No Carbs & All The Cardio: Fitness Myths Crunched

When it comes to fitness, people like to think they know everything and their pride gets wounded if they turn out to be wrong. We need to suck it up and realise that we sometimes do things wrong and need to be corrected. So if you want to be the guy or girl with all the #gainz, here's the fitness myths you need to stop believing.

1) You should stop eating carbs when you start working out.

If you're a couch potato and against the idea of exercising at all but want to lose weight, then yes, cutting down on your carb intake would be a good idea. But, if you're doing any cardio or strength workouts you NEED to eat carbs. Your body needs fuel and without it you'll start burning the bad kind of muscle. EAT. YO. CARBS.

2) Every workout should be a tough one.

Every single workout doesn't have to be a hard and fast one. Yoga doesn't seem like anything to someone who hasn't tried but dear God it's fucking hard. Your body needs rest days as well as less intense workouts.

3) If there's no pain, it's not doing anything.

Feeling pain in a workout is B-A-D, BAD! If you felt pain in your leg when you were walking to the shops for your half pan and milk you'd be worried, but once you feel pain somewhere when you're working out hard you try push it out of your mind. Don't do that, ever.

4) You can eat whatever you want if you workout.

Sadly you can't if you want to lose some weight. Live by the 70/30 rule. 30% is working out and the other 70% is the food you eat. Why can't it be the other way around?

5) If you don't see results you're not working hard enough.

Sometimes we don't see the results first, we feel them. You can feel a change in your body and mind initially when you start exercising. You have more energy and you feel proud of yourself, which in turn makes you happy. So if you're not seeing the results just yet, keep going, you'll see them soon!

6) Only a long cardio workout will make you lose weight.

There are so many people that take up running/jogging because they know it's a popular way to exercise, but then it turns out they hate it. The best and most effect exercise for anyone is doing what you enjoy.

7) Running will make you lose your #gains.

You can't be a body builder and a marathon runner at the same time. But if you have #gainz and do some cardio it's not going to make them fall off over night. Don't worry your little gain-y head.

8) Doing only ab workouts will get rid of belly fat.

If you do just crunches, planks, situps and leg lifts, good for you, but if you're not cutting down on the shitty food you're eating and doing some overall fitness, all you're doing is building and toning up your stomach muscles under your fat.

9) When training for a long distance run all you need to do is run.

WRONG! Just constantly running with a rest day thrown in there every once in a while isn't going to turn you into an Olympian anytime soon. You have to take a day off running once or twice a week (depending on your plan) and cross train. Lift weights, do some circuit work and help build and strengthen your muscles. If you don't you're going to end up injuring yourself. Capisce?