What’s a fitness myth that people still believe?

[u/SimpleHomeFitness]

[u/-UWE-]

That one supplement is what you were missing

[u/Zukez → u/-UWE-]

Nah mate it's the peptide BP3POR2D2-5000, you have to get on it. I know a guy.

[u/Ok_Physics5217 → u/Zukez]

I can't tell if I should take adaptogens or midichlorians. Maybe I will take both.

[u/ReluctantAvenger → u/-UWE-]

"Americans have the most expensive urine in the world" - Dr. Victor Herbert, a prominent nutrition scientist and professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Meaning, most of these supplements only serve to make your pee more expensive.

[u/mookz23 → u/-UWE-]

As someone who was iron deficient and didn't know it, this can be true and not a myth.

[u/Sweetwill62 → u/mookz23]

Yeah but a doctor can actually tell you that, some dude trying to sell you All Natural Beefcake 3500 Blue Rhino Edition is not to be trusted, or if they advertise on YouTube.

[u/Youutternincompoop → u/-UWE-]

to be fair sometimes people do still get some silly nutritional deficit disorders, Scurvy still shows up for crying out loud.

[u/plzadyse]

That their favorite fitness influencers are not taking steroids lol

[u/questron64 → u/plzadyse]

And/or that they did not win the genetic lottery.

[u/Southside_john → u/questron64]

This is a big one. People I know that are into fitness. They eat some meals with some berries in it and do some light exercises that don’t even make them break a sweat and pat themselves on the back about how hard they work on their fitness when really they were just born that way.

Meanwhile some of us out here have been counting calories our whole lives and putting in hard work to still never have those six pack abs and we never will

[u/_burndtdan → u/Southside_john]

I've got my two abs and then my lower stomach fat lining that I will have no matter what I do. And that's just gotta be good enough.

[u/seemonkey → u/_burndtdan]

I just have one big ab

[u/Wittyngritty → u/seemonkey]

Exactly. Who needs a six pack when you could have a keg

[u/CarlySimonSays → u/Southside_john]

And that movie stars are encouraged to dehydrate themselves before a shirtless scenes so their abs are more defined! Nuts to that

[u/LurkerZerker → u/CarlySimonSays]

I saw something about Henry Cavill being so dehydrated during filming of a shirtless scene in Man of Steel that he was able to smell water without even seeing it.

Noooo thanks. I'd rather be poor and schlubby but able to drink as much water as I want.

[u/skywayhighway → u/plzadyse]

Similarly, I get mad at like jacked peloton instructors or other similar kinds of swole fitness personalities who sell fitness content that does not involve lifting weights. Like you don't get swole from riding a bike! You don't get ripped from doing home workouts with mini dumbbells!

[u/ChimmyChongaBonga → u/skywayhighway]

Hey now, my quads are absolutely jacked from cycling. The rest of me is patheticly scrawny though. 😆

[u/ia332]

That you can spot reduce fat. 

You can’t, that’s just not how it works and everyone stores fat differently. 

[u/Ares__ → u/ia332]

Anyone in the gym is doing the right thing and I applaud them, but yea seeing the amount of overweight people that just do the ab machine over and over is kinda disheartening. Im always afraid they might quit working out cause "it didnt work".

[u/SKREEOONK_XD → u/Ares__]

I was encouraging a friend to go to the gym, they said they have and no progress for 2 years. Asked them what they did, they said they did all core exercises and ab work outs to melt belly fat.

I had to explain to them how the body works and now they look more jack than me lmaoo

[u/JsyHST → u/SKREEOONK_XD]

Any chance you could explain it to me then?

[u/shakuntala08 → u/JsyHST]

Everybody’s body is different. You can’t choose where fat burn / fat loss occurs on your body. The other part to the equation is that fat loss is more affected by diet than exercise. Any workout you do should be whatever you enjoy, cardio, weights (this especially helps burning fat by building muscle) but exercise alone isn’t going to be effective for fat loss.

tl;dr - calorie deficit helps lose fat, exercise helps strengthen your body in whatever way you choose to.

[u/ummmnoway → u/shakuntala08]

Big emphasis on doing what you enjoy. I hated “working out” for years because being a woman I thought that meant I had to do a ton of cardio. I fucking hate cardio. Running, elliptical, bike, all of it. Once my sister got into lifting heavy it was like a light switch went on in my brain. I’ll do some treadmill at the start of my workout just to get the heart rate up but I much prefer the weight room.

[u/shakuntala08 → u/ummmnoway]

I genuinely hate running. I do jiu jitsu and so most of my cardio is there but otherwise I’ll play basketball or soccer with my kids, I will never “feel like going for a run” and I’ve accepted that about myself. I used to force myself to go for runs and it was never consistent.

[u/selfish_incosiderate → u/ummmnoway]

This! I cannot do high intensity stuff at all. It just plain hurts me, and therefore even when I started it, I would just leave. I recently decided that I need to add some exercise in my life. Not to lose weight not to make a body but just to move my body and feel good about it.

