Thread by @AVONHMO

Every other day, there's a new fitness hack that seems to contradict all the other ones & for some people who are fairly new to staying fit, it can be pretty confusing. What really is the truth?

Here are 10 of the biggest myths in fitness.
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Myth 1. Soreness Is a Sign of a Good Workout

Yes, it seems like if you're not limping up a flight of stairs after a leg workout or wincing when hugged, you're not doing it right. However, muscle soreness isn’t actually a convincing indicator of progress.
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Yes, if you're new to working out or try a routine you're not used to, you're bound to feel muscle soreness. The thing is, you get used to them eventually if you keep at it long enough. Does this now mean that the workout is no longer effective? Nope.

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Myth 2: Lifting Heavy Will Make You Bulky

Not necessarily. For instance, do you see how female Olympic weightlifters get to outlift larger men? It's not about the weight; bulking up requires specific, targeted training lots of calories & protein.
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Muscle mass doesn't necessarily indicate strength and when it comes to getting stronger, there are two methods: increasing the size of your individual muscle fibres and recruiting more of them to fire together when you need to use them.
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Myth 3: Scales are pointless

Indeed, the amount of water the body retains can lead to weight fluctuations & putting on muscle can lead to numbers going up while you’re making progress. However, this doesn’t mean you should abandon your scales.
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What you need to know is that short-term fluctuations are inevitable and don’t represent changes in body fat but, over time, changes in scale weight are predictive of body fat.
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Even if you are also building muscle, the rate at which you can lose fat will be much quicker than the rate at which you can build muscle. It's okay not to be overreliant on them, but scales can show whether you’re moving in the right direction.
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Myth 4. Exercise Is Bad for Your Knees

Actually, it’s more like the opposite: properly done squats will strengthen the stabiliser muscles around your knee joints, safeguarding you against injury.
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As for running, a 20-year study conducted by Stanford University found that consistent runners (many of whom were well into their 70s by the time the research period ended) showed a lower incidence of arthritis than non-runners as they aged.
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Myth 5. You Can ‘Spot Reduce’ Fat

Fact is, we all have stubborn fat areas that seem to take the longest to get lean but we can’t really choose where to lose fat from. Don’t give up though, with time, stubborn areas will get leaner alongside everything else.
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Myth 6: Less Rest Means You’re Working Harder

Constant movement for the sake of it could actually be counterproductive. For instance, if you push yourself for too long, you may end up put in less work than you might with some strategic downtime.
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For most people – especially beginners – periods of recovery between sets or intervals allows for higher-intensity, better-quality movement, lower risk of injury and a greater training stimulus that is likely to lead to superior results.
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Myth 7. Machines Are Pointless

While there is some truth to this, not every machine is the enemy. Whether you’re a novice or a more advanced lifter, machines can involve less setup, allow more work and provide extra stimulus to isolated muscle groups.
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Myth 8: Cross-training is the best full-body cardio.

You don't have to engage in a mixture of cardio routines for you to get good results. For instance, swimming is one of those workouts that engages every single major muscle group in the body.
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Myth 9: Shorter is better.

The truth? Anything is better than nothing, and it’s certainly possible to make some gains in whatever limited time you have, but longer workouts have effects that no micro-workout can mimic.
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Myth 10. There Is One ‘Best’ Way to Train

Whatever training style you choose, you’ll find someone ready to argue that everything else is useless. This kind of absolutism risks deflating people by telling them that their efforts have been pointless.
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The reality is, any physical activity has health benefits; the right type is the one that doesn’t injure you, make you sad or make you want to stop.
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Ideally, your physical activity should include a mixture of cardio, resistance and mobility work spread across the week – but in the end, it's best to do what you enjoy.
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