Although many myths regarding weight lifting are fading away, there are still misconceptions circulating in tabloids, the media and among people, according to IDEA Health and Fitness Association in San Diego. By understanding the truths behind the common myths, you can make better decisions when you exercise and avoid the common mistakes many people make when they lift weights.
Myth: Lifting Weights Bulks Up Women
According to Jason Karp, PhD, founder of REVO2LT Running Team in San Diego, women lack enough testosterone hormone to develop large muscles like men, unless they are taking anabolic steroids. Although weight training will increase your net weight, it helps decrease body fat, because muscles are your sites for fat metabolism. You may gain five pounds of lean tissue and water but lose eight pounds of fat over an eight-week training period.
Myth: Lifting Weights Is Unsafe for Children
According to Avery Faigenbaum, Ed.D., an associate professor of exercise science and physical education at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, no research has ever proven that weight-lifting stunts children's growth process. In fact, weight-lifting increases bone density and develops stronger muscles and joints. A ten-month study was conducted in 1997 at the University of Melbourne, Australia, by F. L. Morris and his colleagues that compared bone density among two groups of nine- to ten-year-old girls. One group did strength training and aerobic training, while the other group did aerobics only. The first group increased its bone density by 6.2 percent, while the other group's bone density increased only 1.4 percent.
Children and teens who strength-train must have proper supervision and guidance when training. Use a variety of training equipment, such as free weights, cable pulley machines, stability balls and medicine balls, matching the equipment to the individual's fitness level and goals.
Myth: Training Body Parts in Isolation Makes Them Stronger
There's a common misconception that training different body parts in isolation will make them stronger and improve their athletic abilities and performance. However, training on exercise machines that isolate your body parts can decrease your performance and can cause faulty movement patterns that causes injury, according to physical therapist and strength coach Gray Cook, founder of Functional Movement Systems in Danville, Virginia. Your body parts are connected by nerves and connective tissues. They work together to generate speed and strength, maintain balance and posture, and move in different directions. Exercise machines often place you in a seated and supported position that does not require you to use your stabilizing muscles. They isolate your muscles group and move your body in one direction. This is not how your body moves and function in sports and real-life activities.
If you wish to increase strength, endurance, stability and power, train your whole body to move in different movement patterns, using various methods of training. It will also help you burn more calories and increase your fat-burning potential.
For example, instead of strengthening your legs with a leg press machine, do squats, lunges or step-ups using your body as its own resistance. These three basic lower-body exercises also strengthen your abdominals, back and hips and require no exercise equipment.
References
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook; 2003
- "IDEA Fitness"; Strength Training for Kids; Wayne Westcott, PhD, Avery Faigenbaum, EdD; April 2003
- "IDEA Fitness"; Weight Training Q & A; Jason Karp, PhD; July 2003
- "Amerian College of Sports Medicine"; Experts Debunk Myth About Exercise, Weight Loss; Janet Rankin, PhD; August 2009
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