MYTH # 1

Static stretching before exercise is beneficial for you.

We’ve all seen people in the gym pulling an arm back behind their head for 10 seconds, running through a couple other stretches and then hopping right into their lifting routine. Stretching is a good warm up after all right? WRONG!

The point of a warm up is just that, to warm up your body and get your blood pumping to your muscles, increasing their temperature, and their overall pliability in order to avoid injury. Static stretching can actually decrease heart rate as well as reduce performance in high intensity exercise. This is why it is much more beneficial to engage in dynamic motions such as jogging, lunges, squats, or pushups which will mimic the exercise motions you will be doing in order to prime your body for peak performance.

MYTH # 2
Lifting weights will inhibit my ability to run long distances.

Many people who are training for intermediate to long distance running share the fear of becoming too bulky or muscle-bound by lifting weights which will decrease their speed. In reality weight training is a useful and recommended tool to any runner’s workout regimen. By lifting weights in conjunction with a properly designed running program, you will be able to increase muscular endurance and power which will both lead to faster running times, even in longer distance races. Of course, the specificity of training principle still applies and you will want to model your weightlifting routine according to your running goals, whether that be higher reps and lighter weight for long distance runners, or fewer reps and heavier weights for shorter distance competitors.

MYTH # 3
Squatting is only a lower body exercise.

Most people know that squatting is good for your lower body muscles such as your glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings. However what most people don’t know is that squatting is also a great way to develop and strengthen your abdominal and lower back muscles. This is because when done correctly, the squat forces your postural core muscles to engage and keep you upright throughout the motion. So next time your thinking about skipping leg day, remember your also sculpting up your six-pack.

MYTH # 4
Running is the best way to burn calories.

Running is a great cardiovascular workout and is definitely good for burning calories. However, there’s an exercise that is much more effective at burning calories as well as building muscle. That exercise is the burpee. The burpee is a fast paced high intensity exercise that combines several movements to give you a calorie torching cardiovascular workout combined with a muscle sculpting strength program. Not only do you burn about 1 calorie per burpee, but you build lean muscle mass as well which is metabolically very active (as opposed to fat). Basically the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. If you could do burpees for 30 minutes straight, you would burn approximately twice the calories that you would on a medium paced jog not to mention all that muscle mass you would gain. Bottom line is: skip the jog and hit the deck!

To see how to perform a burpee - follow this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxrFducMgYQ

MYTH # 5
Tracking your weight using a scale is the best method to monitor your progress from an exercise program.

Many people hop on the scale every day hoping that those numbers have gone down since the last time they checked. “I’ve been working out for a month and I’ve only lost a pound! What the heck?!”

While incrementally checking your bodyweight is a good idea, especially for overweight or obese individuals, there is a much better way to go about monitoring your body’s progress. The most important and potentially most neglected is measuring and recording your body fat percentage. Most people ultimately want to lose body fat and gain muscle mass. The problem is that many individuals don’t realize they are burning body fat as well as gaining lean muscle mass as a result of a training program. While this is a good thing, many people can get disheartened if they step on the scale and see those numbers change very little or not at all. This is why it is crucial to find someone who is qualified to accurately assess body fat percentage such as a physician or personal trainer. In addition to measuring body fat percentage, it is recommended to take circumference measurements around various parts of the body. Especially the waist and hips, as this ratio is an indicator of health and the possible risk of developing serious health conditions.

By Brian Gaputis, Personal Trainer at Body by Boris