FITNESS MYTHS

CARDIO MYTH: You have to work out for at least half an hour to make any fitness gains.

THE TRUTH: Anything you do for any period of time will give you some benefit. You can accumulate the same health benefits with three 10-minute bouts of aerobic exercise as during a single 30-minute one. When it comes to weight-loss obviously the more you do the faster you 'll succeed, but if you are running short on time try ramping up the intensity to maintain your fitness level and keep your habit.

FAT MYTH: To lose flab, exercise in the "fat-burning Zone".

THE TRUTH: Focus on total caloric expenditure, not where those calories are coming from in your body. If you want to burn 100 calories, it doesn't matter if you do it at 60% of your max heart rate (known as the "fat burning zone") or 80%. But the person workout out at 80% gets it done faster and with more benefit to their aerobic fitness. Greater intensity equals more calories burned. 

ANOTHER FAT MYTH: Muscles can turn to fat.

THE TRUTH: Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues that have different functions. One can't turn into the other. When you stop exercising muscles atrophy, so you'll lose the tone you worked so hard to attain. And if you don't adjust your diet, you will gain fat.

MUSCLE BUILDING MYTH: Lifting heavy weights will make women bulk up.

THE TRUTH: Repeat after us: Women simply don't have enough of the muscle-building hormone testosterone to get bulky, even using heavy weights. Some people will gain muscle faster than they lose fat, so they may be bigger until they shed some fat.

ANOTHER CARDIO MYTH: You don't really need to warm-up or cool down.

THE TRUTH: Your best mode of injury prevention is a good warm-up and cool down that involve a milder version of you r workout, such as walking before and after you jog. A warm-up prepares you r muscles and joints to work - cold muscles are more susceptible to injury - and a cool down gradually lowers heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. Skipping the later could lead to dizziness and even cardiovascular problems.