4 Female Lifting Myths Debunked!
After working with women over the past few years, I realized a lot of them are afraid of lifting weights. There are a lot of myths out there but I want to take the time to help debunk some of the common myths I hear regularly in hopes to help women not fear picking up some weights.
MYTH #1: You should only do cardio to lose weight and then you can lift weights
A solid and well rounded program includes both cardio and lifting. If anything, lifting weights should be your first priority. Strength training and dieting alone will promote fat loss, and when you strength train your muscles burn calories over the next 24-48 hours. This is also referred to as an “after burn” effect.
MYTH #2: Lifting heavy will make you bulky
Most women believe this because men put on a lot of size from lifting weights but they forget to realize that men and women both have different hormones. Lifting heavy will not make you bulk up. The only way for a women to "bulk up" or look like a man is if she is eating in a caloric surplus daily, consistently training, and injecting steroids. Lifting heavy allows you to build lean muscle (aka become “toned”), become stronger, and burn fat.
MYTH #3: You can tone muscles
There is no such thing as being toned or toning your muscles. Your muscles either grow or your lose them. You want your muscles to grow in order to build the so called “toned” physique.
MYTH #4: You can spot reduce
You can not do certain exercises to lose fat in a certain area. If you want to lose fat in a certain area, you have to lose fat all over. Also, depending on your genetic make-up we all lose fat and gain fat in certain areas first. For instance, when you try to lose fat, you might lose it in your legs first and then your belly. Everyone is different.
So those are the most common lifting myths I hear from women. I hope that this clears some things up for you ladies and you are no longer afraid of lifting. Now go lift some heavy ass weights (safely please)!
xoxo
Devon Day