Myths of weight training for woman

I hear it all of the time, I don't want to lift weights because I don't want big muscles or I just do aerobics and sit-ups because I don't want to look like a man. Learn the truth about the Myths about woman weight training.

Myth 1
Weight training makes you bulky like a man.

Women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone as men. Testosterone is essential to develop large muscles.It takes serious dedication, the right diet, Quality weight training schedule and for some, chemical enhancement. Muscle mass does not suddenly appear because you dare to lift weights.

Myth 2
Women can't get strong.

The truth is muscle size is not everthing when it comes to strength, By weight training you can teach the muscle fibres and nerves that make up the muscles in your body work more as a team and a team is stronger than an individual. An increase in in the strength of a muscle can be atributed as much to the number of muscle fibres recruited as the size of the muscle fibres.

eg. if you do a bicep curl and only a few motor units fire (motor units are nerves that tell muscle fibres to contract) the force produced will be small but if a lot of motor units fire at the same time then there will be a stronger contraction of the muscle. this function of strength is reffered to as multiple motor unit summation.

Myth 3
A woman's muscles will turn to fat when she stops training.

Muscles cannot turn to fat. They simply do not have to capacity to shift from one type of tissue to another. Muscles that are not used will grow smaller or atrophy.


Myth 4
To tone my muscles, I should use lighter weights and high reps

'The Pink Dumbbell Myth' that is often spread by magazines and infomercials, convincing us that we should use lighter weights. The truth is that this type of strength training doesn't burn more fat and the only way it will 'tone' your body is if you've created a calorie deficit that allows you to lose body fat. The weights you lifts should be determined by your goals

For strength gains: 1-6 reps, heavy weight
For gaining muscle and size: 8-12 reps, medium-heavy weights
For endurance: 12-16 reps (or more), light-medium weights

you should always lift enough weight that you can ONLY complete the desired reps.

Myth 5
For fat burning or weight loss, I should only do cardio exercise.

Strength training helps you preserve the muscle you have as well as increase your muscle mass and the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn all day long.

Myth 6
A woman can take protein supplements to enhance her physique.

Excess amounts of protein can not change the way a woman's body looks. When the body receives more protien than it needs, these extra calories are converted to fat and stored in the body. A normal active person male or female need around 1 gram of protein per kg of bodyweight, this is increased to between 1.2 and 1.6 gram per kg for a weight training individual.

Myth 7
Spot reduction through exercise.

This myth suggests that doing specific exercises for specific body parts will help you lose body fat there. This is simply not true a persons genetics determines where fat is gained and lost. If you want to lose fat around the thighs or abs, you have to create a calorie deficit.

And finally you are never to old to work with weights.