無論你健身是為了變苗條、改善心情，還是擁有一身健美的肌肉，都要有正確的心態和方法。也許經常有一些過來人給你一些誠懇的建議，但這些建議不一定都是對的，比如，早上鍛煉是最好的，舉重可以把脂肪變成肌肉。真相到底是怎樣的呢？

Myth #1: To stay in shape, you only need to work out once or twice a week.

流言1：為了保持體形，你只需要一個禮拜鍛煉一次或者兩次。

Truth: Once or twice a week won't cut it for sustained health benefits.

事實：一周一到兩次的鍛煉不會給身體健康帶來持久的回報。

"A minimum of three days per week for a structured exercise program" is best, Shawn Arent, an exercise scientist at Rutgers University, recently told Business Insider.

羅格斯大學的運動科學家肖恩·阿倫特近日告訴商業內幕網說：“對一個結構合理的鍛煉計劃來說，一周至少要鍛煉3次”才是最佳的。

"Technically, you should do something every day, and by something I mean physical activity - just move. Because we're finding more and more that the act of sitting counteracts any of the activity you do."

“嚴格來說，你每天都要練點啥，也就是說要活動一下。因為我們越來越清楚，久坐是會抵消掉你的鍛煉成果的。”

Myth #2: The best time to work out is first thing in the morning.

流言2：早上鍛煉是最好的。

Truth: The best time for a workout is whatever time allows you to exercise most consistently. Ideally, you want to make physical fitness a daily habit, so if late-night trips to the gym are your thing, stick with it. If you prefer a morning run, do that instead.

事實：鍛煉沒有最好的時段，無論什么時候都行，只要你能堅持。理想的情況下，你要讓健身成為你的日常習慣，所以如果你喜歡晚上去健身房，那就堅持晚上去。如果你喜歡晨跑的話，那就晨跑。

Don't have a preference? Some research suggests that working out first thing in the morning might help speed weight loss by priming the body to burn more fat throughout the day.

對時間沒啥特別的偏好？有一些研究指出，早上起床后鍛煉能讓身體在一天中燃燒更多的脂肪，加速減重。

Myth #3: Weight lifting turns fat into muscle.

流言3：擼鐵能把脂肪變成肌肉。

Truth: You can't turn fat into muscle. Physiologically speaking, they're two different tissues. Adipose (fatty) tissue is found under the skin, sandwiched between muscles, and around internal organs like the heart.

事實：脂肪是不會變成肌肉的。從生理學方面來說，這完全是兩種不同的組織。脂肪組織被夾在皮膚和肌肉中間，還會包裹在心臟等器官的外部。

Muscle tissue - which can be further broken down into three main types - is found throughout the body.

而肌肉組織可以被細分為3個主要類型（平滑肌、心肌和骨骼肌），分布于全身。

What weight training really does is help build up the muscle tissue in and around any fat tissue. The best way to reduce fat tissue is to eat a healthy diet that incorporates vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats like olive oil and fish.

擼鐵真正能做到的是幫你鍛煉脂肪組織內部和周圍的肌肉組織。減脂的最佳途徑是吃健康的膳食：蔬菜、粗糧、瘦肉蛋白，以及橄欖油和魚這樣的健康脂肪。

Myth #4: Puzzles and games are the best 'brain workout' around.

流言4：解謎和游戲是最佳的“大腦鍛煉”方式。

Truth: Plain old physical exercise seems to beat out any type of mental puzzle available, according to a wealth of recent research.

事實：根據多項近期的研究結論，普通的身體鍛煉似乎能打敗任何種類的腦力游戲。

Two new studies published last spring suggest that aerobic exercise - any activity that raises your heart rate and gets you moving and sweating for a sustained period of time - has a significant, overwhelmingly beneficial impact on the brain.

去年春天發表的兩個研究結果表明，能讓你心跳加快、揮汗如雨的有氧運動對大腦有著顯著的、絕對有益的影響。

"Aerobic exercise is the key for your head, just as it is for your heart," wrote the authors of a recent Harvard Medical School blog post.

“有氧運動對你的心臟很重要，對大腦來說也一樣重要，”近期哈佛大學醫學院的博文中寫道。

Myth #5: Exercise is the best way to lose weight.

流言5：鍛煉是減肥的最佳方式。

Truth: If you're looking to lose weight, you shouldn't assume that you can simply 'work off' whatever you eat. Experts say slimming down almost always starts with significant changes to your eating habits.

事實：如果你想要減肥，你就不要用“我吃下去的卡路里都能燃燒掉”來自我催眠。專家表示，瘦下來主要靠明顯改變自己的飲食習慣。

"In terms of weight loss, diet plays a much bigger role than exercise," University of Texas exercise scientist Philip Stanforth tells Business Insider.

得克薩斯州立大學的運動科學家菲利普·斯坦福斯說：“在減肥這方面，飲食比鍛煉重要得多。”

That said, being active regularly is an important part of any healthy lifestyle.

