The Worst Fitness Advice You’ll Ever Get.

Bad fitness advice can be found everywhere. On Facebook, bad trainer’s websites, random magazine articles – even some celebrities. There are many common myths when it comes to fitness. Here are some of the worst pieces of advice in regards to fitness you’ll ever hear:

 Don’t Lift Weights, You’ll Get Bulky

Weights won’t make you bulky unless you want to get bulky. It’s easier for men to bulk up than women, but even then, it can be difficult. To ‘bulk up’, you need to be training as heavy as you can, and eating in a surplus of calories to make sure you pack on that muscle. Women actually shape their bodies when they lift weights. They don’t get any bulkier, unless they decide to start ‘growing’, and eat in accordance with their goals. In short, weights are a great way for both men and women to create the body of their dreams.

Lift As Heavy As You Possibly Can All The Time

So, you know that weights are a brilliant way to get that dream body. But do you think you need to lift as heavy as you can all the time? You’d be wrong. Lifting heavy is important, but doing it all the time can put strain on the joints. You want to be able to get at least 8 reps out of your weight for hypertrophy, which is what builds the muscles and helps burn the fat. Less reps than that and you’re likely strength building rather than muscle building. More than 15-20 reps and you’re lifting too light to make any real difference, unless your goal is just to burn calories (an old fashioned goal).

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 Go To The Gym Every Day

 Going to the gym every day will put stress on your body. Everybody needs at least one rest day a week. Rest is part of the program! People who brag about having no days off will exhaust themselves and may even hinder their results.

 Work Out For As Long As Possible

 Some people think running for hours is the key, others think the longer they spend on gym equipment the better. Wrong! If you workout for too long, in some cases over an hour, then you could eat away at your muscle and damage your body. In some cases, it’s ok to workout for a couple of hours if you’re working on a specific body part and doing it in accordance with your goals. Working harder for less time is so much better. Bear this in mind.

Run To Get The Body Of Your Dreams

Running is good for cardio health, endurance, and burning a few calories. But it certainly won’t help you to get the body of your dreams. To get the body of your dreams you’ll usually need to do both cardio and resistance. HIIT cardio can keep body fat low while resistance can build muscle, but you usually want to focus on one goal at a time rather than trying to reach both goals. You’ll need to tweak your plan slightly depending on your goals, but always include both cardio and resistance for health and fitness reasons. The t25 workout calendar can be a big help when working out what to do.

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 Weigh Yourself To See How You’re Doing

Weight includes everything in your body, including your organs, not just your fat. So why should you care too much about what you weigh? Doing it occasionally can show you whether you’re going in the right direction if you have fat to lose, but people get way too hung up on it. You can weigh more but look better, and weigh less but look worse. So don’t worry about the scales. Take pictures and measurements instead. Go by how you feel over everything else. That’s the most important thing!

Cut Out Carbs/Fats

You shouldn’t cut out any food group if you want to get sustainable results. Healthy fats and carbs are key to a balanced diet and great results. Vegetables and things like brown rice are great carb sources. Nuts and coconut oil are great fats. Cutting things like this out of your diet would be unhealthy, not just bad for the way you look. You might get results at first, but you won’t be doing your health any favors. That’s even if you can avoid rebounding! Go for a healthy, balanced approach over everything else so you know you’re making changes in the long run.

Eat As Much Protein As Possible

Protein is good for muscle maintenance and building, but eating too much of it is bad for you too. Aim for a maximum amount of 1 gram per pound of bodyweight you have.

What’s the worst piece of fitness advice you’ve ever had?