Fitness and healthy living have become more and more popular over the last few years. That growing popularity means that we read about tons of different strategies, constantly see the new 'must-have' products, and hear about a new diet weekly that will finally help us hit our health and fitness goals. Today I want to talk about a few of the fitness myths we're listening to that we desperately need to break up with!
Myth #1 - Walking 10,000 steps per day will help us hit our goals and/or lose weight. SO many of my friends compete against other friends and co-workers to walk the most steps in a day/week. Although I 100% agree that getting up for a midday stroll is beneficial when you sit at a desk all day, it is not going to be the make or break your fitness goals. Walking around won't get your heart rate up enough to make a huge impact on your goals.
Solution #1 - What does make a difference is getting your heart rate up and breaking a sweat. I always suggest finding some sort of exercising you truly enjoy, it can be anything -- running, boxing, hip-hop dance class, yoga, spinning, etc. If you actually like doing it, you'll want to do it more often than dragging yourself to the gym to do something you hate. I like to use my Mio SLICE to track my heart rate while I'm working out. The PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) score lets you know how each activity affects your overall health -- you should aim to get 100 PAI points during a 7-day rolling period. PAI analyzes your movements throughout your entire day including the time you spend adulting (hello, yard work, I'm looking at you!), but you'll earn even more PAI points by raising your heart rate and pushing yourself during your workouts. I like to compete against myself to see how high I can get my score (SO much better than seeing who can walk 10,000 steps in a day if you ask me!) My highest so far in a week is 178. Even though the goal is to get to 100 points to live a longer, healthier life, I'm going to try to get to 200 this week just to see if I can!
Myth #2 - The same workout routine fits anyone trying to get in shape. This one is so incredibly false. You and your BFF may have both taken the last 3 months off from the gym, but every single body is different and needs different workouts to hit different goals. I used to work out with one of my besties, and we were constantly lifting different amounts of weight and had different endurance for cardio even though we worked out together 5 days a week. I can’t stress enough how different everyone is.
Solution #2 - Change up your workouts so your body never gets used to it! I've been really into lifting, boxing, and HIIT lately so I switch between those 3 at the moment to always keep my body guessing what I'm doing. You can something as simple as adding heavier weights to really push yourself always. You can also use your SLICE to keep track of your workouts. Your PAI score is calculated based on age, gender, and resting and max heart rate. It's personalized for everyone, which means hitting 100 PAI will take different activities and intensities for everyone. The Mio PAI 2.0 app (from the screenshot above), provides a full daily picture of how your heart performed in each heart rate zone and where you earned the most PAI points. You can also see your steps, distance, calories burned, and sleep quality (I knew my sleeping patterns were bad, but WOW this tracker really opened my eyes).
Myth #3 - You have to keep the same schedule every week to hit your health and fitness goals. Life is busy, which means your fitness should fit into your life when you have the time.
Solution #3 - My goal is to work out 5 days a week. This might mean on a random Wednesday I don't have the time, but I can get a workout in on Saturday instead. Your body just wants to move and be fueled, no matter what day of the week it is. My biggest piece of advice to stay on track is to get workouts in when you can, and be creative. If you can't get to the gym, do a quick 30-minute at home workout, you'd be surprised how hard you can push yourself in your living room! The SLICE also allows you to track your fitness with some flexibility. I love that my PAI score works over a 7-day rolling period so when I don't have to time to squeeze a workout in on any given day, I can gain points the next day to add to my score.
Which fitness myths have you been guilty of listening to? Let me know in the comments! Also, let me know if you get the SLICE and what you think of it! I'm now focusing on my sleeping patterns and how to improve them. Wish me luck!
xoxo,
Sarah
Thanks so much to Mio for sponsoring and collaborating with me on this post!