Last week in my Health is Wealth blog, I talked to you guys about how learning about fitness through social media accounts could be a positive asset to you, as long as it is from a trusted source. This week, I am going to debunk seven myths and confirm one about fitness to help better inform you.

Myth 1:Myth: Weight lifting turns fat into muscle

False: According to Business Insider, weight training helps to build up any muscular tissue around the fatty tissue. It has nothing to do with fat tissue turning into muscle. A few common ways to get rid of fat tissue is by doing cardio (running) or dieting properly (eating low fat/low carb diets). If your body burns more than you consume, then you will start to burn more excess fat tissue and will begin to slim down.

Myth 2: Lifting weights will bulk a person up

False: According to NBC news, this myth is one of the most common fallacies to date. While lifting weights is helpful towards bulking someone up, it is not always guaranteed. Smart dieting along with the correct weight program will help bulk you up. 

Myth 3: You can target your fat burn

False: According to Active, you can reduce your overall body fat but you can’t choose where along your body it will decrease. Setting up a workout plan can help you consistently lower body fat by making it a routine. If you workout enough, then you will be able to target fat over time by lowering fat throughout your body to meet your fitness goals.

Myth 4: Doing crunches or working on an “ab machine” will get rid of belly fat

False: According to WebMD, an ab machine will strengthen the surrounding abdominal muscles, not get rid of fatty tissue around the stomach. Doing cardio, like running, will help lower your fat percentage. While you might gain muscle doing an ab machine, you still won’t be able to see your abs until you decrease belly fat. 

Myth 5: If resistance training stops, muscle will turn to fat

False: According to ACE fitness, this is completely incorrect. Muscle tissue and fat tissue are completely two different tissue types that have different metabolic functions. What actually happens is when you go from physically active to sedentary, your muscular tissue weakens and gets smaller. Because it gets smaller, it may appear as though you have gained fat tissue. 

Myth 6: The more you sweat, the more you burn

Fact: According to the Meredith Health Group, sweat is a natural biological response that cools the internal body temperature from overheating by losing excess water weight. When your body works harder, it tends to sweat more. Therefore, because it is working harder, it is burning more calories. So as a result, if you are trying to lose weight, sweating more from exercising is a big positive.

Myth 7: Don’t squat past your toes

False: According to the Men’s Journal, squatting with your knees directly over your toes is actually healthy and biomechanically safe to do. We actually do it everyday. It is, however, important to squat with good form or else you could really mess up your knees and back. What you don’t want to do is squat past your toes because that could then result in poor form and put your knee ligaments in jeopardy of going out on you later in life by over-stretching them. 

Myth 8: You need a protein shake to build muscle

False: According to USA Today,you really don’t even need protein shakes after a workout as long as you are getting a sufficient amount of protein in your regular diet. Too much protein isn’t healthy either because that can turn into excess fat. 

Hopefully, this has made you more aware of some common myths and you can use this information moving forward towards your fitness goals. If you are looking to find trusted sources, then you should look especially at WebMD, USA Today, and NBC. You can also find more on my Vimeo page @austinsan where you will be finding videos that I will be posting over the next few weeks about health and fitness facts from credible sources. 

A Quick Recap 

As discussed previously in my first blog post, I informed you about how the country as a whole is pretty inactive and how all of us need to improve our fitness habits. With that, I tried to motivate you to improve your muscular and cardiovascular health. I also shared with you tips on what and what not to believe out on the internet in my second blog post. There is a lot of information out there on fitness, and I just wanted to help you differentiate what the myths are from what the facts are. 

An Overview of What’s to Come

For this time around, I am going to be promoting my campaign video, Health is Wealth, that I have made on my vimeo account. With this video, I am promoting different health concerns that I have found across the country and am trying to inform the public about them. I have also incorporated facts into my video from credible sources such as from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as well as the World Health Organization (WHO). With my account, I hope to keep on spreading health awareness going forward by releasing bimonthly videos. 

The Risks of the Internet

Once something is put out on the internet, it is out there forever. Juan Enriquez shares an interesting Ted talk about how your online life is permanent. This relates back to my second blog post about how people put wrong information out there. This is a big reason for why it is so hard to separate the good information from the bad information. Being able to know where people get their information from when it’s posted on facebook or twitter is important so you know you are actually learning the truth. A lot of the time, people copy work that is already out there (copyright). Knowing where the original source came from is very important when learning about nutritional or physical activity facts. 

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Social Media Accounts Closer

For social media accounts that have gained a big following, it is important to be aware that they can be hacked sometimes as well, as explained in Del Harvey’s video on protecting twitter users. When people want to spread a certain message, they will do anything in their power to get their message out there, like hacking a social media account. While I am trying to make you aware about the realities out there, I do think using social media to promote health is an easy way to get information. That’s why, I am trying to implement a platform where I post videos to inform all of you about the truth out there and what to do to improve your health. 

Knowing the Truth Will Only Benefit You

There is so much information on physical activity out there on the internet and not all of it is necessarily true. It’s time to know the difference between what is actually true with regards to fitness and what is actually a myth. Luckily, there are many websites out there with the resources to tell you the correct facts so that you are more informed. One of the most common phrases people say is, “Oh, I don’t have enough time in my day to work out.” That is just an excuse because to get a good workout in, it only takes 30 minutes a day to meet the ACSM guidelines. While most people may be misinformed with such information, here’s a great resource that will help educate those that have been told or even looked at physical activity the wrong way in the past. 

How to Know What Sources to Trust

The internet is a big place. A lot of the time, I find myself looking on social media reading about different trends going on right now in the fitness industry. But is that actual from a credible source? Maybe, maybe not. Twitter and facebook are notorious for posting advertisements on their websites. While some of the information pertaining to fitness may be accurate on these social media sites, you never know if it is 100% true unless it is from a leading company in the industry like this CDC (Center for Disease Control) example from Twitter. However, to get the most correct information, staying up to date on research articles as well as trusted websites will always lead you in the right direction throughout your fitness journey. 

Having an Open Mind

Sometimes, the truth is a little hard to hear when it comes to how easy it is to find time throughout your day to workout instead of making an excuse. While it is good to be knowledgeable in the field of fitness, it is also important to read about the possible wrong information you may believe of physical activity. For example, instead of being on electronics, go for a run! Contrary to what the internet may say, it isn’t actually as bad as you think, especially when you go with a friend. Sometimes, feeling uncomfortable could be a good thing because that’s where we grow most as humans! So in conclusion, there are many myths out there about physical activity that make it sound bad, but in reality, most of them are wrong and you should do what you want. Do what makes you happy and helps keep you healthy.