Common Fitness Myths Women Over 40 Should Stop Believing

Nikkiey: Please don't let this myth scare you, especially if you're at the beginning of your journey, advanced in your journey, whatever it may be. This is so not true.

What's going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to episode number 34, where I'm going to deep dive into 14 myths that I absolutely freaking hate that are floating around the fitness space.

And I'm going to give y'all the truth behind these myths. There's a couple of good ones scattered throughout these 14, but all 14 are pretty solid. I would say number 10 and number 14 are my absolute favorites. So make sure you guys stick all the way through, because there may be one, there may be two, there may be all 14 that you can take away as golden nuggets for the rest of the week, the rest of your journey, the rest of the year. All of the things that are going to lead you to the truth about your fitness goals and let you live it in a sustainable, realistic way. So that's what this podcast is all about.

Starting with myth number one: doing lots of crunches will give you a six pack. When you unpack that a little bit more, a lot of people think that if I do a bunch of crunches and don't focus on anything else, a.k.a. my nutrition, that's going to give me a six pack. And that can't be any further from the truth.

The truth is, when people think of that concept the way I just explained it, spot reduction is a myth as well. So this is like a two for one. You cannot target fat loss in one specific area of your body. This goes for your arms. This goes for your legs. This goes for your love handles. This goes for your abs. Building visible abs requires a combination of strength training overall for every single muscle of your body, and on top of that, lowering your body fat percentage.

If you are doing crunches seven days a week trying to build a six pack, yet you're eating like absolute dog shit every single day, you don't pay attention to your nutrition, you eat whatever throughout the day, you have whatever you want for dinner, like burgers, spaghetti, meatballs, you're free-balling your nutrition, but you're doing crunches every single day, that's not going to give you visible abs.

So most importantly with myth number one, the way you're going to get a visible six pack is by lowering your body fat percentage. What I truly do believe is that abs are made in the kitchen. The way you get that strong core look aesthetically is a combination of strength training for your whole body and lowering your body fat percentage. That is the truth, my friends. You cannot spot reduce. You cannot target fat loss in one specific area. And doing a shit ton of crunches, while it may build them up, is not going to give you the visible aesthetic appearance of a six pack.

OK, myth number two: eating before bed will make you gain weight. Man, I have heard this one one too many times, and I still think this is a heavily believed myth in the fitness space. The truth behind this myth is that what matters the most for your overall fat loss goals, or your overall management of your body fat, is your calorie intake and your energy balance throughout the day.

So if you're eating in a surplus throughout the day, and especially maybe at night, then yeah, that's probably going to make you gain weight. But if you're eating in a calorie deficit, it doesn't matter what time of day you eat. It doesn't matter if you're eating at 8 or 9 p.m. If you're in a calorie deficit for your overall calorie intake for the entire day, then you're golden.

There may be a little underlying truth, though, not in correlation to the myth: a lot of people have noticed that if they eat late at night, they have poor quality sleep. Part of that is true. It's individualized; it's completely different for every single person. But some people have noticed that if they eat and go to bed within the hour of eating, they have a hard time falling asleep, and the quality of their sleep throughout the night is very poor. So it affects people a little differently, but I just wanted to throw that in there with the second myth.

Myth number three: lifting weights will make women bulky. I hear this one every single day. I see this one every single day. I get comments on my social profiles saying, I don't want to look like a man. The truth is, ladies, we have lower levels of testosterone than men, so that makes it way harder for us to bulk up like a man.

This scares a lot of women away from strength training. And I want you to know, ladies, that lifting weights can help you build such a beautiful, lean physique and improve your overall body composition. So please don't let this myth scare you, especially if you're at the beginning of your journey, the middle of your journey, advanced in your journey, whatever it may be. Don't let this scare you.

Now, if you see women who are competitors and you follow their pages, there may be a good chance they're taking some type of performance-enhancing drugs, PEDs, some type of steroids. If you're taking roids, you'll probably get as big as the boys. But if you're not taking anything and you're natural, you're not going to get as big as the boys.

I want to debunk that one the most here, because it derails women from wanting to pick up some weights in the weight room. You will not get as big as men. It's impossible for us women, unless you're taking some steroids, to bulk up as big as men do. So that's myth number three.

Myth number four: sweat is a good indicator of how hard you're working out. People even say the more you sweat, the more fat you burn. This is so not true. Look, I personally barely even sweat, yet I have incredible results from years of strength training. The truth is, sweat is just your body's way of cooling itself off. Some people sweat more than others, regardless of how hard they're working out.

Sweat does not indicate the number of calories burned or fat being burned or any of that stuff. The intensity and duration of your workout are way better indicators of your calorie burn and of you having a good, effective workout. Sweat is not an indicator. If you're barely sweating or not sweating at all, it doesn't mean you're having a good or bad workout. If you're sweating profusely, it doesn't mean you're having a good or bad workout. It's just your body's way of cooling itself down.