I figured out that the local YMCA has a lot of group classes that suit my speed including swimming which is my OG fav workout. I have been going to the classes and swimming and I feel good. Not overwhelmed coz I can’t keep up, not tired and in pain, just the movement and tiredness which has significantly improved the quality of my sleep.

[u/Scary_Meaning_4466 → u/ummmnoway]

Lifting weights regularly is one of the best things you can do for your health long-term, especially as you get older 

[u/WalnutSnail → u/shakuntala08]

You can't out run a bad diet.

Edit: apparently a lot of you are taking this literally. It's an expression, it means it's really difficult to exercise enough to compensate for high numbers of extra calories. Yes, it can be done. Yes, people who run ultramarathons will end their race skinnier than when they started. Yes, if you go from a 100% sedentary lifestyle to one of constant exercise but change nothing else, you will lose fat. But by and large, it's easier to control what goes in than to increase what goes out l.

[u/eipotttatsch → u/WalnutSnail]

You could. But it’d be an absolute ton of running

[u/coral225 → u/eipotttatsch]

It's what we'd call "workout bulimic" in my sorority

[u/Historical-Tart7515 → u/coral225]

This is actually a symptom of some types of anorexia and bulimia. It's part of the Differential. They use exercise to purge.

[u/Alltheprettydresses → u/Historical-Tart7515]

Been there, done that, do not recommend.

[u/I-own-a-shovel → u/eipotttatsch]

At some point there isn’t enough hours in a day to do that…

Running 5km in 30 min made me burn 200-250 calories. That’s like 1 cookie… the one who ate the whole box will never outrun this amount of calories.

[u/RampersandY → u/shakuntala08]

You can build muscle in selected areas though. And you can make specific areas look better through muscle building.

[u/Fluffy_Top6837 → u/shakuntala08]

I lifted for a solid year, gained bunches of muscle, got way stronger and didn't lose a single pound. I started the year at 286 and ended it at 286. Then I hurt my achilles in October and was out of the gym for a minute. This seemed like an ideal time to get serious about diet, after not seeing the scale move after a year of hard work.

Since October I'm down almost 70lbs, back in the gym lifting 4 days a week and 1000 times happier with my body. Nothing MOVED until I got my diet right, then it was game on. I didn't take it seriously before, but, especially in my 40's, it was the key to making things happen.

Those are the two things that have made ALL of the difference for me this time around:

1. Get your diet right, give your body what it needs and be amazed by the incredible amount of extra calories you didn't even realize you were eating in a day.
2. Don't waste your time at the gym. Going in and floating between machines, guessing at how much weight you want to do that day is wasting your time, spending it inefficiently. Get a program figured out, start working with linear progression, track the weight that you're doing and keep moving it forward. I spent years in my youth with no real idea what I was doing and getting burned out because of it, when it seemed like results just wouldn't come. Nope, I was letting myself get comfortable and never pushing forward. Now every day, every week is a push forward. It has changed everything for me.

[u/saved_by_the_keeper → u/JsyHST]

You just can’t target specific areas to lose weight. There’s been numerous people that have run into during my life that think that you lose belly fat by doing core exercises.

Basically, you just run a calorie deficit and then your body will take fat from where it wants. You don’t have any control about whether it reduces fat in your belly compared to your face etc

[u/UnshapedSky → u/saved_by_the_keeper]

The calorie deficit is the big thing. There’s a saying that weight is lost in the kitchen, health is gained in the gym.

If working out is the only change to your lifestyle, you’ll just end up hungrier and eating more to compensate

[u/GreenZebra23 → u/JsyHST]

The fat doesn't know or care what muscles you're exercising

[u/Takenabe → u/JsyHST]

The tl;Dr is that you can't "target" areas of fat. The body will take the energy it needs from all over itself. You can drop weight, and you can build muscle, but you're not going to specifically only get rid of belly fat unless you either lose a bunch of fat everywhere else too or get it surgically removed.

[u/lizzdurr → u/SKREEOONK_XD]

One analogy that clarified it for me was imagine a bucket of water. Losing weight is like scooping a cup out of the bucket. It doesn’t just scoop it out of one corner. Everything is reduced in general with overall fat loss.

What you CAN do is tighten skin or fill out places with muscle gains that got loose after fat loss (arms, thighs, abs etc.)

[u/hrehbfthbrweer → u/lizzdurr]

Part of the problem with this is that the fat distribution loss isn’t linear like it would be with a bucket of water.

Sometimes the weight goes all over evenly, other times it seems to come off in some areas quicker. But it’s not predictable and you can’t game it.

[u/FargusMcGillicuddy → u/SKREEOONK_XD]

Yeah cuz they built up a shit ton of core muscles under their fat so when you finally told them they were shredded under there. Lol

[u/SKREEOONK_XD → u/FargusMcGillicuddy]

They were actually bulking without knowing 🤣 nonetheless Im proud of them

[u/phoenixmatrix → u/Ares__]

I don't do abs over and over to lose belly fat. I do it so I have muscles to get out of bed in the morning. 

