There is a lot of great information on fitness today, in magazines, books, and especially online. But there’s a lot of misleading fitness information too, including these three terms that you should stop using yourself …

Nothing like toning the muscles

Many articles and advertisements talk about ‘tone muscles‘. You often see it when it comes to women’s fitness, which implies that this is somewhat different from other types of workouts. There are strength, power, size, cardio, aerobic, flexibility, and sport-specific workouts, and beginner, intermediate, and expert workouts for each. There is NO other type of training that achieves an indefinite notion called ‘toning’.

Forget about ‘women’s workouts’ too

Your second qualification term to be removed is workouts for women. Men’s muscles and women’s muscles have the same composition and the same purposes. The training of a man is the training of a woman, it is a training of a man, plain and simple. The difference in muscle size is chemical – men’s testosterone levels are much higher than those found in a woman’s body, and that’s what makes the biggest difference.

Writers and marketers use the term ‘women’s workouts‘To play on the irrational fears some women have that lifting weights will make them big and bulky. Don’t let them scare you: go to the gym and lift all you want. You will be healthier, stronger, have more energy, and will probably look much better, although your weight may increase because muscle is denser (heavier) than fat. If you’re a little concerned about the possibility of bulking up with weight lifting, stick with weight lifting workouts – heavier weights with fewer reps per set. That style of training focuses more on building muscle strength and less on building muscle size, whether it’s for men or women.

The goal is NOT to lose weight!

Probably the most destructive fitness term to eliminate is weight loss, but it’s the number one term searched on Google for years. If you have a higher percentage of body fat than you should for your body type and height, what you want is LOSS OF FAT, no weight loss …

If all you care about is losing weight and you measure it with the common bathroom scale, you are setting yourself up to be a victim of every weight loss scam that comes along and a lifetime of yo-yo dieting. Remember that muscles weigh more than fat and your body is programmed to shed all unnecessary muscles and store energy in the form of fat. As such, any rapid weight loss will mean that you have lost more muscle than fat, which is not your goal; in fact, it makes it even less healthy.

Also, your body has a good amount of water and the water weighs approximately 62.5 pounds per cubic foot. Ridding your body of some of that water will also reduce your weight, and your health along with it. In fact, not only do your circulatory system and organs need that water, but just 3% dehydration begins to affect your mental dexterity as well …

When you think in terms of fat loss, you will focus on Healthy nutrition and regular exercise – which can lead you to lose body fat, gain muscle, have more energy, and be much healthier overall. Keep that focus and lose the term ‘weight loss’ starting today – you’ll be that much closer to living your ideal physical lifestyle!