Strength Training Myths Debunked
December 23rd, 2010 05:20 AM
I bet you’ve heard exercise myths -- women shouldn’t strength train or they’ll get big and bulky, strength training will stunt a child’s growth, lifting light weights for high reps will shape and tone your body, etc. Belief in these and other myths explains why so many people are not getting the results they should.
Myth #1: Women shouldn’t strength train because they’ll get big and bulky
Women have taken a look at competitive female and male bodybuilders and thought, “If weight training does that to them, then I might as well stay as far away from it as possible.” But many of these bodybuilders are taking massive amounts of anabolic, androgenic drugs. Second, men produce 10 times more testosterone than females and testosterone is one of the main hormones involved in muscle growth and size. Third, there’s also a difference in muscle mass distribution in men and women, especially in the upper body, so females, if you do build muscle, you won’t look masculine.
Myth #2: Strength training will stunt a child’s growth
Parents have no problem signing their kids up for football, soccer, hockey, gymnastics, etc., but have an aversion to letting them strength train. Parents assume, as I used to, that the loading of weight on their child’s bones (specifically to the long bones) will cause damage and result in stunted growth. Essentially they fear that the epiphiseal plates in these long bones will close early, thus limiting full, mature growth.
However, the loading incurred through the running, jumping, and tackling of the sports mentioned above can be as much as 10 times more than that from strength training. Also, keeping children away from the weight room can leave them more suspectible to injury on the athletic field due to a lack of muscle mass and stability around their joints. The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that children can benefit from properly designed and supervised resistance training programs. They state that prepubescent children should not lift maximal weights, but should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form. So if your child is involved in athletics they will definitely benefit from a properly designed resistance training program and if not involved in athletics, then they’ll also benefit as the loading will aid in bone health and development and prevent injury.
Myth #3: Lifting light weights for high repetitions will help shape and tone your body.
I’ll credit those who think this way -- at least they are lifting weights. This is an excellent start. However, lifting a weight light enough to be able to perform more than 20 repetitions doesn’t cause enough protein breakdown in the muscles and a metabolic “debt” to stimulate adequate lean mucles growth. The key for shaping and toning your body is to stimulate as much fat loss and muscle gain as possible through a resistance that is “shocking” enough to your nervous system to cause it to recruit as many muscle fibres as possible. To obtain this benefit you’ll want to use a resistance for any particular exercise where you can only perform between six to 15 reps. This will ultimately lead to greater improvements in lean muscle mass and fat loss.
Myth #4: Runners don’t need to resistance train
This debate has been around for at least a couple decades and it probably won’t end with this article. Why don’t we recap the benefits of resistance training and look at it from a runner’s perspective. Resistance training benefits include:
• Enhances endocrine and immune function (which are compromised by endurance training)
• Maintains muscle mass (also negatively affected by endurance training)
• Improves functional capacity in spite of aging by maintaining maximal strength and power (both of which decrease with prolonged endurance training)
• Builds bone density (something many runners lack due to poor dietary practices, but desperately needed in light of the high risk of stress fractures)
• Enables us to more rapidly correct muscle imbalances (another thing common in runner), as evidenced by the fact that resistance training is the cornerstone of any good physical therapy program
If that’s not enough lets see what some researchers have to say. A University of Alabama meta-analysis of the endurance training scientific literature revealed that 10 weeks of resistance training in trained distance runners improved running economy by eight to 10 per cent. That equates to about 20-24 minutes off a four-hour marathon -- likely more if you’re not a well-trained endurance athlete in the first place. Pretty darn good.
In anther study, French researchers found that the addition of two weight-training sessions per week for 14 weeks significantly increased maximal strength and running economy while maintaining peak power in triathletes. Meanwhile, the control group – which only did endurance training – gained no maximal strength or running economy, and their peak power actually decreased. And, interestingly, the group that combined endurance with resistance training saw greater increases in VO2 max over the course of the intervention.
Scientists at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland found that replacing 32 per cent of regular endurance training volume with explosive resistance training for nine weeks improved five-km times, running economy, VO2max, maximal 20-m speed, and performance on a five-jump test. With the exception of VO2max, none of these measures improved in the control group that just did endurance training. How do you think they felt knowing that a good third of their entire training volume was largely unnecessary, and would have been better spent on other initiatives?
Lastly, University of Illinois researchers found that the addition of three resistance training sessions for 10 weeks improved short-term endurance performance by 11 per cent and 13 per cent during cycling and running, respectively. Additionally, the researchers noted that “long-term cycling to exhaustion at 80 per cent of VO2max increased from 71 to 85 minutes after the addition of strength training.”
