Myths - No Pain No Gain

Some fitness facts that sound true may actually be myths or only partly true. If you want to be successful at slimming down and staying fit, it’s important to know the difference between fitness facts and fiction.

No Pain, No Gain

Forget this masochistic mantra. "It’s not true," says Jennifer Solomon, MD, who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as spine and sports medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. "Never exercise through pain unless you have a known injury, and it is part of a supervised rehabilitation program. In most cases, pain is a warning of an injury.” You don't need to go to extremes or be sweating profusely to get a great workout either. “You can get plenty of gain from 30 minutes of brisk walking," says Dr. Solomon.