The benefits of regular activity have been extensively researched and are widely accepted. It is positively known that exercise is beneficial for weight control, ensures the healthy functioning of the body and its organs, helps prevent some illness and relieves stress. There have been a series of myths developed over time that some will say are factual and others will denounce as untrue.

We are going to denounce 5 widely accepted exercise myths in this article.

Myth 1 - You do exercises, targeting a specific area, to burn fat from that area.

It is easy to understand why this myth is so widely believed but the human body just does not work that way. The only way to burn fat is with cardio or aerobic activity that increases the heart rate and breathing. The body burns fat evenly around the body and can’t target any one area.

By doing strength exercises that target individual fatty areas of the body, muscle will increase in that area which will give it a trimmer look until the fat disappears.

Myth 2 - Regular exercise is the only exercise that is of benefit.

Any exercise is beneficial; all exercise is beneficial; some exercise is beneficial.

This myth that exercise must be regular, consistent and frequent causes many people to give up completely. They believe that, because they don’t have the time, motivation, tenacity etc., there is no point doing any exercise at all.

If you can only go for an occasional walk, mow the grass or play ball with the kids you will benefit. Even a small amount of activity impacts blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure levels. If you want to tone your body, lose weight or build muscle, this occasional type of activity probably won’t do it. This is where regular and consistent exercise is necessary, but any exercise is better than none.

Myth 3 - You don’t want to do weight training because it will make you look like a body builder.

Including some strength exercise in your workouts will develop and tone your muscles, but it takes much more than a fitness workout to develop a body builder physique. Body builders spend hours every day on weight machines and supplement their diets to develop the bulk of muscle they need. This is a lengthy process and does not happen with 2 or 3 strength training sessions a week.

You can safely add a couple of strength sessions to your cardio workout each week; you will build muscle but only to trim your body. Remember, the extra muscle will burn more calories too.

Myth 4 - You can’t stop working out, once you have started, because the muscle turns to fat.

Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues and one cannot become the other, regardless of what you do or don’t do.

What does happen is that when muscle isn’t used, it will lose size and strength and become flabby; some of your improved trimness will change. If you stop your regular workouts for any reason, the lack of exercise and the loss of muscle will reduce the rate of your metabolism, which may lead to increased fat and weight gain.

Myth 5 - I haven’t exercised for years and now I am just too old to start.

There is no reason why a person of any age cannot begin some appropriate exercise program. After consulting a doctor and having a thorough health check, gentle exercise can safely be started, with long-term health benefits.

It has been proven that exercise can actually relieve the symptoms of many age-related problems, improve the mood and increase energy. There are many exercise classes designed for older people and many forms of exercise that can benefit them.

There are many more exercise myths out there that can impact on our health and fitness. Challenge any myth that doesn’t seem to make sense; do some research and find different opinions regarding exercise practices; ask questions to uncover the truth behind exercise myths.

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