So please don't leave the workout thinking, man, I'm drenched, I had a killer workout. That has nothing to do with your workout. If your intensity was there, your duration was pretty solid and you challenged yourself throughout, those are way better indicators of an awesome workout. And two, like I said, sweating has nothing to do with the number of calories burned. So that's myth number four.

Myth number five: fad diets are an effective way to lose weight. Even for my ladies in their 40s and 50s, it's hard to break this mentality, because you grew up with Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers and all of these fad diets. It's been programmed in your mind that diet after diet after diet is an effective way to lose weight. That's so not true.

Fad diets promise you quick fat loss results, but they're not sustainable in the long run. Think about it. If you've done fad diet after fad diet after fad diet, you're on this hamster wheel of losing the same 10 pounds, 20 pounds, 30 pounds over and over and over again. The way you're going to do it sustainably is with a balanced nutritional focus that fits your individual needs, preferences and lifestyle, so you get successful overall body composition results.

So I know it's hard to break that mentality, especially if you grew up in that era. But fad diets are not an effective way to lose weight.

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Myth number six goes with myth number five as well. Myth number six is that you can detox your body by following a special diet or using supplements. You've all heard of these detox drinks, or, I'm going on a detox diet. Look, guys, the truth is your liver and your kidneys are the organs responsible for detoxifying your body, and they do a pretty damn good job at it on their own.

There's no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of these detox diets or supplements. If you focus on a healthy, balanced diet that's suitable for your individual needs and you're getting adequate hydration throughout the day, those are the best ways to support your body's natural detoxification process.

I want to drill that one home. There's no lemon juice that's going to make you do bigger and better things. There's no unicorn magical substance behind these detox things or these lemon juice drinks. I know I'm probably going to say this for a bunch of them, and I know I said 10 and 14 are my favorites, but that one's pretty damn near close. So that's myth number six.

Myth number seven: carbs are bad for you and they cause weight gain. This one's being very heavily addressed in the industry, so I think we're all doing a very good job of bringing women back to loving carbs again. But this is for you if you're stuck on the idea that carbs are bad for you and make you gain weight.

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The truth is, carbs are an important source of energy for the body, and they do so many good things when it comes to building muscle and changing your body composition. Your brain needs carbs to function properly and to let you think clearly.

The reason carbs get such a bad rep is that they hold on to water, and water can make you feel a little more inflamed. And when you step on the scale, that number encompasses a lot of things going on in your body, not just fat. People get scared because they eat carbs throughout the day, then they get on the scale and they're three pounds heavier than they were in the morning. Yeah, no shit. It's because you ate food throughout the day, right?

Carbs are not bad for you. Carbs are so important, especially if your ultimate goal is to change your body composition, lose some body fat and build some muscle. So let's make carbs great again. That's myth number seven.

Myth number eight: you need to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day to boost your metabolism. Honestly, you guys, for the longest time I believed this one. But the idea that small, frequent meals rev up your metabolism is a myth. I spoke to this in an earlier myth, but what matters most is your overall calorie intake, the calorie deficit you're in, and the energy balance you have throughout your day.

So if you're worried about eating every three to four hours, you don't need to. I still somewhat follow that rule, because I notice that every three to four hours I am starving. I'm hungry. I need to eat. My body is ready. My metabolism is like, yo, it's time to eat. But if you're somebody with a very busy job, just focus on getting your overall calorie intake and macro needs met for the day, whether that's from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., whatever it may be. As long as you get everything in that's allotted for that day, that's all that matters.

Myth number nine: you can't build muscle as a vegetarian or a vegan. That is so not true. I have seen so many women successfully achieve that goal, inside of WarriorBabe specifically and elsewhere as well. It is so possible to build muscle on a plant-based diet as long as you consume a sufficient amount of protein from sources like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh and seitan. All of those are great sources of protein.

As long as you hit whatever protein number you need for the day, whether it's 120, 130 or 140 grams, you will and can build muscle. So I want you to know, my vegan and vegetarian babes, it is totally possible to achieve the goal you have in your mind. There are also plant-based protein powders that can be used as a supplement when you're trying to meet your protein needs throughout the day. So know that it is totally possible for you to build muscle.

Myth number 10. Guys, I told you earlier this is one of my favorites. Myth number 10: you can tone your muscles. It's more about that word. That word floats around pretty heavily in the fitness space: I want to get toned.

Look, the truth is, toning is a term often used to describe the appearance of how firm and lean your muscle is. However, it's simply the result of decreasing body fat and building lean muscle mass through a balanced diet, through macros, through strength training.

So the key thing to note there is that the word tone means building more muscle. If you want to be toned, you have to debunk the myth in your brain that lifting weights will make you bulky. You have to lift weights in order to build more muscle, which is going to get you toned. And then you have to focus on the proper nutritional intake for your individual needs to reduce your body fat. That's what toned means.

