50 Fitness Facts You Need to Know

Here are 50 fitness facts and words to live by. These thoughts will change the way you think about your fitness lifestyle.

Fitness Facts

1. Carbohydrates, protein, fat, and alcohol have 4, 4, 9, and 7 calories per gram respectively.
2. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 pound.
3. Insulin and growth hormone have an inverse relationship.
4. The average person can store 500 grams of glycogen.
5. Only fat and protein are essential macronutrients – carbohydrates aren’t.
6. Muscle glycogen is about 3 parts water to 1 part glucose.
7. You burn more calories during the 23 hours you don’t exercise than the 1 hour you do.
8. You don’t need to do cardio to lose weight.
9. The fat burning zone does not burn more total fat calories – only a higher percentage of calories from fat.
10. You’re never too old to do squats.
11. Weight loss is not a physical challenge – it’s a mental one.
12. The scale cannot measure body fat percentage. However, this $5 body fat caliper can.
13. You can eat anything you want and still lose weight – but weight doesn’t always equal fat.
14. You can’t target fat loss – fat loss is systemic.
15. Muscle does not weigh more than fat – it’s just denser than it.
16. 0 grams of fat on a label doesn’t always mean there’s no fat in the food product.
17. Whole grain bread is still a processed food – pick one that has few ingredients.
18. Eating healthy is not more expensive than a junk food diet.
19. You can’t calculate body fat percentage from height and weight alone – you need to physically measure it.
20. You can get glucose from both protein and glycerol – not just carbohydrates.
21. Just because a box says “whole grain” on it, it doesn’t make it healthy.
22. You should never attempt weight loss at the expense of your health.
23. Being vegetarian doesn’t just mean you don’t eat meat – it means you follow a plant-based diet.
24. Workout times and negative side effects are positively correlated.
25. Gym membership prices are negotiable.
26. Cooking your food can both lower some nutrient content, and make some more bioavailable.
27. There’s a high correlation between the fitness level of the people close to you, and your own physical fitness.
28. It’s harder to put on 10 pounds of muscle than it is to lose 10 pounds of fat.
29. Once an adult, fat cells can be created, but they cannot be lost – only shrunken.
30. Eating at night does not make you fat – overeating does.
31. You don’t need to do curls to get good biceps.
32. Being skinny does not automatically mean you have a low body fat.
33. The perimeter of the grocery store is where 90% of the healthy food is.
34. If bad food is in the house, you’ll be more likely to eat it.
35. Thyroid hormone output and exercise intensity are positively correlated.
36. Healthy levels of testosterone are good for both men and women.
37. You don’t need a gym membership to strength train.
38. Unless you weigh less than 100 pounds, it’s unlikely you need less than 1000 calories to lose weight.
39. Workout intensity is positively correlated with the degree of EPOC – the afterburn effect.
40. There are 3 types of skeletal muscle fibers – type I, type II-A, and type II-B.
41. 80% of people who begin an exercise program will quit.
42. The body has 3 energy systems – ATP-PC, anaerobic glycolysis, and aerobic.
43. Strength gains come from muscle hypertrophy and improved muscle fiber recruitment.
44. Dehydrating a muscle by 3% can cause a 10% loss of strength.
45. The thermic effect of food (TEF) is highest for protein.
46. Lactic acid is not the cause of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
47. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest.
48. Direct abdominal exercises are not necessary to get good abs.
49. You can lose weight and still gain muscle; likewise, you can also gain weight while still losing fat.
50. Consistency and patience are key to long term successful weight loss.