056 - 13 Bullsh*t Fitness Myths That Are Wasting Your Time and Money

Aug 6, 2019

In today's show, I talk about, and dispel, 13 few fitness myths that are still around and still causing you to waste your time, money, and energy. And it pisses me off.

Some of these myths have been around for years and are readily accepted as truth. Others were born from savvy marketers preying on ignorant consumers looking for help with their health and fitness.

My hope is that this shows opens your eyes to some things that will help you better understand how to get into shape and stay there.

Here are the 13 myths:

1. Weight loss is the goal. This is wrong. In fact, scale weight loss should rarely, if ever, be your goal. Fat loss is the goal.
2. The Keto diet is the best way to lose weight. While the Keto can be a great tool for weight loss, it's not for everyone and VERY difficult to sustain.
3. Flexible dieting is the best way to eat. This approach can work very well but too many people use their flexibility to eat crap foods.
4. Intermittent fasting gives you an excuse to pig out and eat whatever you want. Nope. Just because you have a shorter eating window doesn't mean you get a free pass to stuff your face with anything you want. Quality and quantity are still critical.
5. No (legal) supplements are going to help you with your fitness goals if you aren't covering the basics of good health first.
6. If you can't do a full workout, don't do it at all. In my opinion, something, regardless of how little, is still better than nothing. Plus, doing something creates the habit of showing up.
7. Spot reduction is possible. Just no.
8. Fitness gadgets can help you get fit faster. 99% of these are marketers trying to make a buck off of "hot" markets.
9. Cardio is the best way to lose weight. I hate this. Cardio, as in walking/jogging on a treadmill for a length of time, is good for your health yes. However, it's a waste of time if your main goal is fat loss.
10. The "fat burning zone" is the best way to lose weight. Instead of burning a slightly higher percentage of calories from fat using low intensity work, ramp up the intensity and burn more total calories. 
    
    
11. Machines are safer than free weights. I'd argue the exact opposite.
12. Ab exercises will give you abs. If you're too fat, they won't show regardless of how many crunches you do.
13. Muscle confusion is the best way to make your muscles grow. It can be beneficial yes but having a benchmark to gauge your progress is very important.