can still workout others!
- If you injure your leg, workout your core and upper body while rehabbing the leg and vice versa.
- If you have pain while running a certain distance, cut down the distance while you rehab and build back up to the desired distance.
This one is not to do with fitness, but I needed to include it: “My MRI showed a bulging disc, that is why I have pain and probably need surgery”
- There is a higher possibility of pain with an anatomical issue like this, however there may be other problems like weakness or muscle tightness.
- If you were to take 100 people off the street and give them all an MRI, most of them would have a disc problem, but NOT have pain.
- Physical Therapy, if performed correctly, can help you prevent surgery and reduce the pain you are experiencing
With fitness myths all over the internet: Please do not fall victim to one of those myths about fitness or Physical Therapy. Ask a professional if you have any questions.