You must have believed these four rumors about exercise.

Currently, fitness has become a very convenient activity. People who want to exercise can find coaches of various types in the gym. There are also many fitness teaching videos on the Internet. In short, as long as you are willing to move, you can always gain something.

But what about after your workout? Are some of the popular sayings about "what to do after exercising" really reliable?

Here are four common but incorrect "post-workout" myths.

1. Drinking beer after a workout can dehydrate you

It may not seem right to hit the bar right after a workout, but a new study finds that drinking after a workout may not ruin your results as much as you might think. The study, published in the journal International Society of Sports Nutrition, found that participants who drank both water and alcohol after a one-hour run were just as hydrated as those who drank water alone, suggesting that beer doesn't dehydrate you as much as people think (since beer also contains a lot of water).

However, a fitness expert in New York, USA pointed out that if you aim to lose weight, water is still the best choice. He says that drinking beer after a workout could cause you to consume as many calories as you burned in the previous hour, which could slow down your weight loss.

2. Sports drinks are better than water when replenishing water

Drinking neon-colored sports drinks after a sweaty workout seems to have become popular. According to statistics, Americans spent a whopping $5.4 billion on sports drinks in 2013. However, this approach is not correct. Studies have shown that sports drinks are no better than water in preventing dehydration, and many sports drinks are high in calories and sugar. Some drinks even contain the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of white sugar, so if you want to avoid added sugar and sugary substances, try to drink water.

3. You should stretch your limbs before exercise, but not after exercise.

Contrary to what you may have learned in gym class in school, stretching before a workout will not prevent a muscle strain. In fact, a 2004 study found that stretching before activities like cycling, running, and swimming actually does nothing to prevent sports injuries. Fitness experts point out that stretching before exercise will stimulate the muscles to enter a relaxed state, which should be saved for after exercise.

4. You should consume some protein-containing food within 1 hour after exercise

There is a popular saying that the "best time" to supplement protein is within 1 hour after exercise, but studies have shown that the maximum protein synthesis in the human body after exercise does not occur within this 1 hour. According to a 2012 study from McMaster University in Canada, muscle protein synthesis may continue for 24 to 48 hours after a workout, so there's no need to obsess over replenishing protein within an hour after exercise. However, fitness experts recommend that you should not wait too long to eat after exercise, because your body may enter a state of hoarding energy and calories due to excessive hunger, which may slow down your metabolism in the long run.

It is understood that after exercise, people should consume foods containing complex carbohydrates, lean protein and vegetables. This period is also more suitable for the proper intake of some carbohydrates. There is nothing wrong with going to the bar for a drink if you really need to, but you just need to pay attention to the calories you consume, and the most important thing is efficiency.