You've probably heard more than once that physical activity is good for a person's health and longevity. This is indeed true, recent studies over 20 years have shown that regular exercise throughout life significantly reduces the risk of early death and prevents the deterioration of cognitive functions of the brain.

Physical activity is a wonderful tool for internal and external self-improvement. But in it, as in any other activity, mistakes are inevitable, which can be avoided if you know in advance about some popular sporting misconceptions.

Arrogance

If you do not exercise adequately, the body reaches the oxygen limit, at which the processes of its destruction begin: the brain, heart, vascular and muscular system suffer.

That is why it is extremely important to be able to assess your physical capabilities. There is nothing difficult in this, defining your maximum and submaximal heart rate, you can reasonably dose the load. The maximum heart rate is a critical level, to cross which is not safe for health. A submaximal heart rate corresponds to a training load.
To calculate your maximum heart rate, use the unified formula: 220 minus age, and the submaximal will be 75-85% of the maximum allowable.

Biased evaluation of results during strength training

Relying on weight as a true measure of results makes no sense, because during strength exercises there are simultaneous processes of gaining muscle mass and burning fat.

In other words, the weight of the beginner may be in approximately the same position for some time, so at the beginning it is worth to be guided by visual indicators, this, however, is the most objective method.

Replacing Whole Foods with Protein Blends

Scientifically speaking, sports powder or hydrolyzed protein is absorbed by the body in about 15 to 20 minutes, which is a significant advantage over conventional diets. Moreover, it saves a lot of time because a protein shake can be prepared and consumed literally on the go.

But don't be fooled by the miracle of sports nutrition and switch to it. Specialists warn that if you consume only liquid foods for a long time, you should expect atrophy of digestive and salivary glands (their functional activity will be reduced many times), disorders of oral receptors, problems with teeth and oral mucous membranes and reduced motility of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

Consumption of energy drinks

Non-alcoholic energy drinks have gained popularity largely due to the well-known myth: they give our bodies energy. But scientists proved long ago that the drink itself doesn't give any energy, but only helps to increase the efficiency of our body's resources in the shortest possible time.

Conditionally, energy drinks can be divided into two groups: drinks that contain stimulants, as well as sports vitamin cocktails. The first ones are extremely harmful to the body. Caffeine, taurine, mateine, ginseng, guarana, sugar - this mixture, with regular uncontrolled consumption, causes overexcitation, strongly depletes the nervous system, leads to pressure changes and headaches, and, of course, becomes a kind of drug.

But the latter, sports energy, are carbohydrate-vitamin mixtures for replenishing fluid and electrolyte reserves in the body. You can use them, but only with strict control of the dose consumed.

The fact that the content of vitamins and minerals in 1 jar is almost equal to the daily allowance of an adult. Their overdose can cause various side effects: palpitations, cramps, increased blood pressure and metabolic disorders.
In addition, if such a drink contains at least a little caffeine, you cannot drink it after training in order to recover.

Neglect of sleep

Sleep is one of the main restorative mechanisms of our body, the duration of which needs to be adjusted to the quantity and quality of physical activity.
When we are awake, a lot of resources are spent to maintain higher psychological processes, and when we sleep, our reserves are optimized and redistributed, so our whole body regenerates much faster.

Not Drinking.

It is necessary to drink before, during and after training, but preferably in moderate, sparing portions. Lack of water in the body is very dangerous: the blood gets thicker, the blood vessels and heart are overloaded by the lack of liquid, this happens because thicker blood moves through our body with great difficulty.

Ignoring Stretching

Through stretching we have the opportunity to prepare our muscles for heavy loads, stretching allows us to develop flexibility in the joints and ligaments, which opens up additional opportunities for body mobility. Good stretching releases natural anabolic hormones, which has a positive effect on the further formation of the muscular corset.
When practicing do not feel sorry for yourself: a slight, pleasant pain is a sign of progress; but also put aside excessive exuberance, there are cases when during the stretching some people manage to injure themselves, that is why you should do everything smoothly and precisely.