Posted on August 28, 2015 by Kate Halsall

Everyone, regardless if they work in fitness or not, have their opinions about what you should or shouldn’t do in the gym. You know the kind of thing we mean – doing sit ups every day will get you a six pack, if you stop exercising your muscle will turn into fat, you need to drink milk every day to fill your bodies calcium needs and so on. The truth is, there are so many myths that we can’t possibly go through them all. But here are two common exercise myths which some of our trainers have actually heard this week.

Myth 1. – It all slows down after 40 (so God help us when we pass 50!)

Truth – Whilst everything seems to be set against us as we get older, remember that age is just a number. Yes, the aging process can slow down our metabolism simply because of the change in hormones. But truthfully, your metabolism can slow down at any age dependant upon your activity levels and what you eat. Yes as we get older, our skin can lose its elasticity, our joints can be more susceptible to injury, and keeping our existing fitness levels can be hard. However, regardless of age, as long as you eat healthily and remain active it is possible to not only to start getting fit, but also to keep that existing body tone, but also to continue to build muscle and burn fat.

Myth 2. – Weights don’t help with fat loss – you need cardio

Truth – Sprinting is GREAT cardio for a fat burning effect- as long as you really go for it (and is probably not the kind of cardio the person who suggested this had in mind!). And yes, cardio workouts do burn calories but if all you ever do is cardio, you could find you lose muscle mass and not body fat. Ultimately, if your goal is to drop body fat, you must incorporate weights into your workouts for the following reasons:

• Afterburn – keep those calories burning for longer after your workout through weight training
• Hormones – weight training releases a growth hormone which helps burn that body fat
• Lean Muscles = more calories burnt on a day to day basis

If there are any exercise myths that you would like us to clear up for you, please let us know and we’ll feature them in a blog just for you!

Further Reading:

http://www.m8north.co.uk/blog/benefits-strength-training-vs-cardio/

http://www.m8north.co.uk/blog/top-tips-for-fat-loss/