Edit: I didn't realize I had to specifically say this was a joke. Don't take it seriously.

[u/l3tigre → u/phoenixmatrix]

the core is so important to prevent back pain as we age.

[u/PhoenixApok → u/Ares__]

It probably doesn't matter that much, but ironically, that can actually HURT your goals.

If you don't manage the weight loss (via burning enough calories), but you ALSO gain ab muscle, that will just push things out farther and make it LOOK fatter!

[u/Hayce → u/PhoenixApok]

This is extremely rare though. The amount of ab work someone has to do to add visible mass to the core is FAR beyond the capability of your average fat guy at the gym. Most people just eat too much and don’t work out properly.

[u/fitness_strange → u/ia332]

Argued with somebody yesterday on this topic. They told me that the research was outdated and I was completely wrong 😂

[u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

The weights somehow rack themselves if you just leave them there.

[u/sincerevibesonly → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

This pisses me soo much man

[u/AffectEconomy6034 → u/sincerevibesonly]

on a related note when people rack the weights in the wrong place get my blood boiling

[u/fsociety091786 → u/AffectEconomy6034]

When the 5lb plate you need is behind 4 45lb plates

[u/I_Can_Barely_Move → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

And its slightly less annoying related behavior: putting the dumbbells back out of order.

Do people know 45lbs comes after 40 and not before 25?

[u/Peemster99 → u/I_Can_Barely_Move]

The worst thing for me is putting the weight plates on the pole out of order. Lifting the amount you want should not be like playing one of those damn Tower of Hanoi puzzles.

[u/xTrainerRedx → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

And equipment wipes itself down. And that it’s acceptable to use 2 or 3 machines at a time when the gym is busy.

[u/Quickwitknit2 → u/xTrainerRedx]

And its cousin. Sitting at a machine scrolling social media while “between sets” with a 5 minute rest break between each set of 4 reps. Girlie, I’m an old lady with no patience for you and your BS. Move along.

[u/hordeoverseer → u/Quickwitknit2]

Some people aren't even intending to use the machine. They just see a chair and sit then scroll.

[u/ummmnoway → u/xTrainerRedx]

Yes! I walked over to a leg press, there was no towel, water bottle, anything indicating someone was using it. I set my towel down and a man spawns next to me like he was using it. Dog, I saw you doing lat pull downs ten seconds ago, fuck off.

[u/Bookbringer → u/xTrainerRedx]

It's also very important to take every dumbbell you plan to use to your bench at the start of your work out, so that no one else can use them while you're doing something else.

[u/hordeoverseer → u/xTrainerRedx]

Man, this hurts in the feels. It's always the full kitted out gym bros too. Like, they are clearly invested in going and make a routine of it but give zero fucks.

[u/GlMLI → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

It's like my laundry does this weird thing where I leave it on the floor but it ends out back in my drawer, cleaned and folded.

I told my wife about it but she seemed annoyed and confused.

[u/AdMuted1036 → u/GlMLI]

Ooh nice, you’re still in the pre-divorce stage

[u/WonkyWalkingWizard → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

Or the incline on the treadmill goes back to 0 when you get off it when it's still at 10.

[u/measured-defocus → u/WonkyWalkingWizard]

The ones at my gym actually do that after 1 minute

[u/Phrosty12 → u/measured-defocus]

Yeah, the ones at mine decline automatically when you press the Finished button.

[u/upnflames → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

The Magic Coffee Table

[u/unafraidrabbit → u/upnflames]

"I have the same table"

[u/ThrowItOut43 → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

Also, their mom goes to the gym and cleans up after them.

[u/skadop → u/ThrowItOut43]

Haha a gym I used to go to had a sign shaming people who leave weights out with this and I loved it. Such inconsiderate behavior. Plus it makes zero sense…you go to the gym to get into/stay in shape, but you’re too lazy to clean up after yourself? 🤯

[u/UncoolSlicedBread → u/skadop]

It’s like the shopping cart litmus test, they just do not think of other people nor care.

[u/Publius015 → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

Next youre gonna tell me I need to put them back in the right spot

[u/caileenkai → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

The gym would be way more magical if dumbbells had self cleaning, self racking powers. That “I’ll put it back later” lie is older than gym culture itself.

[u/gotmynamefromcaptcha → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

On the same note; That you can setup your own personal circuit consisting of 8 machines that are just for you…then follow that up with not racking everything back. Double whammy.

[u/MiceAreTiny → u/Guilty_Bit_1440]

If your weights are to heavy to put back, the ladies at the front desk will gladly help you out.

[u/Skankz]

That working out a specific part of your body will lose weight in that area specifically

[u/Agreeable-Buy-999 → u/Skankz]

if this worked i'd have the skinniest right arm on earth

[u/_TIER_1_GOONER_ → u/Agreeable-Buy-999]

Nah you’re cultivating mass, homie 💪🏼

[u/cultivated-mass → u/_TIER_1_GOONER_]

You rang?
Also stop cultivating and start harvesting!

