If you’re like most people, everything you’ve ever learned about getting in shape has come from friends, co-workers, or maybe the local gym rat. A lucky few learned to stay in shape from high school coaches or gym teachers. Unfortunately for you, most of the information that has been passed around through these circles is faulty and often, just plain wrong.

The following are just a few of the most popular myths regarding health and fitness. Buckle your ab-belt; some of these may surprise the hell out of you.

1. Low reps for weight-gain, high reps for “tone”

The main reason for using lower reps is to increase the amount of weight that can be used. Increased weight = increased tension on the muscle which leads to faster strength improvement and when coupled with a surplus of calories, can lead to faster growth of the muscle.

High-rep training is a good way to improve muscle endurance, but it will not produce maximum strength. Again, when a caloric surplus is present, high-rep training will also lead to muscle growth. (Essentially, it doesn’t matter how you train, but how you eat when it comes to muscle growth). It’s very likely that the reason high-repetition training is associated with fat loss is that many people base training off of professional body builders. Most pro body builders will switch to high-rep training when preparing for a contest and dropping body fat.

The reason for this is simple; dropping to a very low percentage of body fat will leave you terribly weak and any other kind of training is close to impossible. A good rule of thumb is to avoid trying to act like a pro bodybuilder (unless that is your main goal).

2. Ab-blaster baby!

For some reason, nobody gets this. STOP USING EVERY AB MACHINE IN THE GYM! I’m not one to say a piece of equipment is worthless, but these are close. There is no reason to beat your abdomen to hell on a daily basis. This is counterproductive. Doing set after set of crunches, reverse crunches, machine crunches, leg raises to hit those “lower abs”, etc., will leave your abs begging for mercy, and you really won’t get anywhere.

If you want to change your keg into a sixer, it’s time to get in the kitchen and start eating right. The only way to get washboard abs is to drop that body fat. Get your diet under control and you can throw away all your 8-minute abs tapes.

I’m not saying to neglect your abdominal area. It’s still important to do the sit-ups or crunches, but keep it reasonable. There’s no need to train the abs any more than you would any other muscle. This means 2-4 sets of 5-10 reps no more than twice a week. This is more than enough to keep you healthy and strong in the gut.

By the way, the rectus abdominus is one muscle. It might look like a six -pack, but trust me here, there is no such thing as “upper” and “lower” abs. The only way to see the lower part of your abs is to lose body fat.

3. Anything you eat before bed will turn into fat while you sleep.

This one is absolute bullshit. I don’t even know where it came from. Every individual has a base metabolic rate. This determines how fast you burn calories while at rest. It doesn’t change over the course of a day. Anything you eat at night will still be digested and still be divided into nutrients and waste and distributed accordingly.

I personally feel that a continuous intake of calories helps to increase the metabolic rate which ultimately leads to lower body fat. Isn’t this what we’re all after?

4. Cardio = weight loss.

Will running on the treadmill every day lead to weight loss? Sure. Is it the most effective method? Not by a long shot. Steady-state aerobic exercise (such as running, biking, and swimming) is a great way to keep your heart and lungs healthy and strong. However, extended aerobic activity can have a catabolic effect on muscle tissue. Look at Richard Simmons. The man does nothing but moderate-impact aerobic exercise and while he’s not overweight, he’s certainly not muscular by any means. Bottom line, cardio is inefficient when it comes to loss of body fat. A diet high in protein and fiber coupled with a solid resistance training plan is a much more efficient method of weight loss.

If you must get on the elliptical machine, keep it to 20 minutes maximum per day. It’s perfectly understandable; however, if the girl in front of you is on the stair-stepper and you’re mesmerized by the up and down motion of her ass in those tight stretch-pants. A 2-hour cardio session as a result will not kill you, just try not to make it a habit.

5. Will the Atkins diet work for me?

Short answer: yes, it will. The Atkins diet, when followed properly, can lead to rapid weight-loss, and a majority of that weight will be fat. A major reason is that, like most fad diets, the main principle is the reduction in food intake. Obviously, a reduction in food intake will lead to weight loss. Further, a decrease in the amount of simple carbohydrates (refined sugars and starches) coupled with an increase in lean protein will alter the chemistry of the body and turn it into a fat-burning machine.

Where most people go wrong with this type of diet is they take no time to understand the health impact. Dropping ALL carbohydrates and eating slabs of fatty foods is NOT the way to lose weight. You still must have a balanced diet. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains and nuts should all be plentiful in every diet but for some reason, people feel they are unnecessary with low-carb diets such as Atkins.

This type of diet is not a long-term solution, but if followed correctly, it can help. A drastic decrease in carbohydrate intake will make you very sluggish, very moody and it will slow brain activity. I’ve personally had experience with this type of diet. It is a mental and physical challenge. I did manage to get my body fat below 8% while employing this diet, and to me it was worth it. But not fun.

So there you have it, my five favorite myths about health and fitness. There are hundreds more that I’ve heard, but these ones seem to keep coming up. So before you start yourself down the wrong path with the best intentions, take the time to really ask yourself if you’re going about things the right way. Who are you getting your information from? We live in the age of information. Unfortunately, that leads to tons of misinformation. Learn to separate the bullshit, ask questions, and try things out. And stop doing 500 sit-ups every night. I promise it isn’t working.