Myths about Weight Lifting
Here are a few points that often clients often say they’ve heard
1. Doing sit-ups or some other form of abdominal exercise will trim unwanted pounds from your waist!
There is no such thing as spot weight reduction. Doing abdominal exercises only strengthens the abdominal’s; it doesn’t make fat magically disappear. The only way to trim unwanted pounds from your waist (or any other part of your body) is to expend more calories per day through activity than you consume through food. Abdominal exercises shape and work the muscles but a healthy diet and cardio-vascular exercise is the optimum and healthiest way to reduce unwanted pounds. If you think of your body as a car, if you’re not driving it then it doesn’t need petrol. In the same way if you are not burning those calories you don’t need to put more and more in. The food you eat is the fuel for your exercise
2. Women shouldn't lift weights because their muscles will become huge and they will look like men!
People don't suddenly become “huge” from lifting weights. It takes years of intense training to become “huge”. Women can, however, develop a shapely and well proportioned physique by lifting weights. It is often regarded as more beneficial for women to do resistance exercise as lifting weights increases ligament and tendon strength and bone density. This can often combat the onset of osteoarthritis and other such bone and joint problems in later life
3. Big, muscular people will probably become fat later in life because their muscle will turn into fat!
Muscle and fat are two different types of tissues and can no more turn into one another than wood and glass. When muscle tissue is not used it will atrophy, or shrink in size. Typically the neglected muscle becomes surrounded by fat, giving the illusion of turning into fat.
4. Lifting every day, 3 days on and one day off, or doing double splitstwice a day will accelerate muscular development!
These workout routines lead to overtraining; the body cannot recover sufficiently between workouts for real muscular growth to occur. These routines will only work for steroids users. Your body needs rest to repair muscles and recover from vigorous exercise. Lack of rest can lead to injuries and strains that will halt your training
5. Some exercises are good for “shaping” your muscles and some are good for “building mass”!
It's not the exercise which determines the type of muscular adaptation, but the number of repetitions performed and the intensity of your workout. Repetitions and Sets will determine what bodyshape you are working towards, High repetitions of a lower weight work the muscle fibers that promote stamina and endurance whereas low reps at higher rates produce muscular size and strength. Speak to your trainer about what sort of results you want and they will provide you with the correct training plan
6. Cheating (so that you can lift a heavier weight) will accelerate muscular development!
Cheating (not performing the movement with strict form) is counterproductive. The point is to work the muscle properly, not move some heavy weight. If you cannot lift the weight comfortably and through the full range of the movement then it is too heavy and you will only partially work the muscle. In some cases bodybuilders “cheat” on exercises but this will be for a completely different outcome
7. It doesn't matter which muscles I work out which days.
You must keep in mind which muscles assist in working major muscle groups. For example, when you work your chest, your triceps are also being worked. Therefore, if you work chest one day and triceps the next day you are over-working your triceps.
8. Some people are just too old to start weight lifting!
This is patently false. In studies reported in Science News, people in their seventies and eighties began a weight training program and showed significant gains in muscle size and strength. Some of the participants in the study could scarcely walk before the program began could walk easily after the program. AS LONG AS YOU'RE DOCTOR SAYS THAT THHEYRE ARE NO PROMINENT BARRIERS TO YOU STARTING TRAINING THAN AGE SHOULD BE NO BARRIER AT ALL.В Get a good trainer and take it slowly
9. People will stare at you in the gym if you’re out of shape!
Men and women of all fitness levels, weight ranges, races, and ages work out in gyms. And most of them are too busy with their own workout to even notice whether you are overweight or can't lift much weight in the bench press. Very few people are born fit. The stage you are at when you start your training is the same stage that most of the other gym goers were at when they started
