I'VE BEEN in the fitness game for more than 20 years, and the myths that never seem to die are the ones concerning women and weight training. Today, I hope to dispel some of these and nudge a few more women to get serious about toning and strength-training.
MYTH 1: Strength training makes women larger and heavier.
This most persistently persistent myth couldn't be further from the truth. The only thing bulking us up are those biscuits, breads and bagels.
To the contrary, lifting heavy weights is one of the best ways to increase strength while simultaneously improving muscle tone. I've been lifting heavy weights for years, and I don't come close to having Arnold Schwarzenegger proportions.
The truth is, strength-training helps reduce body fat and increase lean tissue. Muscle takes up less space than fat. Muscle is also more metabolically active and, along with diet and the appropriate amount of cardiovascular exercise, will help accelerate your weight loss. The payoff? You'll be leaner, more toned and more defined.
MYTH 2: Women should avoid high-intensity or high-load training.
Women are often encouraged to use only weight machines or small hand-weights with high reps. They're typically encouraged to use limited resistance, such as light dumbbells, in their strength exercises.
Women need to train at intensities high enough to cause adaptation in bone, muscle, cartilage, ligaments and tendons. When exercise intensity provides insufficient stimulus, you'll gain insufficient benefit. Women should perform their exercises at or near the repetition maximum for each. Lifting heavy weights will produce the firm, fit body most women covet.
MYTH 3: I exercise, so I can eat whatever I want.
Honey, please. Exercise is no substitute for poor nutrition. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot exercise poor food choices away in a 30-minute jog on the treadmill.
MYTH 4: You can spot-reduce.
Contrary to the latest infomercial, there is no such thing. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex, hormones and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area.
MYTH 5: You can turn fat into muscle (and vice versa).
Nope. Fat and muscle are separate types of tissue and not interchangeable. But by gaining muscle mass through strength training, and losing fat with diet and cardiovascular exercise, you can transform your body.
