There is no dearth of myths about women and weight lifting floating around the internet. The attitude towards women and lifting is more often than not inaccurate and stuck in the 1950s ideal.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that lifting isn’t the most appealing choice for most women, because lets face it, we’ve all come across at least one of these.
Learn the real story behind 4 of these female fitness training myths!
1. Strength training makes women look “Masculine” and “Bulky”
People tend to think of female bodybuilders when they think of lifting, but let me assure you that that is not going to happen to your body. Muscle
Mass takes years and years of hard work to build and many cases involves the use of supplements to do so. In fact, strength training does quite the opposite as it revs up your metabolism and helps you lose 1-2 dress size within months of starting.
2. It is too time consuming to strength train
Nope, It Isn’t! With lifting, the idea is to focus on the quality of your workout as opposed to the quantity or time spent. As long as you follow the right set of exercises combined with enough weights, you could be done in no more than 30 mins! You can achieve great results with just 2-3 strength workouts in a week and improve your performance by being consistent.
3. Weight lifting involves high risk and danger
As with any new activity, there is some level of inherent danger and anything done incorrectly can be dangerous whether its yoga, swimming, cycling, etc. It’s very simple to reduce your risk of injury with strength training by balancing out your body for optimal strength and power. If you take the time to learn correct form on the exercises weight lifting is very safe. Remember to always use a spotter or additional safety measures and you will be just fine!
4. Strenght training is not for older women
This one really couldn’t be more wrong! Older women must participate in activities designed to specifically strengthen all the large muscle groups to maintain maximum health and lifestyle performance. That is actually the BEST time to strength train as according to various studies in post-menopausal women, strength training “preserved bone density while improving muscle mass, strength, and balance in postmenopausal women.” So there you have it, some of the most annoying and ignorant myths relating to women strength training debunked!
BHARTI SINGH – Founder Director, BHHO Gym & Fitness Center & Winner of Asian Fit Idol Contest, Bangkok 2013 is a Master Trainer and Body Transformation specialist as well as Fusion Group Fitness Expert. She is also a top Yoga Therapist, Nutritionist, Lifestyle Coach & Celeb Fitness Counselor ”
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