I am no expert on fitness but I wanted to start a series because being healthy is ESSENTIAL on being a good you, wife, partner, lover, mumma and because I’m no expert I asked my friend Kathy who is. Kathy is a little pocket rocket who runs, owns Gx fitness and is a registered personal trainer. She has a Face books page here that you must visit and a fitness studio should you live in the area {as a few of you do} must also visit..
First up women and lifting weights…dispelling a few of the myths.
There are many misconceptions about women and lifting weights and its effects on your body and as such I wanted to bust some of these myths.
MYTH: If I lift weights I’ll get too BIG AND bulky
TRUTH: When you lift weights your muscles get stronger and your body gets leaner
This is probably the most common myth that I’ve been hearing and I want you all to know that it is NOT TRUE!!! If anything the opposite will happen. You will find your legs, hips, arms etc shrinking in size as fat starts to melt off your body. Yes it is true that you will build muscle but you need to remember that the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism and the more calories you burn all the time, even when you are sleeping. Your body will become a fat burning machine!! It may come as a surprise to you but men and women are different (LOL). Men have a hormone ‘testosterone’ which is needed to build those ‘bigger’ muscles. Genetically women are not designed to need such big muscles as we only need to cook and clean (insert another LOL). Yes, some women are genetically more ‘muscular’ than others but I swear to you that unless you are taking steroids, there is no way that you will get too ‘bulky’ from lifting weights. If for example you have been attending Group Power class and parts of your body are getting bigger in size (eg legs) then I’m sorry to say but it’s not from attending Power class. The cause of those bigger parts of you is that you have probably been enjoying too many cupcakes 😉
MYTH: You can burn off fat in certain areas.
TRUTH: You can not spot reduce fat.
Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain areas in a certain order. When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first (although in my experience it generally comes off your boobs first damn it), then your legs, then your belly and so on. Or it might come off in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup. No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears. Want to make it disappear faster? Eat better. Your diet will be responsible for around 70% of that fat loss. Strength train, not only with targeted exercises, but with plenty of big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done).
MYTH: my muscle has all turned to fat
TRUTH: muscle is muscle and fat is fat.
Your muscle is always muscle and your fat is always fat, it just depends how much you have of each. If you don’t use your muscles they will get smaller or ‘atrophy’. And I’m guessing that if you aren’t using your muscles you will probably be putting fat on, on top of those shrinking muscles which may give the impression that your muscle is turning into fat.
MYTH: You have to do cardio to lose weight
TRUTH: lifting weights gets you leaner faster
Cardio training absolutely has its place in any good exercise program, however its resistance training that will truly change your body shape. After strength training your body re-builds your muscles over the next 24-48 hours thus keeping your metabolism working at a higher rate for longer (exercise ‘after-burn’). It is also important to remember that the more muscle you have the more calories you will burn when you do your cardio training.
MYTH: Men and women need to train differently
TRUTH: There is no reason they should train differently
We both have arms, legs, backs, chests etc. The way to strengthen them for a woman is the same as it is for a man. Remember women don’t have the testosterone. So while a guy can lift a certain way to get ‘bigger’, a woman can lift in the same way, but instead build that dense, tight, athletic and lean look that most women are aiming for.
So the message I want you to get from this is don’t be afraid to lift weights!! If the whole idea still scares you and you have no idea where to start, consider attending a group exercise class that uses free weights such as Group Power. With its functional and integrated strength training and also ‘cardio’ effect it is a fantastic class to be doing 2-3 times a week. I hope you now feel a little more educated about the truths in regards to strength training.
Kathy Fitzgerald is a qualified and registered personal trainer with over 6 years of experience in the fitness industry. She currently owns and operates her own fitness studio ‘GX Fitness’ specializing in a wide variety of group exercise classes. Check out the website at www.gxfitness.com.au or on Facebook here.
{images with thanks to here}
