Fitness Myths and Fallacies
By Noelle Walker at New Fitness
There are so many fitness myths and untruths out there regarding the fitness industry. Oh yes! So I have decided to list some and explain why they are not true and why you need to stop believing these things once and for all!
LOWER ABS
There are no such thing as lower abs! I know I know, you hear so called fitness gurus say this all the time right? YouTubers maybe? Ha ha!! But no there are no “lower abs”. There is something called the Transverse Abdominus which is deep to the Obliques(sides of your stomach) and run down a bit lower so this can be confused with “lower abs”. But Abs are one muscle group stretching from the top of your rib cage all the way down to your Coccyx(your pubies lol). The abs(Rectus Abdominus) is separated in four parts actually. You will see them as you start to get a six pack. So no lower abs. And if you are a personal trainer PLEASE stop telling people you are going to work their lower abs!!!
ARM FAT
SQUATS AND THE BOOTY
There is a myth going around lately that squats will not build the booty(glutes). These people are saying to ditch the squat and focus on isolation exercises only like the ever so popular hip thrust. A Youtube favourite lol.
But squats and deadlifts are absolutely a wonderful way to achieve a nice rounder booty. Should you do other exercises as well? Of course. A combination of compound(squats and deadlifts) and isolation(hip thrusts, leg kickbacks) exercises are the optimal way to achieve a nice round behind. Just make sure when you squat that you are not doing half squats and that you are achieving depth which means your hips are lower than your knees when you are at the bottom of the movement or you are achieving a squat that is deeper than 90 degrees.
DEPTH SQUATS ARE DANGEROUS
Last myth: Performing ass to grass squats or depth squats is bad for your knees. It’s not. It is safe for your knees if you are doing it right. By that I mean your form is accurate and not faulty. You are bending at the hips and knee at the same time as you descend down. You are pushing out with your hips so that your knees are in line with your toes. No knees over toes. Got that? This will lead to knee problems and it won’t matter whether you are doing a half squat or a full depth one.
You also want to push your knees outward depending on your hip angle. Anyway you got the idea. Full depth squats will not hurt your knees and can only be beneficial as this is the way to achieve proper glute engagement.