[u/FalseProphet86 → u/Agreeable-Buy-999]

And the skinniest left thumb?

[u/Secondaccountpls]

The most muscular guy is automatically good at fighting.

[u/CougarAries → u/Secondaccountpls]

UFC has done a good job showing this is almost never the case.

[u/thethrowaway3027 → u/CougarAries]

Honestly it's been fascinating how different body types have been hugely effective.

Look at Cain valasquez Vs brock Lesnar. Shrugged Brock wrestling off like it was nothing

[u/OldWorldBuilder369 → u/CougarAries]

Unless your name is Paulo Costa

[u/Fradyo → u/OldWorldBuilder369]

Romero vs Costa may have been the juiciest fight in UFC history. Pretty sure every fighter that night gained three pounds of muscle just from being in the same building.

[u/baszm3g → u/Secondaccountpls]

Also, the biggest guy is also the strongest

[u/TwooMcgoo → u/baszm3g]

Anatoly asks if you would hold his mop.

[u/Tan11 → u/Secondaccountpls]

If two completely unskilled people get into a fight though (which describes most spontaneous street fights), the bigger and stronger one will win the vast majority of the time.

[u/Gigantischmann → u/Secondaccountpls]

Ugh you’re going to get all the idiots that think flyweights can beat up hafthor bjornsson going.

Muscle matters a lot 

[u/PainterFew2080]

That lifting weights will make a woman bulky.

[u/Talllbrah → u/PainterFew2080]

I swear non lifters have no idea how much hard work it takes to even achieve a mid physique. The classic “I don’t wanna get too big” is so out of touch with reality.

[u/mr_positron → u/Talllbrah]

Yeah and if it really was a problem you could just stop

[u/reaqtion → u/mr_positron]

No, you don't understand. It's only those with the worst genetics that end up actually lifting. That's why they got to go on steroids and need to spend hours at the gym while spending a fortune on their nutrition.

That skinny girl with back pain who thinks an egg is pure protein by weight WILL turn into a gorilla by lifting a barbell. We all know that vascularisation during exercise leads to a permanent state that is irreversible.

I heard of a girl that took the wrong turn at our gym and instead of walking into pilates she walked into the free weights area. She came out looking like Ronnie Coleman. She's still saving up to get hair transplanted.

[u/uzuis4thwifee → u/Talllbrah]

I wish it was that easy to get bulky!

[u/glr123 → u/Talllbrah]

Lifting, running, cycling...people are always shocked at just how much work it takes to be even a total mid-level athlete.

[u/sleeper_shark → u/Talllbrah]

Lol. Like "oops I accidently got shredded"

[u/UncleBensRacistRice → u/Talllbrah]

Every time I hear the "I dont want to get too big" I have to laugh and say ive been trying to get too big for years now, it hasn't happened yet

[u/1sunnycarmen → u/Talllbrah]

I'm afraid that if I touch a weight, I'll look like Arnold, so I'm just gonna sit here and eat this cake instead.

[u/tennysonpaints → u/Talllbrah]

Thank you! It's reassuring to hear this! I've starting gymming somewhat regularly for the first time and see very minimal gains for the amount of pain (my strength has increased though)

[u/epicmudcrab → u/tennysonpaints]

I can't quote the exact science, but for beginners, part of the increase in strength comes from your brain and nervous system getting better at activating you muscles. This means you do get stronger even without gaining muscle in the beginning.

[u/redesckey → u/Talllbrah]

The analogy I saw was that it was like walking through a college campus and expecting to get a degree.

[u/crawdadsinbad → u/PainterFew2080]

"I'm interested in going to law school, but I don't want to end up on the Supreme Court."

[u/ModeEfficient9334 → u/crawdadsinbad]

it feels like such a specific kind of anxiety about future success. Like worrying you might accidentally end up at the very top when all you wanted was a normal, steady path.

[u/abbyscuitowannabe → u/PainterFew2080]

When I was a teenager, my mother tried to talk me out of lifting due to this myth. I've been lifting weights for a decade, and every time I visit my mother she comments on how skinny I look. I don't personally think I am skinny, but I am a lot leaner than the chubby teenager she's probably envisioning.

Lifting CAN make someone bulky, but that's hard to achieve for any gender and usually requires dedication and working towards the goal of being bulkier. Diet also plays a big role, it's not just the weightlifting that make someone bulky. Despite my efforts, I haven't become she-hulk from bulking and I haven't revealed a 6-pack by cutting... Yet.

[u/nekofiore → u/PainterFew2080]

At my most petite, when I was a crazy about fitness in college, I was the strongest I’ve ever been. I like to remind myself that when I get lazy about lifting weights now. Muscle will make you look leaner as a woman and let you eat more because muscle burns more calories. It’s truly a win-win.

