Dispelling Weight Training Myths

Strength training is no doubt a good fitness pursuit, but only if you steer clear of the myths and misperceptions that surround it. This article will free you from some of these and help you get fit.

Myth 1. Lifting weights makes you, especially women, bulky and muscle bound
This is a myth like any other myth. Lifting weights add muscle mass to your body, which is very different from fat. Inflexibility, which sometimes follows the muscle build up, is not an outcome of developing large muscles. Lack of muscle activity or improper technique is the most common reason for the inflexibility so the term 'muscle bound' is inappropriate for weight trainers. Secondly, women naturally cannot look like men or bulk up because of weight training because they lack testosterone that is responsible for the Schwarzenegger-like muscles.

Myth 2. You must workout each muscle individually for better results
It is difficult to exercise more than 600 muscles individually and in fact working out more than these is not beneficial either. In fact, you achieve a better workout by compound moves that are also less time consuming and easy. This really makes the individual muscle workout unnecessary. Moreover compound muscle workout has less chances of injury and is complimentary with day-to-day activities.

Myth 3. Eat more protein to get something out of weight training
Although you need a good quantity of proteins, excess of it of can be ineffective, even harmful. What you need is a rich balanced diet containing all the necessary ingredients rather than only a protein-rich diet. Remember, if you are aiming to lose weight then all your efforts may show no result because of a high intake of proteins.

Myth 4. More repetitions of each exercise is better
Repetition builds endurance, which is a big plus especially if you are involved in sports, but to gain strength you have to lift heavy weights. Your muscles should reach the momentary fatigue to gain strength, which is possible with heavy weights only. So the best way to train is in sets and see that you lift so much weight that it becomes practically impossible to lift more. However, you should increase the weight slowly.

Myth 5. Your muscles will turn to fat if you stop weight training
This is nothing more than a myth and that too a very irrational one. Muscles and fat are two different things and not interchangeable. You cannot turn your fat to muscles and nor can your muscles turn to fat. However, if you don't use your muscles for long and keep taking fatty foods your muscles will shrink and the fat layer will increase. Remember less of one simply means more room for the other.

Myth 6. Strength training strengthens everything but not the heart
Strength training is good for your heart. Research has shown that it can benefit your heart in many ways such as reducing cholesterol (LDL) and blood pressure and prevents overexertion, which may indirectly become a reason for heart problems and other physical damages.

Myth 7. Strength training reduces flexibility and is not good for weight loss
If done correctly, strength training can actually increase flexibility. The muscles that strength training builds not only boosts your calorie burning rate but actually help in reducing your weight. Reason: the more the lean muscles, more the number of calories burnt and if combined with aerobics, then strength training can be one of the most effective ways of losing weight.

Myth 8. Weight training can help in spot reduction
Spot reduction is anyway a myth and weight training or not you cannot remove those bulges from any particular body part. Fat reduction is overall and no amount of weight training can actually reduce fat exclusively from that particular area. However, you can certainly spot tone. You can build any particular muscle, which can give a slimming look to that particular area. The best way to accomplish all your fitness goals is to design your exercise schedule in such a way that it includes all the basics of fitness from aerobics, flexibility training, endurance training to strength training.

Myth 9: Strength training and body building are same
Strength training is not body building. They are two different things: strength training is gaining strength while bodybuilding is a competitive event where strength is of no value. For bodybuilding muscle size, definition and symmetry determine winners and any relationship to flexibility, strength, endurance, or aerobic capacity is secondary. On the other hand strength training, weight training, or resistance training is for the purpose of improving fitness levels and appearance and for enhancing athletic performance.

Myth 10. Children should not participate in strength training.
Strength training or resistance training is something that children do naturally. You don't have to lift weights all the time to strength train. When children play they are actually participating in resistance training every time they go outside, even if the game is not a sport. Running, throwing, pulling, lifting, or doing any kind of exercise against resistance is nothing but resistance training.

Let go of these 10 myths in your fitness life and you will be able to enhance your fitness and strength levels considerably.