A gym is a great place to put in a solid workout, but it can sometimes be one of the worst places to get health and fitness advice. It's easy to assume that someone with a great physique must be an expert on health and fitness, but that may not necessarily be the case. Their advice, though well-intentioned, may not exactly be sound. Remember, not all great players make great coaches (ask Isiah Thomas). The approach to fitness these individuals take may work well for them, but for you they could potentially lead to disaster.

Men's Health magazine tackled this very topic in their article 7 Muscle Myths - Fact vs. Fiction. In it, researchers take a look at some common gym misconceptions and, in efforts to clear up any confusion and prevent potential injury, present their own expert advice. We'll be highlighting one of these myths each day here at That's Fit. Here's a look at Myth #6:

Myth #7

Always work out with free weights.
Sometimes machines can build muscle better -- for instance, when you need to isolate specific muscles after an injury, or when you're too inexperienced to perform a free-weight exercise.

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Gyms are a great place to work out. You have more equipment at your disposal, there are experts on hand to answer questions, and the camaraderie can be motivating. But there's no denying the convenience of working out at home. But if you live in a small apartment or just don't have spare rooms for weight benches and other gear, what are you supposed to do?

Ellen over at Green Daily just posted about an innovative new solution called the Otto Bench. The bench serves as an ottoman when all packed up. But just open up the sides, remove the equipment and it becomes a multi-adjustable bench and a bench press as well as storing free weights.

The Otto Bench was designed for a Life Fitness contest, so it's not available for sale yet. When it is available, I think it will be a great solution for small spaces. I just hope they make it a bit more attractive than the prototype!

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I'm naturally klutzy, so when I'm lifting weights at the gym, I tend to head for the exercise machines rather than the free weights. That way, there's little chance that I can drop the weight on someone's foot or lose my balance and crash into other gym-goers. But I've noticed that the people at the gym who really seem to know what they're doing tend to stick to the free weights -- how come?

According to this post on Diet Blog, free weights rule for a number of reasons, including:

• They force you build balance
• They use movements that you use in everyday life
  
• You don't have to conform to a certain movement
• Machines can actually increase the risk of injury
• They're cheaper and don't take up so much space.
  

What do you think? Will you switch to the free weights?

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Cardio is great for you, but it's not the end all and be all of healthy exercise. Strength training, no matter how young or how old you are, is also a critical component. So much so that health experts from prominent organizations like the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association are releasing new guidelines and recommendations regarding strength training -- all adults are encouraged to work all major muscle groups twice a week, at least.

Need some tips? Here's a great list of tips for young and old alike -- it's never too late to get started!

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Each week, Debbie will share her goals, challenges, successes and tips on how to fit in fitness when caring for a rambunctious toddler.

Last week, I wrote about Jorge Cruise's Eight Minutes in the Morning, and how I added the strength training piece of his program as the first "installment" of my attempt to fit in fitness, toddler and all. And I am feeling pretty good about it. The TV-as-babysitter guilt has somewhat subsided, and I am willing to make my next move.

Cruise's book is set up to target two muscle groups each day, six days a week. The first three days are upper body (chest and back, shoulders and abs, biceps and triceps), the last three days lower body (quads and hamstrings, calves and butt, inner and outer thighs). What I plan on doing (and have successfully done in the pre-baby past) is doubling up, and doing four muscle groups a day, so that each group gets worked twice a week, and I do an upper body group and lower body group each day.

The results I am hoping for are faster toning, more fat burning and a heightened energy level.

So again, I ask you, how much will Owen's IQ drop if he watches an extra sixteen minutes of television a day?

Awhile back, Brigitte posted an article about a gym that banned grunting by people working out in the facility, even to the extent of escorting those out who refused to comply. The gym was Planet Fitness, and despite one particularly disgruntled gym-goer (sorry, couldn't help myself...) who has been broadcasting his "God-given right to grunt" anywhere and everywhere people will listen, they are sticking to their "no grunts allowed" guns. Arguments seem to go both ways, with some saying grunts are just a means of showing off and intimidating people, and others saying they serve a legitimate natural purpose.

Nature or not, the gym is a place where a lot of people have to try and get along. Personally I think there are few things more distracting than a big sweaty dude moaning, groaning, and grunting on the piece of equipment next to me, not to mention I feel like scrambling out of the way like I'm gonna get crushed or something when he gets up off the weight bench and heads for the locker room. But if he can tone it down just a little and act like the human being he is, I'll try to ignore as many monkey noises as I can.

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I've been meaning to get a medicine ball for awhile now, but somehow hadn't gotten around to it. I admit I haven't looked into how to use one specifically yet, but I read something today that surprised me: a medicine ball can be more effective for sculpting than dumbbells or weight machines. Because of their round shape, standard exercises become more challenging for your muscles, and they can be used in so many more ways than other equipment.

Medicine balls are available in a range of colors and sizes, usually ranging from 2 to 25 pounds. And once you've got yours, or if you're thinking about it, read for 4 easy moves you can do at home to get sculpted in no time. I'm going shopping asap for mine.

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