4 Myths about Strength
Training for Women
Provided
by American
Council on Exercise
It seems as if there’s a lot of information about exercise
for women that is based on unfounded myths and even some outright lies instead
of fact or scientific evidence. To help clear up the confusion surrounding
strength training for women, ACE is launching the strongHER campaign to help
educate the public on what is factual and what is not when it comes to strength
training for women.
In this particular
blog, I’ll be discussing the most common myths and explain why they are far
from the truth. While it’s easy for me to write about the science behind the
myths, I lack the proper genetic make-up to give a first-person perspective on
how weightlifting has influenced my fitness
program. That’s why I asked a few strong women to share how
strength training has influenced their lives, and their observations are
included throughout this blog.
Myth
1: Women should not lift any weight heavier than 3 pounds.
This myth has resulted
in many women avoiding resistance training due to an irrational fear of
becoming overly muscular. The reality is that women have the ability to lift a
tremendous amount of weight, but do not increase lean muscle mass at the same
rate as men.
Due to the physiology
of the female body, compared to men women produce much less testosterone. That
means that adding two days of resistance training to a weekly exercise regimen
can increase lean muscle mass, but it won’t add pounds of “bulky” muscle.
Strength training can cause women to produce more somatotropin (otherwise known
as human growth hormone), but when you consider that growth hormone helps
metabolize fat and is considered an important part of reducing the effects of
the biological aging process, this is not a bad thing.
“My grandmother,
suffering from osteoporosis and extreme kyphosis, told me that she wished that
women of her era knew the benefits of strength training. Not only is
weightlifting emotionally empowering for women, it can help us become better
athletes, prevent injury and offset the risk of developing chronic medical
conditions such as osteoporosis.”
-Shana Verstegen, ACE Certified Personal
Trainer
Myth
2: Women should avoid using weights because it will make them big and bulky.
In more than 15 years
of working in the fitness industry, I have heard this repeated many, many times
as the primary reason why women are not interested in exercising with heavy
weights. There are numerous media images of female bodybuilders or actresses
with highly muscular physiques. It should be noted that it can take years of
training, proper nutrition and "supplementation" to achieve the
muscle-bound appearance of a Xena: Warrior Princess.
It can take lifting
weights five or six days a week, plus a lot of eating, for women to increase
their levels of lean muscle. Simply adding an extra day of strength training or
grabbing the heavier dumbbells will not automatically cause a woman to become a
muscle-bound she-hulk.
“I have fallen in love
with power lifting and at 43 I am healthier, happier and in better shape than I
was back in college. I may weigh more than I did a year ago, but I AM 4 sizes smaller.”
-Candace, a former college classmate
Myth
3: Aerobic exercise is the most effective way to burn fat.
During low-intensity
physical activity, fat is the primary
macronutrient utilized to fuel muscle activity, so the idea of exercising in
the “fat-burning” zone is based on science.
But keep in mind that you're in the so-called fat-burning zone right now while
you're reading this. Traditional aerobic exercise like running, cycling or
using common health club machines can be effective for expending energy and the
body will metabolize more fat for energy at lower intensities. However,
exercising at a higher intensity or performing short, high-intensity work
intervals can lead to a greater total amount of calories being expended during
a workout.
The body burns 5
calories of energy for every liter of oxygen consumed. During most traditional
aerobic training, the legs are the primary muscles being engaged. Performing a
full-body, strength-training circuit with exercises for both the upper and
lower body can involve a tremendous amount of muscle tissue, which results in
more calories being burned during a workout. When more total calories are
burned from strength training, a greater amount of calories are metabolized
from fat when compared to only exercising in the “fat burning” zone. Aerobic
training can be an efficient way to burn calories, but it often doesn't provide
enough stimulus to increase levels of lean muscle, which are metabolically more
efficient because they burn calories even when the body is at rest. In
addition, circuit training with heavy resistance can increase the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC),
which means your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after exercise
and you continue to burn calories hours after the end of your workout.
Jen Sinkler, a former
women's national team rugby player, is recognized as one of the most
influential fitness bloggers by Shape Magazine. She
responded to a question about her workout program by simply stating: "I
lift weights." When asked what she does for cardio, Sinkler replied, “I
lift weights faster.” Jen has turned this simple phrase into a whole platform
for exercise that she promotes on her eponymous blog Thrive
with Jen Sinkler.
Myth
4: A combination of light weights and high repetitions is the best way to “tone
up.”
Ugh. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Light weights can be useful for improving the
strength-endurance of muscle tissue. However, neither light weight nor aerobic
endurance training is effective for stimulating the muscle fibers responsible
for growth and definition. The most effective way to create muscle growth and
definition is to activate type II (fast twitch) muscle fibers using heavy
weight or explosive movements.
There are different
types of muscle fibers in the body: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow-twitch
fibers produce energy using oxygen and are used to sustain long periods of
muscle work, such as maintaining good posture or performing endurance training.
Fast-twitch fibers are capable of producing more force in a shorter period of
time because they produce energy anaerobically. When it comes to muscle
definition, a common goal for exercise, the fast-twitch fibers are responsible
for that response. (For an in-depth understanding of how to increase lean
muscle, follow this link.) Light weights can be used to train for
definition if (and only if) the muscle is worked to fatigue (meaning you can’t
perform another single repetition). Lifting 5 pounds for 12 reps is not enough
to stimulate the fast-twitch fibers if you are capable of doing a 13th
repetition.
“Strength training
helped me gain confidence because I would achieve gains in appearance while
losing weight. When other women find out I lift, they become curious and I love
sharing the benefits. Putting the gloves on, hearing the plates stack together and
lifting heavy things is one of the things I look forward to the most when I
exercise.”
-ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor
Teresa Ma
Disillusioned by
elusive results from hours of cardio training, women are discovering the
weight-loss benefits of strength training. It's not clear exactly what is
responsible for this surging popularity, but one thing is clear—women have been
adding more resistance training and high-intensity exercises to their workout
programs.
AUTHOR
Pete
McCall
Pete McCall, MS, CSCS, is an ACE Certified
Personal Trainer and long-time player in the fitness industry. He has been
featured as an expert in the Washington Post, The
New York Times, Los
Angeles Times, Runner's
World and Self. He holds a master's
degree in exercise science and health promotion, and several advanced
certifications and specializations with NSCA and NASM.