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Weight lifting myths
First, let's clear up a few of the misconceptions about weight lifting and the truth behind these myths.
This first myth is the "biggie", and it prevents many people from lifting weights, especially women.
It goes something like this: "I don't want to lift weights because I don't want to get big, bulky, and muscular."
It's a shame that so many people think like this because it couldn't be further from the truth! Let's explore this unfortunate myth a bit.
When you think of weight lifters, you most likely think of body builders, right? You probably think of the guys and gals on TV parading around in tiny swimsuits with huge, bulky muscles popping out all over the place.
There are three reasons for this misconception:
- These folks make up an extremely small percentage of the population.
- That is how they make their living, and they spend 4 - 5 hours per day working out in the gym.
- Some of them use performance-enhancing drugs to build and maintain those huge physiques.
So if you can eliminate that image of the "bodybuilder" and think in terms of the average everyday person who lifts weights, you will understand why the myth about "bulking up" is just that, a myth!
What we're going to discuss next I will try to explain in an easy to understand way, without using any medical or professional terminology.
When we lift weights our bodies build muscle. The more muscle mass we have, the more calories we burn (even while we're resting). The more calories we burn the less we weigh! It's as simple as that!!!
Let me give you an example that might make it a bit easier to understand. We'll talk about 2 women in this example:
Let's say you and a friend happen to be sitting on the sofa watching TV. You personally strength-train 3 times a week, but your friend doesn't.
After watching TV for an hour, which of you will have burned the most calories?
The usual (incorrect) answer is that you both burned the same (virtually none), since you weren't doing anything.
But the correct answer is that you burned more calories, for one simple reason: The more muscle you have the more calories you burn!
Now you might say to yourself, "But since if I lift weights, my muscles will get a lot bigger and I'll look big and bulky."
This does indeed have a tendency to happen to men occasionally because of the male hormone testosterone. But what also happens to men, just as in women, is that they will lose fat and replace it with lean muscle. So lean muscle will now be there instead of the soft flab.
With that said, keep this in mind: Even though men have more testosterone, it is still very difficult for a man to get big and bulky just by weight lifting. You would have to train in a manner similar to a real bodybuilder in order for this to occur. And of course being blessed genetically doesn't hurt either.
And if you did happen to notice yourself beginning to "bulk" up a little, and that isn't what you want, simply decrease the amount of weight you're lifting!
But women, on the other hand, don't have enough testosterone to even come close to "bulking up".
Which brings us to another popular myth...
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About the author:
Kevin Valluzzi is the owner of A&B Fitness, an in-home personal training company
located in northern New Jersey. He holds a degree in Exercise Physiology and is
certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health & Fitness
Instructor.
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