---
title: 'Biggest Fitness Myths You Still Believe (i know you do)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=UkoIw3hl_C0'
video_id: 'UkoIw3hl_C0'
date: 2026-08-01
duration_sec: 552
---

# Biggest Fitness Myths You Still Believe (i know you do)

> Source: [Biggest Fitness Myths You Still Believe (i know you do)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=UkoIw3hl_C0)

## Summary

This video tackles nine of the most persistent fitness myths, from the post-workout anabolic window to spot reduction and 'toning' with light weights. The host explains why these beliefs are wrong and offers practical, evidence-based alternatives for training, nutrition, and fat loss.

### Key Points

- **Introduction: Many fitness beliefs are myths** [00:02] — The video opens by noting that most people believe at least half of common fitness myths, often without realizing it, and that these myths cause mistakes rooted in old bodybuilding forum advice.
- **Myth 1: The anabolic window** [00:14] — The belief that you must consume protein immediately after a workout is false. A pre-workout meal with protein still fuels the body after training, so you can wait 1-3 hours before eating without losing gains.
- **Myth 2: Spot reduction** [01:23] — You cannot target fat loss to one body area. Fat is burned systemically, so stubborn areas like belly or thighs are often the last to change; the only solution is staying in a calorie deficit long enough.
- **Myth 3: Sweat equals calories burned** [02:29] — Excessive sweating from sauna suits or plastic wrap causes water loss, not fat loss. Any rapid weight drop is temporary dehydration and can be dangerous, leading to fainting.
- **Myth 4: Stretching before workouts prevents injuries** [03:23] — Static stretching before training actually loosens muscles, reducing power and stability and increasing injury risk. Warm up before workouts and save static stretching for after.
- **Myth 5: You must shock the muscle** [04:30] — Frequent exercise changes prevent progressive overload and stall progress. You can use the same exercises for 6 months or more, especially as a beginner, and still make gains.
- **Myth 6: Carbs make you fat** [05:21] — Weight gain is determined by calorie surplus, not carbohydrate intake. Carbs are just less satiating, which can lead to overeating; cutting carbs often works only because it creates a calorie deficit.
- **Myth 7: Supplements are necessary for best gains** [06:14] — Supplements only add to a good diet and cannot fix a poor one. Protein powder and creatine can help marginally, but BCAAs and similar products are a waste of money.
- **Myth 8: Cardio makes you lose muscle** [07:20] — Cardio can cause muscle loss only if done improperly. Space cardio and lifting by 6-8 hours or use separate days, avoid excessive endurance sessions, and refeed after cardio.
- **Myth 9: Light weights tone muscles** [08:25] — Toning is not a real training effect; it means being lean and having enough muscle. Instead of light weights, use progressive overload to build muscle, then cut fat in a calorie deficit.

### Conclusion

The takeaway is simple: ignore trendy shortcuts and focus on consistent training, a controlled calorie balance, and patience — that's what actually produces results.

