Around the world, millions of people spend hours exercising to keep fit and have a healthy lifestyle. Despite the accessibility of information available nowadays, fitness myths still abound. Keeping up the belief in these myths can be detrimental instead of helpful because they keep you from reaching your health and fitness goals.

Myth #1: Exercise increases your height.
There are some who enrol in fitness courses that promise to increase their height. This however, is largely a fallacy since our growth is based largely on hormones. The human body is generally capable of growing until the age of 18 after which the height increase stops. This is because the cartilage which is responsible for bone formation becomes more solid as we grow older, and as a result, the height increase we get from the cartilage formation also stops. What people may see as an increase in their height might actually be an improvement in their posture due to exercise, making the body looked more aligned and straight as they did before exercise.

Myth #2: Cardio exercises are the best fat burners.
Cardio activities are perhaps one of the most popular forms of exercise because they are easy to do and can be done almost anywhere without any equipment. Although they do burn calories, when compared to weight exercises, cardio only burns while you are moving and stops when you are at rest. Weight training increases your lean muscles so that your rest metabolism rate is able to burn up to 25% more calories even while you are just sleeping. This does not mean that you should do away with cardio activities entirely, cardio have many benefits which include increased resistance, endurance and increases your immunity against diseases. You can sign up for personal training courses to determine which kind of exercise and physical activity would be best for you.

Myth #3: You don’t need to diet if you exercise regularly (and vice-versa).
This is the old diet vs. exercise debate where some people advocate that one is better than the other, or than sticking to either one would work in your fitness goals. Simply put, both diet and exercise are equally important to keeping a fit and healthy lifestyle. It may be tempting to take shortcuts in this area and just have one without the other, but to maintain weight loss and strength, it is important to have a healthy diet hand in hand with regular exercise as part of your lifestyle.

While it is easy to get swayed by fitness myths and age-old beliefs, it is also important to do your research before you devote yourself to a particular school of thinking especially when it comes to your fitness and health. You can consult with a health professional and work with a trainer that has a fitness certification since they have studied these subjects intensively and can provide sound advice for your different health and fitness concerns.