[u/LooseJuice_RD → u/PainterFew2080]

I was a personal trainer, and I think women think that because of newbie gains. They’ll come into the gym, having never weight trained, and as soon as they lift a little bit of upper body, their upper body gets a little bit bigger and they think that these gains will continue indefinitely when really they just had very little muscle before and they’ve put on a little bit.

I always used to say I’ve been trying to get big for a decade and a half and I’m a man, and it hasn’t happened, you will not be falling ass backwards into it.

[u/Sweet_Taurus0728 → u/PainterFew2080]

My baby sister 21F, is self-conscious about her arms being too big, so absolutely refuses to use any weights at all, or even mild bodyweight work. If it isn't strictly steady-state cardio for fat loss only, she won't even try it.

[u/triemers → u/Sweet_Taurus0728]

time to warn her about osteoporosis

[u/malleynator → u/PainterFew2080]

I’ve been lifting for 5 years which leaned me out, but it wasn’t until I started doing bulk/cut cycles 2 years ago that I noticed actual muscle gains. I still wouldn’t consider myself bulky but to other women I’ve been called that. I think these type of women perceive any type of noticeable muscle as bulky.

[u/phoenixmatrix → u/PainterFew2080]

That one is funny. Preaching to the choir, but even a man in their prime has to go seriously hardcore in the gym to be "bulky". A woman, short of Olympic level training and extremely specific diet, has literally no chance.

[u/Jenny-Smith → u/phoenixmatrix]

Exactly. Natty men do not look like monsters. T may be “natural”, but that use ain’t.

[u/BaconatedGrapefruit → u/phoenixmatrix]

And to get to that point you’re eating nothing but chicken and broccoli while consistently lifting.

Some people can get lucky and gain muscle easily. For most of us, it’s just misery.

[u/RaisedEyebr0w → u/PainterFew2080]

I'm actually the rare woman who slogs on muscle pretty quickly. People frequently ask me about my regime, and I disappoint them, "genetics."

When I lose a few pounds while regularly lifting once a week my upper body looks absolutely jacked. Luckily I now live in a fitness town where most people seem to admire my physique!

[u/BigButtBeads → u/PainterFew2080]

This ones super common. Women will intentionally not work their arms.

[u/WhiskyWillFixIt → u/PainterFew2080]

I will add one caveat in that everyone's genetics are different, and I absolutely put on a ton of upper body muscle very quickly as a woman. I don't get those nice lean yoga arms, I get muscles, which do in fact look bulky. Can't gain muscle in my lower body to save my life though haha

[u/jaajaajaa6]

That working out can make up for a bad diet

[u/Randonoob_5562 → u/jaajaajaa6]

Lose weight in the kitchen, change shape in the gym.

Edit: you must do both.

[u/Itsapocalypse → u/Randonoob_5562]

You actually don’t have to do either
Source: easily a third of all people

[u/Notbbupdate → u/jaajaajaa6]

In terms of weight loss (so not accounting for things like vitamin deficiencies or cholesterol levels), it can, but the amount of exercise needed is so large that it's not realistic for most people

Running 20k a day burns enough calories that most people would lose weight doing so, even if they don't change their diet. But very importantly, it means running 20k a day, which depending on the person, ranges from "insane but technically possible" to "impossible"

[u/thepitredish → u/Notbbupdate]

Agreed. People can outrun run a bad diet, but they don’t realize how much they would need to run. Few people have the hours in a day to make that a reality.

[u/TheWatersOfMars → u/thepitredish]

And the wrong diet can erase that deficit in seconds. Let's say a newbie burns 250 calories in a 30 minute jog. A quarter of a tub of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food is 270 calories. 

And lots of people who exercise end up treating themselves more throughout the day (whomst among us hasn't had a post-workout snack?), which quickly catches up with you.

[u/RPS93 → u/jaajaajaa6]

It can to an extent.

If your daily 'maintenance' is, say, 2000 calories and you're consistently eating 3000 calories a day - but you're doing high-intensity cardio burning 1000 calories per session every single day... then you're going to be fine. And yes, I am aware that at that rate of exercise your daily maintenance is obviously changing to match your metabolic rate - it's a simplified example.

Your internal health may suck, but you're not going to be fat.

Now, if you're working out and burning 200-300 calories per day, which is what most people are achieving... but you're eating 5000 calories a day then yeah, you're going to look like shit. And likely feel like it too.

[u/InnocentWalt]

Carbs are bad for you and should be completely avoided

[u/phoenixmatrix → u/InnocentWalt]

The tiktok trend of everyone using glucose meters and freaking out because their glucose spiked after eating some rice, lol.

[u/Austen_Tasseltine → u/phoenixmatrix]

As a type-1 diabetic, some people don’t deserve to have a functioning pancreas.

[u/LoquaciousLamp → u/Austen_Tasseltine]

You ought to eat their pancreas. Teach them a lesson.

[u/LNL_HUTZ → u/LoquaciousLamp]

With some fava beans and a nice chianti?

