5 Workout Myths That Will Leave You Frustrated

With so much information on the internet these days, it’s challenging to filter through what is legit good information and what is total bunk. Unfortunately, many people get caught up in workout myths that either lead them to injury or have them spinning their wheels, only to get frustrated and give up.

In this article, we will look at five common workout myths that you should completely dismiss as complete garbage. 

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1. If You Want to Build Muscle You Must Use Heavy Weight

The general theory and one of the workout myths regarding hypertrophy is that if you want to gain muscle, you need to stay between an 8-12 rep range and use a heavy weight. 

As more and more research comes out, it’s clear that as long as you stimulate the muscle fibers (even with low weight and high reps) and take your sets to failure, it will break down the muscles and force them to be repaired — leading to new muscle growth.

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2. Cardio is the Best Way to Burn Fat

When it comes to burning fat, there are plenty of workout myths that come into play. In the case of this myth, cardio isn’t the end all be all of fat-burning. Does it help? Sure. But other factors play an even greater role.

If you want to burn fat, you don’t even need to do cardio. Putting yourself in a caloric deficit through your nutrition will help you lose weight and burn fat. Even more beneficial is your lean muscle mass. Muscle burns calories (even while at rest), and therefore by focusing on your weight training, you can get a greater caloric burn throughout the day.

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3. Ab Exercises Will Give You a Six-Pack

How many times were you told if you want a six-pack, you need to do crunches and ab work? Well, all that will do is strengthen your core and make your abs more defined. Unfortunately, it will do nothing about the layer of fat covering your abs.

If you want to see your six-pack, you will need to combine diet and exercise to remove that layer of fat covering up your abs. Stay consistent, and over time your abs will show.

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4. Regular Intense Workouts Will Allow You to Eat Whatever You Want

This is one of the workout myths that frustrates many. To put it simply, you cannot out-train a poor diet. Do not think that you can hit the gym and then go eat pizza and ice cream as if they will cancel each other out — it doesn’t work that way.

You need to be mindful of your nutrition if you want to see the best results possible, which also includes bulking. You don’t want to take in bad calories thinking you’ll get bigger or you’ll simply be gaining fat.

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5. No Pain… No Gain

Out of all the workout myths, this is the most dangerous. You should feel tension and exhaustion during workouts. You should never feel “pain” during exercise, or it can lead to injury.

No pain… no gain will only cause you to pull or tear a muscle, leading to a major setback with your progress. Feel the tension, feel the stress, feel the exhaustion, but if it gets to the point of pain, you need to understand the difference so that you don’t injure yourself.