11 myths and misconceptions about fitness that will surprise you

When you want to tone up your muscles, lose weight or improve your mood, you decide to do fitness. Unfortunately, there is a lot of information that will not help you achieve your goal — or even harm you. For example, what is better for weight loss — exercise or diet? Is it true that a marathon is good for health? The answers to these questions may surprise you.

That's not so. Research results suggest that in the short term, diet is much more important than increasing the intensity of sports. In the long run, however, regular exercise is more important in order to stay fit.

Nope. Lifting weights will not magically make your flabby muscles strong. Unfortunately, fat doesn't turn into muscle. But lifting weights will help you build muscle tissue.

According to the results of several studies, the afternoon and evening are just as good for classes as the early morning.

However, some studies suggest that early workouts help speed up weight loss.

In addition, daylight plays an important role in weight loss. By synchronizing our internal clock, or daily biorhythms, with natural ones, we help speed up metabolism. According to one recent study, people who enjoyed the sun for the first two hours after waking up were thinner than those who did not receive any natural light, no matter what they ate during the day.

You know what? Lifting weights is completely safe — and very useful for muscle strength. The ability to build large muscles directly depends on the level of testosterone, and in women it is lower on average. So if you're a woman, the chances of you getting "pumped up" are incredibly small.

To lose half a kilo, you need to burn 3,500 calories — much more than the number of calories that the average adult (male or female) eats in a whole day. For comparison, the average American man will burn about 330 calories in twenty minutes of running at a moderate pace.

Not really.

Even if we try to be more conscious about what we put in our mouths and how active we lead a life, we tend to trust ourselves more than we should.

"People tend to overestimate their physical activity and underestimate how much food they consume," says Philip Stanforth, a scientist from University of Texas and Director of the Texas Fitness Institute. — Everyone constantly thinks that they worked out more and ate less."

The problem of trendy diets is very simple: they are temporary. To lose weight and keep fit, you need to find a diet that you can stick to all your life.

"We say that we have gone on a diet, which suggests that we will get off it. That's the whole point," says Philip Stanforth.

Good news: you can stop being ashamed that you didn't sign up to run the marathon that everyone is talking about. In fact, you can get all the benefits of running a long distance, even without crossing the line of 8 kilometers.

Running fast for five to ten minutes a day can bring the same health benefits as running for hours. In fact, people who run less than an hour a week (if they run every day) get the same heart benefits as those who run more than three hours a week.

Recent research suggests that short intense exercises can bring the same health benefits as long grueling classes — and they are also more fun!

If you are already in decent shape, exercising a couple of times a week will not bring much benefit.

"It's best to practice at least three times a week," says Sean Arent, a scientist at Rutgers University. — In fact, you should do something every day, and by the word "something" I mean physical activity - just move."

Sorry, Gatorade lovers: This energy drink consists mainly of sugar and water.

After training, experts recommend taking about 20 grams of protein (of any origin) and drinking plenty of water.

Unfortunately, all these strong muscles that you worked so hard on in the summer will most likely begin to disappear within a few days after you stop training.

In most cases, the muscles begin to disappear within a week without regular exercise.