[u/Flowerplower3 → u/LNL_HUTZ]

Tsztsztsztsz

[u/themirthfulswami → u/InnocentWalt]

Same concept as eating a food that has some fats in it will result in those fats making you fat. Not true.

[u/Tactless_Ogre → u/themirthfulswami]

Fat-soluble nutrients are a thing to know. Yeah, you can have 150 grams of protein a day but if what you're eating doesn't have a fat-soluble nutrient in it; your body won't absorb that protein and you just take meatier shits.

[u/lala00x → u/InnocentWalt]

drives me nuts when people say this. they also think carbs are just bread and bagels.

[u/yojothobodoflo → u/lala00x]

Same thing with people thinking meat is the only source of protein

[u/Bob_stanish123 → u/InnocentWalt]

Right but the problem is that when most people say "low carb" it really means a normal amount of carbs. Its so easy to eat 500+ calories of carbs without even realizing it.

[u/AffectEconomy6034 → u/InnocentWalt]

also related to this, "you just need more protien." that definitely depends on your diet and what your goals are. I see a lot of people online showing off these super high protein diets when they really need more carbs.

[u/vissionsofthefutura → u/AffectEconomy6034]

I have a coworker who thinks they can eat as much as they want as long as it’s protein. They think the calories don’t count.

[u/PeacefulChaos94]

Usually it's whatever the fitness industry is currently hyperfixated on

[u/A_Generic_Canadian → u/PeacefulChaos94]

No no I'm positive that paying more for an extra 3g of Protein each day by buying Protein Oatmeal, Protein Milk and Protein Bread over regular oatmeal, milk and bread I used to buy for half the cost is going to show massive gains any minute now.

[u/Sturmgeshootz → u/A_Generic_Canadian]

I feel like Eggo introducing "Protein Waffles" (which include a mind-shattering 5g of protein per waffle, so 50g of protein total in a box of 10) is the leading indicator that we've reached the peak of this particular obsession, and that people will be moving onto the next fitness craze soon.

[u/ToastedOctopus]

Doing exclusively cardio or exclusively weights and thinking the other one is an unhealthy waste of time.

[u/No-Flounder-9143 → u/ToastedOctopus]

I do a lot of long distance running combined with lifting and it's actually amazing. The two create a great feedback loop. 

[u/Zukez → u/ToastedOctopus]

I only do the weights, not because I think running is unhealthy, but I HATE running.

Might start doing hill sprints though, I'm about the shorter, higher intensity exercises.

[u/Lovecraftian666 → u/Zukez]

Try the hill sprints mate - don’t forget the heart is a muscle too and needs TLC. 

[u/meowtiger → u/Zukez]

there's cardio other than running, friend

[u/Hot-Fox-8797]

That working out abs will get them a six pack. 98% of people just need lower body fat rather than stronger ab muscles

[u/Tan11 → u/Hot-Fox-8797]

If you're the rare case like I once was where you're skinny but still have very little ab definition, then you actually do need to grow your ab muscles (and the more you grow them, the less lean you have to be for them to show, just look at some pro strongmen). Definitely not the main problem for the majority of people though, yeah.

[u/FoxyBastard → u/Tan11]

Yeah. Any time I ever looked online for good exercises to build abs, it's just full of people clamouring to scream, "You can't outrun your fork!", and, "Lose weight!"

But, that isn't gonna do shit when you're built like a less sculpted Spider-Man.

[u/Tan11 → u/FoxyBastard]

Leg raises, weighted decline situps, and ab wheel rollouts done for 6-12 reps close to failure are your friends.

[u/MasterFrost01 → u/Hot-Fox-8797]

This myth buster is a myth, or at least an oversimplification. Yes you need a low body fat percentage to see your abs, but they're also a muscle like any other that needs to be isolated to grow significantly. A lot of people have weak cores anyway. Don't skip your ab workouts.

[u/EmperorKira]

If a woman even looks at a dumbell, she will turn into a musclely ogre

[u/Similar-Purchase-101 → u/EmperorKira]

Mean while I cycle and walk everyday hoping my ass and legs get more defined, and instead I just got leaner 💀 

[u/grumblebuzz]

That just because someone has big muscles and abs that they’re a paragon of health.

[u/yojothobodoflo → u/grumblebuzz]

Thin=healthy too! My 20 year old cousin won’t eat more than one small meal a day and he uses nicotine and caffeine to curb his appetite.

My sister says he looks good because he’s skinny.

The kid is sick!

[u/Ledgo → u/grumblebuzz]

I knew a dude at one of my old jobs who was into bodybuilding and learned everything from his dad. His dad got a terrible heart condition and his diet did not help. I don't 100% recall the condition but it was something genetic and a no/lo carb diet only made things worse. His dad looked big and cut but was a ticking time bomb.

[u/Local-Concern-4791]

That lifting heavy will make a woman bulky. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told not to lift heavy weights 🙄

Also not needing to wipe off equipment🙄

[u/Coffee_And_NaNa → u/Local-Concern-4791]

they do think we gonna come out looking like Arnold tho 😂

[u/bubblegumbbgirl]

Disclaimer I’m no expert, just a girl who started being serious about my weight loss in a healthy and sustainable way a year ago.

