Biggest Fitness Myths Pakistani Gym-Goers Still Believe

Anyone who spends even several weeks at the gym knows for sure that everyone there is full of opinions. Be it the deadlifting guy in the corner, be it the trainer giving someone form corrections, and even the new member you have just met at the gym last month.

Unfortunately, not everything they say is true.

This is especially true for Pakistan where fitness-related advice gets passed around freely without even a single question asked: Is it really the case? The result of this process becomes “fitness facts” that people follow without even realizing that they get into trouble by doing so.

This is one of the main factors that prevent beginners from achieving their goals as they train, waste money on supplements and diets, but still do not reach what they wanted to achieve. And what happens next? Of course, they start blaming their genetics, gym, supplements, but the truth is they have just been misled since the first days.

And so, before making any changes to your routine or getting a new supplement, let’s get rid of the worst myths that have managed to survive in Pakistani gyms for such a long time.

1. “The More You Sweat, the More Fat You Burn”

This one has survived for decades.

You’ll often hear someone say, “Aaj bohat pasina aya, aaj to charbi pighal gayi hogi.”

It sounds convincing, but that’s not how fat loss works.

It is just that. Sweating is your body’s method of keeping itself cool when the temperature rises. Nothing more and nothing less. Regardless of whether you’re working out in Lahore’s hot summers or air-conditioned gyms, the extent of sweating depends on your surrounding conditions, workout intensity, and even genes.

For example, if you sit in a sauna for twenty minutes, you will end up covered in sweat. But will you have burned body fat by doing so? No way!

However, there can be someone who exercises in a cool surrounding and will sweat less while burning a lot of calories through the workout session.

Body fat loss occurs when you consume fewer calories compared to what your body requires. This is called a calorie deficit and has nothing to do with sweating.

So next time you finish a workout session, don’t judge its results according to the amount of sweat on your shirt, rather consider the number of days you worked out continuously.

2. “Protein Powder Is Dangerous”

This myth deserves an award because it refuses to go away.

Tell your family you’re thinking about buying whey protein, and there’s a good chance someone will stop you before you’ve even finished your sentence.

“Yeh chemicals hote hain.”

“Kidneys kharab ho jati hain.”

“Natural cheezen khao.”

These concerns usually come from misunderstanding what whey protein actually is.

Whey is not a medicine. Whey is not a steroid. Whey is not an easy way to build muscles in just one day.

It is merely one of those proteins which are naturally present in milk. Whey is extracted from the milk during the process of making cheese and then dried and made into powder form. This is how whey works because it is easy to consume whey whenever consuming sufficient amount of proteins via food becomes difficult.

Certainly, this does not mean that all of the protein powders in the market are good for consumption. In fact, Pakistan has seen plenty of fake dietary supplements being sold in the country in the past, which makes it important to buy authentic products from reputable sellers.

Supplement is not the issue. Fake products are.

3. “The Longer You Stay in the Gym, the Better the Results”

There are those people who consider the gym to be their second home. From two hours, three hours pass. Half the time is wasted on talking, scrolling through Instagram or waiting for machines. There’s also that person who enters the gym, trains intensely for fifty minutes and goes home.

Who do you think is making better progress?

Longer workouts won’t make you stronger. Training that works will. Properly planned workout that involves compound exercises, progressive overload and intensity will definitely work better than long workouts with random exercises. Muscles aren’t built during workout. They’re built after workout, when your body has proper nourishment and rest. Training better will always beat training longer.

4. “Women Should Stay Away from Heavy Weights”

However, despite all this data being easily accessible, this misconception continues to deter many women from working out at the weights station.

This fear is quite justified. Most people believe that weightlifting means gaining bulk. However, it takes years of hard work, strict dieting, and hormonal predispositions, which most women lack by nature, to acquire bulky muscles.

Instead, the benefits of training in the gym include improved posture, stronger bones, healthy metabolism, better self-confidence, and an overall toned body – something that everyone is trying to obtain nowadays.

It is ironical but true that the perfect female body seen in photos on social networks was achieved through regular workout sessions.

5. “Fat Burners Can Replace Dieting”

Year after year, fat burners become one of the most sought after health supplements in Pakistan. And why wouldn’t they be? Everyone is looking for some quick results.

However, somewhere along the way, people have started to believe that such supplements can magically remove all negative consequences of late night junk food and soda consumption and sporadic exercise routine. Wouldn’t it be nice?

