There are a lot of popular cardio myths circulating in the fitness world. In fact, they are so popular; they can easily pass for truths. Since we can’t really debunk all the myths, due to lack of space, we settled for the top 3 most popular. Hopefully, the truths will be more than enough to set you free.

Myth#1 – Performing the same type of cardio, at the same intensity, while wearing weights, is the most effective way to burn fats.

That line sure is a mouthful. Just like in any kind of exercise, you are likely to reach a plateau if you perform the same kind of cardio workout every time. Your body is extremely smart and is very much capable of adapting. Doing the same type of cardio will eventually put your body in a “lax mode”. To burn more calories, challenge your body! Do a variety of cardio workouts every day. There are various cardio exercises–such as swimming, running, biking, just to name a few–that you can perform on a rotational basis.

It is also not true that cardio exercises performed steadily burn more fats. Quite the contrary, varying the intensity spells the difference between burning more and burning less.  Intense cardio workout, not only burn calories in the process, but it also burn calories after. When your body repairs itself, it uses calories too. Alternating between intense workouts and “easy” workouts, gives your body enough time to rest and recover.

Also, wearing weights during cardio will probably do you more harm than good. In short—it is not worth the risk. Two pounds of ankle straps will barely make an impact in the amount of calories you burn. And what’s worse, with these straps, there is a high possibility of you being thrown off balance. As a result, you’ll end up hurting yourself.

Myth#2 – You can eat more just because you do more cardio.

“It’s okay; I can eat this quarter pounder from McDonald’s. I’m going to do cardio later anyway.” If this is your mindset, then, you might as well stop exercising now. Not only are you wasting your time, but you’re also likely to injure yourself.

To burn approximately 500 calories from a quarter pounder; you have to do a very intense cardio workout for more than two hours! Yes—highly likely, you will manage to over train, injure yourself and you’re not even halfway through the 500 calories that you’re trying to burn.

Myth#3 – If you can’t do cardio longer, due to lack of time, you might as well not do it.

Yes, that statement right there is pure, unadulterated—myth. You burn calories even while sitting and watching TV? Yes, as stationary as the action is, you are still burning approximately 70 to 80 calories in an hour. Can you imagine what a—let’s say—15-minute cardio do?

A cardio is a cardio, regardless of duration. Even a 5 minute cardio will burn you calories. With that said, you’re definitely better off taking advantage of the little time you have to do exercise.

Cardio myths are there to stay. The world will not run out of people who have flair in creating their own “truths”. People believe what they want to believe. A word of advice—before you start believing, do some researching. At the end of the day, it’s all up to you to screen the myths from the truths.

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