Weight Lifting Myths Debunked !

#Myth 1 :Weight Lifting Makes Women Bulky.

"Do you workout or go to the gym?"
"Yeah, I spend most of my time at the cardio machines"
"What about weighted- resistance training ?"
"But I don't want to look big and bulky"








Those muscular women you can find in magazines had to use steroids to get to that point and level and I mean no disrespect to them as it is the preference they made for their body.

As a woman you can build muscle, get strong and improve your physique. But you'll never build as much muscle mass as men can because you have significantly lower testosterone levels. You'll always stay feminine unless you use steroid.

Brazilian Fitness Model : Alice Motos

#Myth 2 :Weight Lifting Stunts Growth.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Shaquille O'neal, David Robinson, Karl Malone, etc. They all started lifting weights in their early teens with an average height of 1.82m tall.

"Boy, I tell you, weighting lifting like make you short."
"Why will it make me short?"
"You see those olympic weight lifters are so short."
"Urrrrmmm....ok" *walk away










The only way weight lifting can stunt your growth is if you damage your growth plate located at the end of your long bones by letting the bar fall on you. But if you use proper technique, you will be safer than with Rugby or Soccer where collisions are common.

Supervise youth lifting weights. Enforce proper technique and leave your ego behind at the entrance of the gym. Note that some believe weight lifting can actually stimulate growth because it increases bone mineralization.

And the reason why olympic weight lifters are generally (at all) short or have short limbs is due to the physics behind it. Those with shorter limbs and more muscles are better to get the bar moving through a shorter distance, thus lifting heavier weights.

Lou "The Hulk" Ferrigno- 1.96 m and 130 kg

#Myth 3 :Muscles Turns To Fat If You Stop Lifting Weights. 

"Boy, you don't workout too much now because later on when you're old, you're muscles will turn to fat."
"WHAT ?!......oh....ok. " that's my usual response when someone says that because I just couldn't comprehend what they are thinking.






On a serious note, muscles will never turns to fats and vice-versa as they're two completely different things. Muscle will, on the other hand, help you to burn fat (insignificant) due to the amount of calories muscles demanded from our body to maintain it compared to maintaining fat.

If you stop weight lifting for a period of time, you also have to eat less than before because your body do not need as much macro-nutrients as before otherwise you'll get fat. The problem is people continue with their weight lifting diet even though they have stop lifting, thus creating a surplus in calories that resulted in the conversion to fats.

Research has found that intense strength training results in more calories burned in the 16 to 24 hours after your training session ends. Some believe that if you train long enough your muscles will never come back to their pre-trained state (not proven). But this is probably linked to muscle memory as even though the you lost your muscle mass when you stop resistance training, you still maintained the muscle nuclei. These nuclei give the muscle a head start when training resumes.

Ulisses Jr. 

#Myth 4 :Weight Lifting Decreases Flexibility. 

"Boy, don't workout so much, too much muscles will make you stiff and not flexible."
"What do you mean by not flexible?"
"If you have too much muscles, you cant scratch your ass when you bathe."










One of the realizations people who initially get into weight lifting have is how inflexible they are. Years of sedentary lifestyle may have tighten your hips, preventing you to Squat correctly (full ROM).

You must strengthen your weak muscles and stretch your tight muscles before any weight lifting is done. Weight lifting will make you regain your flexibility and maintain it. Especially the Squat will give your hip muscles a full stretch. But increasing your muscle mass or strength won't reduce your flexibility at all.

#Myth 5 :Weight Lifting Makes You Slow.

"Boy, don't workout so much, too much muscles will make you slow."
"how slow is considered as slow?"
"Boy, you are slow compared to the runners"
No shit right, comparing a weight lifter and a runner is like a comparison between a monkey and fish on who could swim at a higher velocity.







Weight lifter could not be as fast as a sprinter because sprinters are specially trained to run. But it doesn't mean that weight lifters are slower because strong muscles contract faster and generate more power.

In fact, sprinters incorporate weight training into their program because it will stimulate the fast twitching Type II b muscle fibres and convert the Type II a muscle fibres to behave like the Type II b muscles. These muscles will propel the sprinter to the finish line at remarkable speed.

#Myth 6 :Weight Lifting is Bad for Your Joints. 

"Boy, how's your knee after the surgery ? "
"It's good, I have been doing some squatting now."
"Don't do any weight lifting! It will make your joints worsts. Better go jogging or run at the park."










Weight lifting is less stressful on your joints than running (high- impact activity) : weight lifting involves controlled, non-impact movements. This is true unless you are replying on momentum by swinging the weights around and locking your elbows in pressing movements, in which might take a toll on your joint.

Weight lifting- and especially strength training will increase the health of our joints by strengthening the muscles and ligaments that hold them together.

Squatters have healthier knees than non Squatters. Studies performed on top Powerlifters confirm that their knees are in better health than those of the general population.

Speaking from personal experience, I feel that my knees are in greater conditions even before I did the surgery to replace the cartilage under the patella. And the reason is I did endless heavy Squats will control movement and initiating from the hip rather than from the knee.