Sports Myths: How they are widely believed and the damage they can do
All over the world, in many different countries and cultures, there are numerous myths that abound. These types of myths have even penetrated the world of sports. Athletes believe all sorts of myths regarding their sports and what can make them better at
performing. The interesting thing about these myths is that they are spread around to a large number of athletes and they are taken as fact by the people spreading them and also by the people they tell them to. Sometimes myths can be harmless and have no effect
on athletic ability, but sometimes they can actually inhibit a person’s abilities and have the opposite effect as intended. Hopefully with better education and research these sports myths can be busted once and for all.
A myth is defined as, “a commonly held but false belief or a popular conception about a real person or event which can exaggerate or idealise reality.” The word can even refer to a traditional story that is widely believed by a large number of people but
is actually false. In sports, myths take on a different perspective because athletes are a very competitive bunch and they want to believe anything that might make them perform better or win more matches. In this regard a lot of very popular sports myths can
spread and be accepted as the truth. A large number of myths in sports concern food and strength training.
There are some very interesting myths around with regard to athletic training and nutrition. One of the most widely believed one is about the consumption of extra protein giving a person the ability to build more muscle. People who lift weights wrongly think
that the more protein they eat, the bigger their muscles are going to become. Doctors and weightlifting experts debunk this myth by explaining that if a person who is lifting weights eats more protein then they are supposed to according to their weight level,
that extra protein will simply turn into fat. It is true that eating a small amount of protein before and after a workout can aid in repairing the muscles that were just worked out but something like a banana will suffice.
Another interesting myth surrounds the drinking of fluids during a game or match. First of all a commonly held belief is that drinking fluids during exercise will slow a person down. What people who think this is true do not realise is that losing a large
amount of bodily fluids during exercise is the most common reason for fatigue. Various sports nutritionists and doctors tell athletes to consume fluid during exercise proportionate to the amount they sweat. If they sweat more they should drink more fluids.
The other myth surrounding fluids is that water is better than a sports drink. Even though water is a great way to replenish lost body fluid when the exercise is limited to under an hour and done in cooler climates but for longer contests that are done in
hot or humid weather, a drink that contains carbohydrates, sodium and other fluids is essential or the body just gets fatigued and a person cannot continue at the same pace as they could before.
Another myth is that a lot of athletes believe that consuming vitamins supplements will give them energy. The thing is that vitamins do not give a body energy but instead they work in the long run to help the body do the essential biochemical reactions that
it carries out and enhances those. This is good for an athlete but only in the long term and does nothing to boost strength or energy in the short run.
One of the most widely held beliefs among women is the fact that a lot of them think that if they lift weights they will become huge and not look feminine anymore. This is untrue because lifting weights only produces muscles according to a person’s body
shape and size. Women simply do not have the levels of testosterone in their bodies needed to become huge and gain large muscle mass. They simply will not become large muscular she hulks unless they take steroids or testosterone supplements.
Myths of any kind can do damage if a person does not do their own research and come to their own conclusions about things. The same holds true for athletes; they should speak to a wide variety of people and do their own research before believing their mate
at the gym or one coach they had in seventh grade.
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