Exercise 101: Myths, Tips, and Ideas

One of the most frequent things I hear from people trying to live a healthier lifestyle is the difficulty surrounding exercise. More often than not, people claim they don’t like to exercise or that they can’t make time for it. Most of the time, neither of these things are actually true. Society has given us the impression that to start exercising, we must commit to running an hour a day or doing some other form of cardio. This is also not true, and holding these beliefs is often detrimental to someone who is trying to begin exercising. I’m here to dispel the common myths associated with exercise and to provide solutions to get you up and moving.

(Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional nor do I seek to give medical advice. Please consult your primary care provider before beginning an exercise program.)

Common Exercise Myths

Here are some of the most common exercise myths I hear and read about that are probably holding you back:

Myth 1: "I must do cardio."

Cardiovascular activities are not the only exercise activities out there. Although CDC guidelines specify 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity a week, that may not even be the most beneficial to your health. Any form of functional training will be much more useful; this includes resistance training and mobility training. Why? You are most likely to get injured through falling or picking something up in the wrong way. Resistance and mobility training both work on skills to minimize this from happening.

Myth 2: "I must devote at least 30 straight minutes to an activity to make it count."

Many people create a loophole that leads them to believe they must give an exercise a significant chunk of time, but that’s not true. Everything counts! For some people’s schedules, it may be difficult to fit in a 30-minute walk. Instead of waiting for the magical free time to appear, use the fragments of time you do have. Completing three 10-minute walks is just as much walking as doing the same in one half-hour block. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that mixing walks in throughout the day rather than all at once may be beneficial for fat loss. Remember, one minute of activity is one more minute of activity than you were doing before!

Myth 3: "I must be sweating to know my workout is effective."

With the HIIT trend (high intensity interval training), it seems as if a workout that doesn’t have you sweating buckets at the end is not worthwhile. This is far from the case. First, sweating is only your body’s way of regulating temperature to cool you down. Consequently, everyone’s body is different in how often or how much they sweat. This means that sweating is not an indicator for how effective your workout is. You sweat sitting in a sauna, but you don’t consider that a workout! Most of my strength workouts often don’t leave me sweating much in the end. The reason I bring this up is to make those of you who avoid working out because you don’t like sweating to reconsider it. Additionally, there are a ton of poorly designed workouts on YouTube by fitness influencers that will make you sweat, but they will not actually get you the progress you may be looking for. This brings me to my next point…

Myth 4: "I must do what my favorite fitness influencer’s been doing to get results."

The internet is full of videos with click-bait-y titles that promise a single workout is the thing that will get you the six-pack you have been dreaming of your entire life. I can 100% guarantee you that they are all lying to you. Some people have asked me what the key to my upper-body is, and I never answer them with a tried-and-true regimen that I swear by. Everyone’s bodies are unique, and everyone responds differently to different exercise programming. That’s why there is incredible value in hiring a personal trainer to work with you to develop workout and nutrition plans to help you achieve your goals (#hireme). Additionally, most of the workouts by fitness influencers are created just to make you sweat and work harder than what’s needed to see the results you want.

Myth 5: "Exercise is the way to lose weight."

The saying goes “you cannot outrun a bad diet,” and this is 100% true. In order to lose weight, your body needs to burn more calories than you are taking in. This can be done through eating less and moving more. While moving more seems like a decent option on its own, it's not as easy as it sounds. Let’s look at running. In an hour of jogging, you can burn up to 400 calories. That seems like a lot, but you can consume 400 calories in a minute by having a single cookie. Additionally, people who do excessive cardio use it to justify eating more later in the day which can quickly result in a caloric surplus rather than a deficit.

The one type of exercise that is effective for weight loss in the long-term is resistance training. Your body will adapt to do what you ask it to do. If you ask it to do cardio, it will adapt to be more efficient at the activity, and you will burn less calories. (If your body didn’t do this, you would literally run yourself to death if you were to run a marathon!) Instead, if you ask your body to get better at weight lifting, it adapts by increasing strength and muscle mass. Muscle is a needy tissue, and it burns more calories than fat by just existing. Therefore, if you resistance train, you will end up boosting your metabolism and burning more calories throughout the day by simply living. Resistance training in combination with a controlled diet will lead to sustainable weight loss.