Unfortunately, there is no supplement in the world that can negate the consequences of weeks of improper nutrition and training. While some of them might be able to help somewhat with increasing your energy level and controlling your appetite, in essence, they are just that – supplements, that are meant to complement your existing healthy lifestyle rather than compensate for its lack.

There is no secret to fitness other than consistency.

6. “More Protein Means More Muscle”

Protein is essential, there are no doubts about it. However, sometimes, people tend to exaggerate it.

For example, you may come across such statements as, “the more protein you consume, the quicker you will grow”. And people start consuming excessive amounts of whey protein, chicken at every meal and try to get protein everywhere.

However, it is wrong to assume that muscle mass will grow due to an increase in protein consumption. There are multiple factors that stimulate muscle growth, including challenging training sessions, adequate calorie intake, proper recovery and enough amount of protein. Once you have met your protein requirements, additional amount will not make your muscles grow twice faster.

A well-balanced diet will always be much more effective in stimulating growth than an excess amount of protein. Remember that you should consume enough carbohydrates for training and fat for hormone production.

Instead of thinking of ways to consume more protein, you should wonder if your overall diet helps you recover and train properly.

7. “If I Want to Lose Weight, I Only Need Cardio”

This is perhaps the mistake that most beginners commit. They work out on the treadmill for an hour every day without going anywhere near the weight machine since they believe that lifting weights is only for people who wish to bulk up. This is not true; each type of exercise serves its own purpose.

Running on a treadmill can benefit your heart immensely and burn those extra calories; however, if you are losing weight, then it is essential that you preserve your muscle mass while doing so. No one likes to lose their muscle mass along with the fat.

Take the case of the people who have radically transformed their physique. Very few have done so solely through cardio; most use weightlifting, activity, and a sensible eating habit. Thus, if you are going to spend every workout session running on the treadmill, it may be time to throw some strength exercises into the mix.

8. “No Soreness Means It Wasn’t a Good Workout”

“I’m so sore today. I just got annihilated during yesterday’s workout.” That’s how you always hear people talk about their soreness as though it is a badge of honor. In reality, having sore muscles does not necessarily imply that your training was perfect. There might be cases when you feel sore because of trying out something different, and there are times when you will have the best training day of your life and not even feel any discomfort afterward.

Your body adapts to this. With your improving fitness, your recovery becomes faster. This implies that you get sore less often even though you make more progress than before.

Are you lifting more weight than before?

Can you do more reps?

Is your form improving?

Those are much better signs that your training is working.

9. “Crunches Will Burn Belly Fat”

If developing abs was just a matter of doing crunches a hundred times every single day, then all gyms would be packed with individuals who have six packs. However, the truth is that our bodies do not give us the option to target which parts of our body lose the fat first. Abdominal muscle strength can be developed through exercises such as crunches, plank and leg raises. However, this does not necessarily mean that the fat on top of the muscles will also be burned through the exercises.

Getting visible abs is the result of reducing the body fat percentage, which involves proper nutrition, exercise, weight training and patience.

10. “Supplements Matter More Than Your Diet”

This is perhaps the easiest trap to fall into. The novice comes to the gym and starts hunting whey protein, creatine, pre-workout, BCAA, and fat burners right away. No time to pass until their wallet is emptied. At the same time, they skip breakfast, eat very few vegetables, and lack sleep. It looks just like interior decoration without building walls first.

Supplements can be highly beneficial. Supplements help meet your dietary needs and aid your workouts. But, as you can guess from their name, supplements are that – supplements. They will work better if you have everything done correctly already. You should have all meals balanced, do regular workouts, drink enough water, and get enough sleep.

If something is missing from your list of habits, no protein or pre-workout in the world is going to change anything.

Final Thoughts

In spite of all the changes that have been occurring in the area of fitness, one thing remained the same: bad information gets distributed rapidly. As long as a myth is repeated frequently, it turns into something that everyone treats as a proven piece of knowledge.

The positive thing is that it’s not necessary to be up-to-date with all trends and rumors from the gym in order to achieve good results. All that needs to be done is to train regularly, eat well and sleep. This can hardly be called something revolutionary, but those simple rules are the only ones that make people successful while others constantly repeat their first attempts.

It’s time to stop looking for quick ways to lose weight.