Strength training for women? That surely is a weird concept for many. For sure, bad information is driving you away from doing this type of training.
After all, many of us have this idea that strength training will make women look bulky or make them look like a man. But is that the truth?
For your information, there is more to strength training that you know about. One of the things that you should learn is to determine which of the circulating information is true and which are not.
Well, we are here to help you discover the latter—the myths about strength training for women that should be busted.
The Myths That Have To Be Busted
So what are these strength training for women myths that you should know about? Well, take a look at the information below:
Myth 1: Weightlifting is for men only.
Truth: Weightlifting is for women too.
When you hear the word, strength training, the first thing would come to mind would be an extra muscular man carrying a big barbell.
We have always thought that strength training is for men that it is so hard for us to believe that it is not. But for your information, there are lots of reasons why weightlifting is recommended for women too.
These include faster fat loss, more muscle = more calories burned, better sleep quality, a higher level of energy and better cardiovascular and bone health.
Myth 2: Weightlifting can make you look masculine
Truth: Weightlifting can help you achieve a slimmer and leaner body.
It does not come as a surprise that this is still the most popular weightlifting myth. To settle the real score, frequent and progressive heavy weight lifting coupled with basic compound exercises will not make you big and bulky.
In general, strength training helps build muscle and burn fats which make it the perfect type of training for women who want to lose weight.
Perhaps you have seen a few women who strength train who look masculine and bulky. For your information, there are various factors that helped them to achieve that type of body and these include the type of training regimen, diet, intensity, and volume of their load.
Myth 3: Weightlifting is dangerous.
Truth: Weightlifting can be safe if you will keep in mind a few safety tips.
Truth is, any activity can be dangerous if you will do it improperly. That is why it is recommended that you keep a few safety tips in mind when strength training.
Some of these tips include wearing weight lifting belt (to prevent injuries), warming up, wearing appropriate clothing, properly securing plates and practicing proper form.
Myth 4: Strength Training takes too much time.
Truth: An effective strength training workout will not take too much time.
For your information, how effective the strength training is does not depend on how long you perform the exercise. In fact, Nia Shanks claim that women can reap amazing results with a less-than-30-minute workout done twice a week.
You should not focus just on the quantity or the duration of the exercise but on the quality as well. To improve the quality of the exercise, it is recommended that you perform compound exercises (exercises that involve more than one muscle group) along with weight lifting.
Myth 5: Women don’t need workout supplements.
Truth: Strength training is much more effective when done with supplements.
For your muscle to grow, it will need the right nutrients. Sadly, you will find it hard to get all those nutrients in your daily diet.
That is why taking supplements, like multivitamins, whey protein, creatinine, casein and pre-workout boosters to make your training a lot more effective. But make sure that you will take the best high-quality workout supplements for women so you can make the most out of your workout.
Myth 6: The only way for women to strength train is to lift light weights for high reps.
Truth: Lifting challenging loads is the best way to strength train.
Many fitness experts still recommend this training regimen. While this type of regimen is beneficial for your strength training program, it is not the only thing that you should do.
Using only low weights will lead your body to an exercise plateau (when you stall out on progress despite continuing exercising). To give your body a stimulus that it has to adapt to, it is best that you try lifting challenging loads from time to time. Keep in mind that heavy weight lifting must be done for 6 to 12 reps only.
Myth 7: If you are not dead tired after a workout, you are doing it wrong.
Truth: Exhaustion is not a marker of a successful workout—efficiency is.
Many people think that if they will not finish the workout in the brink of vomiting, you are not pushing yourself to the limits and your workout is not successful. Instead of training to exhaustion, your goal should be to improve your performance every workout.
There are many ways on how you can do this. For one, you can gradually add more weight. If you cannot lift more weight, you can try adding more reps. Lastly, you can also try improving your workout density, meaning you should perform the same amount of work but in lesser time.
In Summary
As you may have already recognized, there are lots of myths surrounding the concept of strength training women for women. And sadly, most of these myths are stopping women from doing strength training and preventing women from fully experiencing the various benefits that it can do for them.
To keep things straight, strength training is highly recommended for women as it is can help them to lose fat and achieve a slimmer and more toned body that you have wanted all along. But more than that, it can also help you to discover what your body is truly capable of doing.
Now that we have already busted the myths that you should be aware of, all that you have to do is to get started on your strength training or weight lifting journey and make sure that you do it right.
Revision 16.1.2022 – outdated links removed