## Transcript

of them and you probably still believe in at least a half of them. You might not even realize that a lot of things that you are doing are actually based on a myth. So, let me do you a favor and bust all of these myths so that you can
finally stop making the mistakes that were born on some bodybuilding forum in the year 2006. Number one, anabolic window. The anabolic window is one of the most popular myths that a lot of people still believe in. If you are not
really aware of what the anabolic window is, it simply means that once you finish protein. Otherwise, you will not build any muscle and the workout will be quote unquote wasted. And I'm not going to lie, in like 2016, even I still thought
it was true. But this just makes no sense at all. Yes, you should definitely need to make it into a locker room speedun. The way it works is like this. Imagine that you eat a pre-workout meal with a good amount of protein and then
after an hour or so you go to the gym. Where do you think that the protein from the pre-workout meal went? Well, it didn't go anywhere. It's still in your workout, you don't need to instantly slam a protein shake. Your body still
has plenty to work with. You can wait an hour or two or maybe even three if your pre-workout meal had a lot of protein. So, there is no need to stress about the anabolic window. Number two, you can spot reduce fat. Yeah, that is a tough
one. This myth will probably never leave and people will keep asking how to burn off their love handles. So hopefully once and for all spot fat reduction is not possible. That is because your body burns fat systemically which means that
the fat gets burned relatively evenly across the board. And unfortunately the area where you would want to burn off the fat the most will most likely be one of the last ones to disappear. This differs a little bit from person to
person and it's also very dependent on your genetics, but it's mostly dependent on your gender. Men will store most of their fat around their midsection. That's why the most common complaint you hear is always belly fat and love
handles. And then of course, some men will also store fat on their chest. But for women, the most common area is legs. So hips, thighs, and butt. And the only way you are getting rid of the fat in those areas is if you put yourself in a
calorie deficit for long enough. So you really have to be patient. If you are losing weight, you are doing great. You just need to keep it going for a little longer and not get discouraged. Then you will reach your goal. Number three, more
sweat indicates more calories burned. Honestly, I can't even describe what I'm feeling every time I see someone doing cardio in a sono suit or when they are fully covered in that see-through foil you use in the kitchen. Not only that,
this does not work, but it can be really, really dangerous. People who believe this myth probably have a reason for it. And if I could guess, they probably went on a run in a sauna suit, then came back home and saw that they
lost 5 lbs in 30 minutes and thought, "Wow, this really works." Yeah, you could probably guess by now where that weight loss came from. You are essentially just dehydrating yourself. And that weight you lose is just you
rehydrate yourself, you will be back to normal. Trust me, you are really not losing 5 lbs in 30 minutes. All you can achieve by doing this is fainting. And results. If you are picking up what I'm putting down, number four, stretching
before a workout prevents injuries. Okay, I wouldn't really blame you for this one, so I will give you a pass. But listen, do not confuse stretching and warming up. These are two completely different things. Warming up before a
stretching before a workout causes injuries. If you spend 20 minutes before a workout doing static stretches, you because you are loosening all your muscles. And when all your muscles are
loose, you have a big problem for two reasons. you will not be able to generate as much power as if you didn't stretch before. And because your muscles stable, which will increase the likelihood of you getting injured by a
lot. So remember, if you want to do static stretches, do it after your workout, not before. And before your workout, all you do is warm up, which as the word tells you, should just get your body warm and ready to go. So if you are
press, for example, do a couple of push-ups and then some reps with the empty bar. Then add a little more weight and so on. Doesn't matter how you do it. Just get your joints warm. That's it. Number five, you got to shock the
muscle. There is one guy who is solely responsible for creation of this myth and that guy is Arnold. You could say that this is not really a myth because it is kind of true. You really got to switch it up every so often. But most of
the people have this idea that they need to make changes every month and that is just a terrible idea. The only thing that the constant switches achieve is that you are not able to progressively overload properly because before you get
into some kind of groove, the exercise is switched again. So you are not really progressing. You are just playing musical chairs. You can easily go 6 months, a year or even more using the same exact exercises and be completely
fine. This is especially true if you are relatively new to the gym. So yeah, definitely shock the muscle but with some thought behind it. Otherwise, the only one shocked will be you. Number six, carbs make you fat. No matter what
type of diet you are doing, it's always calories in and calories out. If you are in a calorie surplus, you will gain weight. If you are in a calorie deficit, matter if those calories came from eating a ton of rice or from eating a
boatload of chicken. It's just all calories. The reason why this myth became so popular is because it's way more difficult to overeat when you are eating only protein and fat as they are more satiating than carbs. So when some
people try this out and cut out all the carbs, they lost weight. But not because they stopped eating carbs, but because they ate less as a result and accidentally put themselves in a calorie deficit without even knowing it. And
that's how these myths usually are. People are resultsoriented. So, even though this actually works, it really wasn't because of the carbs making you fat. Number seven, you need supplements for the best gains? No, definitely not.
Just realizing what the word supplement really means tells you everything. It's something that you add on top of something that already exists. So, if protein powder on top will not make it any better. The same way if your diet is
absolutely terrible and your breakfast consists of a Red Bull and a sigy, then adding protein powder on top will also not really do anything. It can make your diet more convenient and patch up some spots when you need it to, but it will
never be able to fix your diet just by itself. There could be an argument made for creatine, but still, it's a very small boost and you can be perfectly fine without it. And beyond protein powder and creatine, it's not even worth
discussing. BCAAs and all that crap is just a waste of money. Invest your money into higher quality foods instead of dust. Or you could invest them into the best training and nutrition plans in the world. In my opinion, of course. These
that you need to succeed. All you need to do is just keep it simple and follow. No headaches, no feelings of being overwhelmed, just the basics. Click the first link in the description to take a look. I promise you that it will be a
much better use of your money than buying BCAAs or some kind of Chinese testosterone booster. Number eight, cardio will make you lose muscle. Yes, this could theoretically happen, but if you follow what I'm about to tell you
First of all, you don't want to do cardio right before your workout. Ideally, you should space your cardio and workout sessions by at least 6 to 8 hours, or in the best case scenario, just do them on separate days. That's
recommend it. The other thing that you have to avoid is just doing excessive amounts of cardio. Running a marathon or riding your bike for five hours is to make sure that you are not losing any muscle. Once upon a time, it's fine.
This becomes problematic once you are doing it regularly. And lastly, the most crucial thing of all, you have to refeed after your cardio session the same way you would refeed after a workout. Don't leave your body hanging because that's
when the muscle loss is going to happen. Number nine, lightweight training is good for toning your muscles. I don't know why, but every time I hear someone say, "I want to get toned." My soul just exits my body. I don't know why, but it
does. I might just be way too deep in the fitness rabbit hole. It's like when someone says that they don't want to get too big. Like, come on, dude. Getting checked out of your mind does not happen on accident. If you want to get toned,
oh my god, I hate saying this. You need to achieve two things. You want to be lean and you want to have at least some muscle mass. So instead of doing the T- word, start progressively overloading and put on some muscle. Then get in a
calorie deficit, lose that excess fat, and you will be what you would call Yeah, I'm not saying that again. What I'm going to say again though is thank something. Good luck in the gym, and I
will see you next time. This video right here is exactly what you have been here is exactly what you have been looking for. Go check it out.