I don't claim to be the world's most knowledgeable person on fitness and exercise although I know quite a bit, and here are some long standing myths I've heard my whole life that are simply nonsense yet very widely spread and widely believed.
No doubt you've heard these and may even believe them.
I certainly used to believe some of them.
1) No pain, no gain.
My coach always said "no pain, no gain," but then again, he didn't have any formal training.
Exercise, certainly initially, may involve some discomfort, and when I'm pushing it on my bike trying to complete a route in record time, there will be discomfort, but pain is not required for exercise to "work.
" For example my friend Tom lost fifty five pounds based on daily leisurely walks of about an hour combined with sensible eating, and I managed to greatly improve my fitness and work up to biking 100 miles in a day without significant pain.
It turns out exercise, any exercise, is great for you.
No pain required.
2) Lifting weights will give you big bulky muscles.
Well, if you have great genetics and work out consistently for literally years this may happen, but for most of us there is no way it will, certainly not in the short term.
Weight lifting, or resistance training as it's often called, is one of the best forms of exercise you can do.
You will not turn into the Incredible Hulk.
3) Sits ups will trim your belly Nice idea, but there is no such thing as spot reducing.
Want six pack abs? You'd better lose a lot of weight and exercise those abs! It's amazing how these myths propagate.
Fortunately today, with qualified and certified trainers, and a general higher level of health and fitness training, they will hopefully fade away!