10 Female Fitness Myths Exposed
If there is one thing about women’s fitness is all the myths you see in magazines and online.
I hope this blog post helps break down some of these myths.
1, Body Part Training Is The Best Way To Build Muscle
Our body is composed of many body parts. However our body functions as a full unit not as an individual body part. Train your body with overall full body movements for maximizing growth.
2. Women Shouldn’t Lift Heavy Weights & Should Always Do High Reps.
Women + Lifting Weights
This is a myth i get asked at least once a day! Most women believe that by training heavy they will get big or look like a guy. This couldn’t be more far from the truth.
Women have 1/20th the Testosterone of men. Without testosterone it is really hard to build muscle. Unless you are genetically gifted female you won’t build muscle training with moderate-heavy lifting. Keep changing your program, keep your diet clean and you will benefit from the demands of heavy training.
3.Eating Late at Night Will Make You Fat.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. The old adage “You are what you eat” is very true.
I always advocate eating every 3-4 hours.
For late night food choices opt for high protein, moderate essential fat and low carb choices. I love protein pudding at night.
Eating at night isn’t a problem.
It’s what you eat at night that’s the problem.
4. You have to constantly lift heavier to make gains.
Wrong. You need to cause your body to adapt to stress. This is true, however at some point the amount of weight lifted vs. the damage done to your body does not pan out. If you are squatting really heavy and need a change hit single leg exercises. If your arms aren’t growing curling more weight isn’t always the answer.
5. Creatine will make me bloated or cause me to lose definition.
Creatine will not cause you to lose definition. You need to be about 8-10% bodyfat before you can see any real changes in muscle definition. Most people take creatine while bulking and end up getting fat from too much junk, not creatine.
6. Protein Will Convert to Fat.
It is literally almost impossible for your body to store protein. The human body just isn’t very efficient at it. Your body will burn far more calories trying to store protein or using it for energy. Protein is a poor source of energy for fat storage, however the body is very efficient at storing simple carbohydrates and saturated fats.
7. You Can Change Fat To Muscle.
.
I don’t even want to go into detail on this but i sometimes still hear it when dealing with customers. Simply put you CAN’T change fat to muscle. You can burn fat, you can build muscle, but you cant change fat to muscle.
8. To Get Ripped You Need High Reps With Less Weight.
Not true at all. The most important thing when trying to lose body fat (aka getting ripped) is FOOD. Good old boring nutrition matters far more than your workouts. However you can get leaner with many types of workouts. Heavy lifting is more taxing on the body causing it to use more calories to recover etc. Simple approach to getting lean and training. Change your program often, and make your workouts challenging.
9. Training Abs Daily is Good For Getting a Six Pack.
If you check any anatomy book you will see that the abdominal muscles are no different from any other muscle group. If you want abs eat better and get your metabolism up. Training abs daily may make the area feel tighter (because your muscles are sore and stiff). Train your abs like every other body part. Yes you can train abs daily with a mixture of exercises and variations, but remember to SEE your abs it’s much more about body fat levels.
10. Cardio On an Empty Stomach is Best For Fat Loss.
Cardio on an empty stomach does work. But not so much because of the empty stomach, its more because you are getting the cardio in and elevating your metabolism.
If you find it worked for you great, but it isn’t essential.
The best time to do cardiovascular work is anytime during the day.
Some people love to do cardio on an empty stomach and “feel” it working. Hey if you enjoy it and think it’s working then keep it going.
But for the most part the best time you can get your cardio/conditioning in is anytime that you will do it.
But lets not forget those weight training sessions ok.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post.
If you did please comment, like & share.
Thanks.
Coach Rob
Rob King is a Competitive PowerLifter, Coach and Writer.