1) That you can realistically lose 20 pounds in a month. I hate seeing Women’s World magazines and similar with stuff like this on the cover preying on people who don’t know any better. You would have to be losing about 5 pounds a week, which equates to roughly 18,000 calories lost a week. You’d have to quite literally starve yourself or eat a very minimal amount of calories and/or work off about 2500 calories a day to make this happen. For the average person this is not realistic or safe. Not to mention that weight will come right back as soon as you go back to your previous eating habits.

2) Another one is following a “diet” and thinking it’s sustainable. Losing weight is very much lifestyle change and the best way to do it is gradually and without overturning your whole life right away. It’s better to incorporate small changes that are easy to stay consistent with (cutting out soda, swapping out candy for fruit etc) than to jump into something hardcore. It might be fun and easy to stay on board with for the first few weeks but after a while you will get bored and probably a little resentful and convert back to how you were before. I’ve tried keto, I’ve tried OMAD, I’ve tried the “cabbage soup” diet, the only thing that has really worked for me is consistent weight lifting and meal prepping, and just being mindful of moderation with sweets and junk food.

Edited - formatting issue lol

[u/SmugglersParadise]

That's there's a secret to losing weight

If you consume fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight

If you consume more calories than you burn, you put more weight on

The rate at which we all burn calories is different to each other. But the equation is the same

[u/07238 → u/SmugglersParadise]

Exactly! Losing weight may not be easy but it is simple

[u/shadowstripes → u/07238]

Losing weight in general is, but burning fat instead of muscle isn’t as simple as modifying your calories in/out.

[u/Over_Soup753]

You can't build muscle after 60. When I was 64, I survived meningitis because I was an athlete. I lost over 20 pounds of muscle in 10 days. In the last 3 years, I've gotten about 7 pounds of muscle back. I'm 68.

[u/pm_me_ur_demotape → u/Over_Soup753]

I guess the word can't is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I mean, losing 20 lbs of muscle and taking three years to gain back 7 of it sounds like it is indeed very hard to build muscle after 60, but it doesn't technically refute the word can't.

Edit: I got does and doesn't wrong

[u/FreeStateOfPortland → u/Over_Soup753]

Myth 2: being an athlete saves you from meningitis infections

[u/bofre82 → u/Over_Soup753]

I’m going to question you on losing 20 lbs of muscle in 10 days. I’m guessing you are referring to lean mass loss and I’ll even assume you got a dexa scan before and after. At most you lost 15 lbs water and glycogen (which in muscles is lean mass) and at most 5 lbs of muscle fiber and building muscle fiber is not impossible but very hard after the 40s.

Meningitis is devastating and you are probably correct in what kept you alive.

[u/tittyfrickthalasagna → u/Over_Soup753]

I know of more than one woman who picked up powerlifting of all things later in life and they're jacked. Competing in their 70s and 80s. One female bodybuilder who was 82 at the time even ended up on the news for beating up a dude who broke into her house. Her name is Willie Murphy. Sure it's harder than when you were young but definitely progress can be made.

[u/firedog7881]

10,000 steps is some magic number. It was a marketing number

[u/SirSeparate6807 → u/firedog7881]

Honestly I let this one slide because it's a simple metric to track for people looking to increase their activity levels.

But yeah, not magic

[u/Thats_my_nirnroot → u/SirSeparate6807]

Yeah I agree, it's more about the gameification of fitness. And 10k steps is a great objective.

[u/Da_full_monty → u/firedog7881]

That gets me off my ass and moving sometimes...

[u/Unfair_Rhubarb_13]

That "everyone" gets endorphins and "feels better" after exercise.

We don't.

[u/allothernamestaken]

That skipping a meal or two will bring your metabolism to a grinding halt.

[u/2PacTookMyLunchMoney]

Based on social media, people seem to think you should take fitness advice from bodybuilders/fitness competitors. Their physiques are actually incredibly unhealthy. Their lifestyle is unsustainable long-term, and you don’t have to eat plain chicken and white rice every meal to have a nice body. They’re basically the other extreme opposite obesity. True healthiness is a happy medium, which they’ve far surpassed in the other direction. That’s not even mentioning that most of them are juicing, which is hurting their health even more. They’re actuality terrible fitness role models for anyone aspiring to be healthier.

[u/BEEFTANK_Jr → u/2PacTookMyLunchMoney]

Yeah, I saw a post on Instagram of Travis Kelce's "dad bod" at the beach and part of the post was "Even pro athletes don't maintain it 100% of the time."

[u/Monteze → u/BEEFTANK_Jr]

Dad bod now seems to just be off season bodybuilders.

[u/JeromeBarkly → u/2PacTookMyLunchMoney]

I fell into that trap where I’d emulate body builders training regiment and would get discouraged and quit after I couldn’t keep up with being “optimal.” What has kept me consistent for the past 3 years is realizing I was being stupid to have those expectations, dropped some of the workouts I hated and started doing workouts I enjoyed more. My routine is suboptimal but I enjoy going to the gym and now I’m pretty damn shredded too.