Tips to Begin

Beginning is often the hardest part of exercising. Here are some tips to conquer this mental hurdle:

1. Start small

Start with the smallest thing you think you can commit to. Maybe you can’t commit to doing 100 push-ups a day, but can you do 1? Is that still too much? What about a knee push-up? Sometimes doing something for a small amount of time can lead to doing it longer. For more on this, check out my post on motivation in which I describe the 5-minute rule.

2. Realize that anything is better than nothing

Remember, one minute of exercise is one minute of exercise that you weren’t doing before. Stop focusing on the things you are unable to do and focus on what you can do. This is similar to starting small, but this is about mindset. Shift your mindset to a growth mindset—you can and will grow after you begin.

3. Find what you enjoy

Exercise shouldn’t be painful! Most people who don’t like to exercise just haven’t found an activity they truly enjoy. There are many ways to exercise other than running, biking, or walking. Try yoga, barre, Pilates, swimming, stair-climbing, martial arts, dancing, etc. The possibilities are almost endless! Once you have found an activity you enjoy doing, stick to it by establishing a schedule either on your own or through a class.

4. Add more overall movement to your day

An object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest. Find ways to move throughout the day. When you’re stuck in a desk chair and glued to your computer, it’s easy to forget about exercise and moving in general. If you find ways to walk around your house or the office several times an hour, you may just be inspired to move more. For those of you who actually can’t do that, consider investing in a treadmill desk or a desk cycle. I bought a desk cycle, and it ended up being the best purchase I made last month! I am much more focused on my work when I’m not thinking about how much I could be moving while I’m stuck sitting. There are cheaper options out there, but remember you get what you pay for.

5. Purchase some basic equipment

Working out at-home can definitely get you similar results to working out at the gym, so don’t use gym closings as an excuse not to start. While body weight exercises are effective, they can only go so far. Consider purchasing a stability ball, resistance bands, and a set of adjustable dumbbells. This is all I currently own, and I have made most of my progress with this equipment. (I am not sponsored by any of the products I am mentioning in this post.)

Exercise Ideas

Here are a few exercise ideas you can be doing:

1. Full-body at-home strength training workout

Guidelines: Complete 3-6 sets of each exercise in the order listed here. Your set is done when you can no longer complete the exercise with proper form or a full range of motion. Rest for a minimum of 90 seconds between sets. This video walks you through proper form for each exercise. Do this workout 3 days a week with at least one rest day in between.

Body-weight squats

Walking lunges

Push-ups (use your knees, a wall, or a bench to find the appropriate level for you)

Table rows or pull-ups

Dips or bench dips

Sit-ups

2. Cardio regimen

Choose an exercise you enjoy and do it for 30 minutes 5 days a week. Over time, gradually increase the time, speed, or resistance (ex. hills) to keep seeing progress and fight your body’s adaptations. Your body can begin to adapt as early as two weeks after consistently doing a new form of exercise.

3. Finding joy in walking

Walking is very enjoyable if you look at it the right way or multitask. Here are a few ideas to make walking more enjoyable for you.

1. Mindful walking (focus on the moment: your breath, the environment, your steps, etc.)

2. Walk without distractions, focus on your thoughts and spending time with yourself)

3. Walk to a destination (I walk to get my coffee every morning)

4. Listen to a podcast or music

5. Listen to an audio book

6. Call up a friend to walk and talk

7. Walk with a friend if you’re able to

8. Walk and practice by listening to recordings of your current rep

Hopefully this information is useful to you and can be used to help you begin exercising. If you are interested in personal training, I am currently accepting clients, so please contact me! As always, share, subscribe, and comment so I can know if my content is making an impact! (Also, thank you for your patience with my delayed article last week.)