Misconceptions around strength training and the actual benefits
By Brooke Fletcher
Are you the type of person who takes one look at a barbell or dumbbell and thinks “No thanks! Not for me”.
Or do you even go so far as to avoid the weights section at the gym because you find it too intimidating?
I know, strength exercises can be scary and believe me I used to be one of those people who avoided the weights section too. However now that I know the benefits of weight training, both short and long term, it has become one of my favourite things to do and I will prescribe it to most if not all of my clients.
When it comes to strength training there are often a couple of misconceptions which may have caused you to avoid this type of training in the past. I’m hoping to change some of your views on the below opinions. These misconceptions can include:
Cardio is going to be more beneficial for you if you want to lose weight
Cardio is not necessarily going to be most beneficial for you in regards to weight loss. Yes, cardiovascular training may burn more calories helping you to be in a calorie deficit however strength training and building muscle helps with your metabolism which means your body is able to burn more when resting. A combination of both cardio and strength training is going to be most optimum for weight loss and other health conditions.
You are going to bulk up if you do strength training
Firstly, in order to ‘bulk up’ you have to be eating in a calorie surplus to build muscle. To reach this amount of muscle also takes a long time of constant training at a high level. Personally, I believe this so-called bulky look as strong. In order to reach the ‘toned’ look that I hear people always aspire to look like, you need to have an underlying muscle layer.
You don’t sweat during strength sessions so obviously it’s not as hard as cardio
For this next one if you aren’t sweating or feeling like it is a challenging workout you are either;
- Not lifting correctly with a focus on technique and muscle activation, or
- Not lifting enough to your full potential which can be scary or unsafe if you aren’t supervised or using correct technique
An Exercise Physiologist can help you to reach your full potential when lifting weights making sure your technique is spot on and that the exercise is actually going to benefit you.
Only males should do weights
This last one occurs more often than you may think and it is absolutely incorrect. In fact, females have more of a reason to be lifting weights, particularly as they get older as they are at a higher risk for osteopenia and osteoporosis with weight-based training scientifically proven to slow or reduce the decline.
The benefits of strength training don’t just stop there. Strength training can help with various health conditions included but not limited to arthritis, PCOS, diabetes, some cancers and for all musculoskeletal rehabilitation. If you’re unsure how strength training can benefit any of the above or are interested in getting started but unsure how or where to start? Get in touch with one of our Exercise Physiologists today!
If you are unsure on what your nutrition should look like when you are increasing your strength training, our dieticians would be more than happy to have a chat to help you get the most out of your training or to help you reach your goals whether it’s in regards to weight loss or muscle gain.