Work smarter not necessarily harder

One of the first steps to improving your health and fitness is to dispel common misconceptions about fitness and exercise programs. These myths are speed bumps along the path to your long term success because they can lead you to do things that are counter productive to losing weight, getting stronger, and improving your overall health.

Myth #1 – More is better when it comes to working out

It seems like it could be true. Doing more will produce greater results, right? When it comes to working out, this is not true in every case. For your body, quality is more important than quantity. One hundreds reps of the mediocre quality are pointless if they are not challenging your muscles or if they are done in poor form.

If you only have 15 minutes to work on your arms one day, don’t try to rush through your 30 minute routine. Take your time and do half of the exercises properly rather than doing all of them in poor form.

Myth #2 – Warm-ups are optional

While this is something that is debated in the fitness community, whether or not warming up is absolutely necessary, anecdotal evidence from clients and trainers indicates that warming up before beginning an intense workout helps to lubricate the joints and stretch the muscles. This results in fewer injuries or strained muscles, allowing you to reap the benefits of working out without experiencing unnecessary pain and suffering.

Don’t skip warming up and stretching because you think that more minutes on the treadmill will help you get in shape faster. If you injure yourself, you won’t be unable to work out for weeks or months, meaning your will be behind instead of ahead on your path to a healthier, stronger you.