即便如此，定期鍛煉在任何健康的生活方式中都是很重要的一部分。

And when it comes to boosting your mood, improving your memory, and protecting your brain against age-related cognitive decline, research suggests exercise may be as close to a wonder drug as we'll get.

當談到改善情緒、增強記憶力以及預防大腦因年老產生認知衰退時，研究人員表示，鍛煉可能是我們最唾手可得的“靈丹妙藥”。

Myth #6: Sit-ups are the best way to get six-pack abs.

流言6：想要六塊腹肌，就做仰臥起坐。

Truth: As opposed to sit-ups, which target only your abdominal muscles, planks recruit several groups of muscles along your sides, front, and back. If you want a strong core - especially the kind that would give you six-pack-like definition - you need to challenge all of these muscles.

事實：仰臥起坐只能針對你的腹部肌肉，而平板支撐則要用到你側面、正面和背部的幾組肌肉。所以如果你想擁有強壯的核心肌肉，尤其是想要練出6塊腹肌，你需要鍛煉到所有的這些肌肉。

"Sit-ups or crunches strengthen just a few muscle groups," write the authors of the Harvard Healthbeat newsletter.

《哈佛健康節拍》通訊的作者寫道：“仰臥起坐只能鍛煉到少數幾個肌肉群。”

"Through dynamic patterns of movement, a good core workout helps strengthen the entire set of core muscles you use every day."

“通過有活力的運動模式，一組高質量的核心肌肉鍛煉有助于增強你日常會用到的整個核心區的肌肉。”

Myth #7: Weight training is for men.

流言7：擼鐵是男人的項目。

Truth: Weight training is a great way to strengthen muscles, and has nothing to do with gender. That said, women produce less testosterone on average than men do, and studies suggest that hormone plays a role in determining how we build muscle.

事實：擼鐵是加強肌肉的好途徑，而且和性別無關。不過，女性產生的睪丸素平均要比男性少，研究指出睪丸素有助于塑造肌肉，所以女性也就不太容易練成筋肉人。

Myth #8: It takes at least two weeks to get 'out of shape'.

流言8：“身材走形”至少需要兩周時間。

Truth: In most people, muscle tissue can start to break down within a week without regular exercise.

事實：大多數人一周不進行規律鍛煉的話，肌肉組織就會開始分解。

"If you stop training, you actually do get noticeable de-conditioning, or the beginnings of de-conditioning, with as little as seven days of complete rest," Arent said. "It very much is an issue of use it or lose it."

“如果7天內完全休息不進行鍛煉的話，肌肉減少或者肌肉開始減少是顯而易見的，”阿倫特表示，“要么練它，要么失去它。”

Myth #9: Running a marathon is the ideal way to get fit.

流言9：跑馬拉松是健身的理想方式。

Truth: Not ready to conquer a marathon? No problem. You can get many of the benefits of long-distance running without ever passing the five-mile mark.

事實：跑不了全馬？沒關系的。就算你跑不到8公里，長跑也是好處多多。

Running fast and hard for just 5 to 10 minutes a day can provide some of the same health outcomes as running for hours can.

每天高強度地跑上5到10分鐘所帶來的某些好處和連續跑上數小時是一樣的。

In fact, people who run for less than an hour a week - as long as they get in those few minutes each day - see similar benefits in terms of heart health compared to those who run more than three hours per week.

實際上，每周跑不到一小時（只要他們能每天都跑幾分鐘）給心臟健康帶來的益處和每周跑三小時以上的差不多。

Plus, years of recent research suggest that short bursts of intense exercise can provide some of the same health benefits as long, endurance-style workouts - and they also tend to be more fun.

此外，持續數年的近期研究也表明，短時間的高強度訓練能帶來和長時間的耐力訓練一樣的健康益處，而且也更有意思。

Myth #10: Keeping a food diary is a reliable way of monitoring and controlling what you eat.

流言10：記錄食物流水賬在監督和控制飲食上很可靠。

Truth: Even when we're making an effort to be conscious about what we're putting into our bodies and how active we're being, we often give ourselves more credit than we deserve.

事實：即使我們努力記下自己的食量和運動量，但其實我們經常對自己太過于信任了。

"People tend to overestimate their physical activity and underestimate how much food they eat," says Stanforth.
“人們傾向于高估自己的運動量和低估自己攝入的熱量，”斯坦福斯說道。

"They consistently think they've worked out more and consistently think they've eaten less."

“人們總是認為自己練得多而吃得少。”

Myth: #11: Sports drinks are the best way to re-hydrate after a workout.

流言11：運動飲料是鍛煉后補充水分的最佳飲品。

Truth: Most sports drinks are just sugar and water.

事實：大多數的運動飲料都是糖水。

Instead, experts recommend refuelling with plain old water and high-protein snack, since studies suggest protein helps recondition muscles after a workout.

相反，專家推薦喝白開水和高蛋白零食補充能量，因為研究表明在鍛煉后補充蛋白質能夠幫助修復肌肉。

來源：商業內幕網、煎蛋網

編譯：丹妮