Strength Training: Debunking the Myths

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Chandi Schwab
Where the belief that women shouldn't lift weights got started, we'll never know. Maybe we saw teenage boys lifting weights and growing like weeds, and we assumed the same would happen to us. Somewhere along the line, many of us developed the belief that lifting dumbbells would immediately turn us into a female version of the Incredible Hulk. Let's take a closer look at the three most common reasons women usually give for not doing strength-training exercises.

I don't want to get big. This is the most common excuse, but I'm here to tell you it's just not going to happen. Even if you wanted to develop big muscles, it's pretty difficult for a woman to get big and bulky from weight training.

Sure, there are lots of male bodybuilders who have huge, superhero-like muscles. But women don't have the kind of hormones a man has. Our muscles cannot get as big. The women you may see on TV who are bodybuilders have devoted hours each day for many years to working out and sometimes have manipulated their hormones to purposefully gain muscle.

Getting big does not happen by accident. You don't do a set of lateral raises to sculpt your shoulders and the next day find it impossible to fit through a doorway without going sideways. And actually, even a lot of men find it hard to get big. They're the ones who have all the hormones to gain muscle, and they don't wake up the day after their workouts and get stuck in their doorways either.

If all you do is lift really heavy weights for a very limited range of motion—and that is all you do—sure, it could be a challenge to reach over and touch your toes. But the right strength-training exercises actually increase your flexibility. The exercises you'll be doing require you to move your muscles through their full range of motion, so the muscles get stretched as well as strengthened. Plus, each synergy set includes at least one specific stretch, virtually eliminating any chance that you'll become muscle-bound.

I should lose weight first. I don't want to turn my fat into muscle. I understand wanting to put off something until you feel better about yourself. We've all done it. Here's the catch with this one, though.

Muscle and fat are two different things. Fat doesn't turn into muscle and muscle doesn't turn into fat. I know you're thinking about that retired football player who can't fit into his custom-made suits anymore. Well, his muscle didn't turn into fat. He simply stopped training, so his muscles got smaller. At the same time, he started gaining body fat because he didn't have anything to do in his retirement except watch old football films and eat ice cream.

Fat won't turn to muscle. But having more muscle can help you lose fat. Strength training will help you lose weight. Not only will it not get in the way of any diet or weight-loss strategy you have, but having more muscle on your body will increase your metabolism, helping you to burn more calories even when you're at rest.
(By Wini Linguvic)