Every one of us has surely come across one or another sports myth at some point. Today we uncover two myths for you.
Sore muscles show that the workout was effective!
Have you ever been disappointed not to feel sore after a good training session and doubted whether your training was effective at all? But don’t worry, muscle soreness is by no means a good indicator of the effectiveness of your workout. Muscle soreness is caused by fine tears in your muscle fiber caused by training stress. When your muscle fiber heals again, the muscle grows in this way. However, the greater the damage to your muscle fiber and the more severe the soreness, the longer the healing process will take, negatively impacting your training success. So a slight pulling in the muscles the next day is a good indicator of proper training intensity and muscle growth, but severe pain means you should give your body a break and let it heal. If you train despite sore muscles, you weaken your performance and provoke injuries. Static stretching or massages are also not beneficial for sore muscles, as these also put stress on your healing muscle.
You have to sweat out a cold!
This is a very dangerous myth as well, because exercising with a cold can have serious consequences for your health and even damage your heart. Cold symptoms show you that your immune system is on alert and fighting pathogens in your body. This takes a lot of energy. Exercise in this case means additional stress for your body and in the worst case can even cause heart muscle inflammation. So if you feel like you have a cold, you should definitely avoid sports.
But where does the misconception come from that you can just “sweat out” a cold? Viruses can’t simply be sweated out of the body, but in fact bed warmth stimulates circulation and helps your immune system to work better. Exercise, on the other hand, generates too much heat, which in turn weakens your body.
Now the question arises as to when you can start doing sports again. There is no general answer to this question – if you no longer have any cold symptoms, but still feel fatigue, it is better to wait a little longer. Otherwise, you can start again with moderate activity, such as walking.
Our conclusion
As you can see, it’s always better not to simply believe sports myths, but to question them, because some can actually be harmful to your training success or even your health.