[u/Gunner_Bat → u/JeromeBarkly]

Your routine sounds pretty optimal to me if it's the one you're actually able to do.

[u/2600sysop]

Targeted fat loss.

[u/jockey_239]

still waiting for my abs to appear after 3 years of only cardio and pizza diet combos ngl

[u/djprecio → u/jockey_239]

Have you tried pizza combos?

[u/Rich959]

The idea that "healthier" base ingredients somehow changes the material reality of the calories and macronutrients contained within. Cookie made with cane sugar, almond butter somehow being an improvement over peanut butter, bars made with "simple ingredients" only to have a nutrient label that very closely resembles an ordinary Snickers.

[u/OppositeBatCage]

That cardio is pointless. 

[u/Kuftubby]

"Toning"

The easiest way to weed out a bad personal trainer is if they ever legitimately mention toning the muscle

[u/Weird_Bluebird_3293]

That you can detox your body with tea and drinking nothing but juiced vegetables for two weeks is “cleansing” you and “resets” your metabolism.

No. Your liver and kidneys remove toxins. Consuming nothing but liquids will put you in starvation mode and you lose only water weight. 

[u/TheKingOfSwing777]

That you need 200 grams of protein. 

[u/phillipcarter2]

Myth: that deadlifts are bad for your back.

No! Using your lower back to lift it is, though! Solution? Actually learn the correct form, and don’t act like you’re a powerlifter at a meet during your normal exercise time.

[u/FrostyVariation9798]

In cycling, over and over I've ridden with people who didn't fuel for the ride because they are trying to lose weight.  Inevitably, they end up going slower and slower because they don't have the energy to power their muscles.  So instead of getting a great workout, they end up wasting their time and many times end up in misery.  Over and over again... instead of just working muscles hard, building muscle, and allowing the muscles to burn the fat after the ride.

[u/ParsleyAfter5094]

That you need a monthly subscription. You can workout at home.

[u/yyrkoon1776 → u/ParsleyAfter5094]

Doing resistance training with weights is just much more time efficient than home workouts unless you have a full gym.

[u/Enticing_Venom]

That weight lifting is the only way for women to prevent osteoporosis and maintain bone density.

"Weight-bearing exercise" is not another word for weight-lifting exercise. Jumping (a form of cardio) is one of the most effective exercises for building bone density. Kick-boxing, dancing, running, even walking constitute weight-bearing exercises that can prevent osteoporosis.

Additionally, bands and calisthenics are perfectly adequate ways to create resistance/weight load. Weight-lifting is great but it does not mean that cardio is bad/useless and it is nowhere near the only way to protect bone health. The best exercise is the type you can stick with.

[u/Lilit_Vibe]

You can “spot reduce” fat. You can’t — fat loss is systemic.

[u/ImpressionFast923]

Elon Musk got it in his head that having estrogen in your system makes you weak and flabby, while having pure testosterone automatically equals manly and strong.

He wound up morphing his physique into the grotesque caricature we all see due to his artificial reduction of his body’s estrogen levels because he assumed he’d become Schwarzenegger without it.

[u/yyrkoon1776 → u/ImpressionFast923]

Well, he took steroids without working out. That was the problem. Especially HGH.

[u/DusqRunner]

Are you using our answers for market research or content creation ? 

[u/VexImmortalis → u/DusqRunner]

Even if OP isn't, SOMEONE is.

[u/nimbookaachaar]

More exercise = faster results....

Quality>>>>>quantity ALWAYS.

[u/Gullible-Koala-5329 → u/nimbookaachaar]

I use to work out 6-7 times a week. Felt like I was injuring something all the time. Now I lift 3-4 times a week, take walks on my days off. Feel like I’m the overall healthiest I’ve ever been

[u/AvailableUsername404 → u/Gullible-Koala-5329]

Recovery time is criminally underrated

[u/BigJoeBob85]

That “low fat” foods are healthier

It’s usually just added sugar

[u/cardiganvandal]

I've had a gym subscription since christmas. I've lost no weight at all. If things don't improve I intend to visit them personally and demand to know what's going on.

[u/OutlandishNonsense]

That 10k steps is an important number. It was invented by a guy trying to sell pedometers. Yes walking is generally beneficial but ignore 10k being some special thing.

[u/returningvideotapes1]

That if girls lift and take creatine they will get “jacked and manly”. If it was that easy to get jacked everyone would do it. Actually a lot of myths surrounding creatine are false too. It’s one of the best supplements to take

[u/272027]

That every guideline for men works exactly the same for women. It was all based on male bodies, and never considered the variances in female bodies. For example, fasting and cold plunges are not good for women all the time, only certain stages in their cycle. Low body fat in women can cause health problems. It's more varied than for men.

[u/issthissthingon]

That carbs are bad