7 DANGEROUS MYTHS WOMEN BELIEVE ABOUT FITNESS
After twenty plus years of working in the fitness industry, as both a trainer and a coach, I’ve seen myth after myth about health and fitness disappear. Yet one particular set of myths about women and training still exists, and it drives me crazy!
There are so many myths regarding females and strength training. Way too many to count.
Yet despite the growing number of women out there slowly incorporating strength training, there are even more women who still believe that strength training is
for men only.
Every woman needs strength training, so let’s take a look at the common myths that may be standing in YOUR way.
Myth #1: You should steer clear of heavy weights because it will make you look like a man.
Ah, this is the king (or queen) of all myths and is one that never seems to go away.
There are a number of biological differences stacked against us as women. First and foremost, we have only about five percent of the of testosterone men possess. This means that the average male has twenty times as much testosterone than the average female. And testosterone is the hormone primarily responsible for muscle gain.
Maybe at some point you did some lifting and you felt you looked overly muscular.
The culprit was very likely your increased caloric consumption that came along with the new change in exercise. What I mean is that typically, the culprit is increased body fat — not necessarily increased muscle mass — that is responsible for what many women call the “big and bulky” look. Often, increased body fat “coated” on top of muscle is mistaken for muscle mass, which turns many women away from lifting weights.
There’s a notion that after a tough workout, we need to fuel our muscles, which is true, but not to the tune of a frappaccino and a muffin. It’s too easy to convince yourself that your body is all of a sudden devoid of nutrients and calories, or that you deserve a treat for all your hard work. But when your body takes in more calories than it needs to maintain your current body weight, you’ll gain weight on top of that muscle.
If you can dial in your nutrition while simultaneously lifting weights in the gym, what you’ll get is a leaner, tighter, stronger version of your former self.
Myth #2: Women can’t do pull-ups.
The word “can’t” implies that all females, regardless of how hard they try, are physically incapable of performing a single pull-up. But while it’s true that women tend to have less upper body strength relative to that of males, that doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to do a pull-up.
So what do you do when you have a weakness? You work on it to turn that weakness into a strength.
Simply put, the solution to weak upper body strength is to improve it. In the gym, upper body pulling movements will help: think row variations (barbell rows, cable rows, inverted rows) as well as pull-up variations (band-assisted, chin-ups).
Even if your goal is not to do a pull-up, working towards one is important because for women, upper body strength, especially as we age, is essential!