So the myth is that you can tone your muscles. The fact is that it's just an appearance term. The way to get toned is to build muscle and decrease your body fat. That's myth number 10. I want to drill that one really hard into you guys, because it's super, super important to know. That word floats around really heavily. I want to be toned. I want to get toned. It's an appearance goal, and it's a great appearance goal. Sure. Awesome. But you have to do those other things, because people say, I want to get toned, and they ain't doing those things.

So if you want to be toned, you've got to do those things. You've got to strength train, and you've got to reduce your body fat by focusing on the proper nutritional needs for your body, specifically macros. Macros are what's going to make you more toned and firm and all that jazz. Focusing on an overall calorie number is just going to help you lose weight. I've talked about that before. Follow me on socials; the difference between fat loss and weight loss is a concept I dive into heavily. I know it's in an earlier podcast too. But anyway, that's myth number 10.

Myth number 11: you need to take supplements to build muscle or lose weight. Look, the truth is supplements can be very supportive of your overall health and fitness goals. I say they will benefit you, but they will not get you the results. They're not necessary for building more muscle or losing body fat.

You are going to do that, and I'm going to say this a million times so it gets ingrained in your head, through strength training and proper nutrition. That's how you're going to build more muscle and lose body fat. Maybe you need to focus on hitting your protein intake a little more and better, so supplements will help you do that. Protein powder will help you do that. But it's not going to get you the end result. It will help, but it's not going to be the sole reason you build muscle and lose body fat.

Myth number 12: fasting is necessary for fat loss. Ten, 12, 6, 14, these are all my favorite ones, because fasting is heavily talked about in the fitness space. And while it does have factors for overall health, it's not necessary for fat loss.

More importantly, fasting in the world of building muscle is counterproductive, because your muscles need energy, and energy comes from food. Muscle is active tissue, and it's always going. It doesn't stop. It doesn't shut off at night when you're sleeping. It's always active tissue in your body, and it needs energy to maintain itself. So especially in the world of building muscle and losing body fat, fasting is not necessary to achieve those goals.

That's the truth. It can be an effective tool for managing some health symptoms, but it's not necessary for fat loss. A calorie deficit is the way you lose body fat, along with physical activity and strength training. Those combined together are how you're going to lose body fat. So that's myth number 12.

Myth number 13: you should avoid all forms of sugar to be healthy. Dude, not true. I still have some type of chocolate every night and some type of dessert a couple nights a week, because it hits my sweet tooth. It curbs that craving.

Now, the truth behind the myth is that consuming a shit ton of sugar is not recommended. It can be detrimental to your health. But consuming moderate amounts of natural sugars, like fruit, is fine. People think that if you eat fruit you're going to get fat, you're going to gain weight, so you need to avoid it at all costs. That's so not true. Fruit is so good for you. Dairy products, if you can have dairy in your everyday routine, are so good for you. Vegetables have some sugar in them, and they're so good for you.

So natural sugars are OK. And having some sweets in your everyday week is a realistic and sustainable way to go about your entire journey. Avoiding it equals restriction, and you don't want that, because then you're going to go and eat the sugar. So you don't need to avoid it at all costs. Use it in a balanced way in your everyday routine.

And then the last one, you guys, the last myth, which I said at the beginning was one of my favorites: you can't eat out and still maintain a healthy diet. This one can really screw with people, especially when they decide to go for a goal and think they can't go out to eat. That's so not true.

It is so possible for you to make healthy choices when you're eating out. On every single menu there's some type of healthy fish, some type of chicken with vegetables, some type of grilled protein source, some type of vegetable-based side. This comes down to willpower and discipline to make that decision when you go out to eat. But to think that you can't eat out and still maintain a healthy diet is so false, and it's so ingrained in this false diet culture.

In order to have a sustainable, realistic journey, you can do that. You just have to make those healthy choices while you're out. When you order, and I've done this so many times, you say, I'm ordering this, please cook it in light oil, take out the cheese, whatever modifications you need as you learn more about nutrition. This is why I love macros. You learn all of these things. You learn proper nutrition. You learn what all the foods are made up of.

So if you can ask for your order the way you want it when you're out to eat, and avoid excess dressings or excess sauces, those types of things, that's discipline, that's willpower, that's showing up for yourself. You can totally go out to eat and still achieve the goals you want with your body composition. I love that myth so much, and I wanted to debunk it because I want you to know it's totally possible. You just have to do those things I said.

So those are 14 myths floating around the fitness space that I absolutely hate, and I felt I needed to come on a podcast, let it all out and tell you the truth behind every single one of them. I hope that maybe one, five, seven or all 14 helped you today to look at the things you do on a daily basis toward your goals a little differently. You don't have to avoid sugar. You don't have to take supplements. Stop going on detoxes. Stop fasting if your ultimate goal is to build more muscle and change your body composition. Don't worry about eating late at night; it's not going to make you gain fat.

All of these things, you guys. I hope one of them or all of them helped you today. That wraps it up for the podcast. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next one.

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