Myth #5: Machines are just as good as free weights
Can you think of any physical activity you perform whether athletic or around the house -- i.e. gardening, vacuuming, washing the car, carrying the groceries from your car, etc. -- where you are in a fixed plane of motion without any deviation from that plane? If you can think of one please let me know. So why when we go to the gym do we move from machine to machine which move in a fixed plane of motion and are bolted to the floor?
Look at the simple movements involved in getting into your car: First you have to perform a single-legged squat, followed by a lateral shift, and finally a rotation. A simple movement like getting into a car requires more instability than one may realize. If you’re working on machines all the time that work in a fixed plane of motion, you’re not requiring your body to synchronize your muscles and nervous system together to produce smooth, efficient movements nor to recruit the necessary stabilizer muscles to help stabilize the joints in an unstable, three-dimentional environment such as getting into a car. What you’ll get is strong, dumb muscles that aren’t as effective at recruiting a list of muscles together to produce a specific movement. You’ll turn into a “motor moron.”
Now going back to our car example, an exercise such as a lunge would have a much higher carryover to getting into a car than say a seated leg extension machine. The body will not as effectively translate the strength produced in the seated leg extension machine into this single-legged, lateral shift squat with rotation movement. However while performing the lunge the body is constantly having to produce stability over the hip joint through co-contraction of the adductors (inner thigh muscles) and abductors (outer thigh muscles) to prevent from falling over. By performing this movement properly you’ll be strengthening the muscles and movement patterns that closely resemble functional movement patterns such as, getting into a car.
Now it’s up to you to put these myths behind you and modify your exercise program or begin exercising. No more excuses for not getting results. Just like anything, stick with it, make changes to your program every four weeks, get a training partner or trainer to keep you motivated and make sure you’re doing it properly, and go intense. Happy training!
Tyron Piteau is a registered kinesiologist, personal fitness coach, corrective exercise specialist, and nutrition consultation on the North Shore. www.makersbody.com 604-626-2342 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 604-626-2342 end_of_the_skype_highlighting tyron@makersbody.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 07-Jan 08
Myth #1: Women shouldn’t strength train because they’ll get big and bulky
Women have taken a look at competitive female and male bodybuilders and thought, “If weight training does that to them, then I might as well stay as far away from it as possible.” But many of these bodybuilders are taking massive amounts of anabolic, androgenic drugs. Second, men produce 10 times more testosterone than females and testosterone is one of the main hormones involved in muscle growth and size. Third, there’s also a difference in muscle mass distribution in men and women, especially in the upper body, so females, if you do build muscle, you won’t look masculine.
Myth #2: Strength training will stunt a child’s growth
Parents have no problem signing their kids up for football, soccer, hockey, gymnastics, etc., but have an aversion to letting them strength train. Parents assume, as I used to, that the loading of weight on their child’s bones (specifically to the long bones) will cause damage and result in stunted growth. Essentially they fear that the epiphiseal plates in these long bones will close early, thus limiting full, mature growth.
However, the loading incurred through the running, jumping, and tackling of the sports mentioned above can be as much as 10 times more than that from strength training. Also, keeping children away from the weight room can leave them more suspectible to injury on the athletic field due to a lack of muscle mass and stability around their joints. The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that children can benefit from properly designed and supervised resistance training programs. They state that prepubescent children should not lift maximal weights, but should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form. So if your child is involved in athletics they will definitely benefit from a properly designed resistance training program and if not involved in athletics, then they’ll also benefit as the loading will aid in bone health and development and prevent injury.
Myth #3: Lifting light weights for high repetitions will help shape and tone your body.
I’ll credit those who think this way -- at least they are lifting weights. This is an excellent start. However, lifting a weight light enough to be able to perform more than 20 repetitions doesn’t cause enough protein breakdown in the muscles and a metabolic “debt” to stimulate adequate lean mucles growth. The key for shaping and toning your body is to stimulate as much fat loss and muscle gain as possible through a resistance that is “shocking” enough to your nervous system to cause it to recruit as many muscle fibres as possible. To obtain this benefit you’ll want to use a resistance for any particular exercise where you can only perform between six to 15 reps. This will ultimately lead to greater improvements in lean muscle mass and fat loss.
Myth #4: Runners don’t need to resistance train
This debate has been around for at least a couple decades and it probably won’t end with this article. Why don’t we recap the benefits of resistance training and look at it from a runner’s perspective. Resistance training benefits include:
• Enhances endocrine and immune function (which are compromised by endurance training)
• Maintains muscle mass (also negatively affected by endurance training)
• Improves functional capacity in spite of aging by maintaining maximal strength and power (both of which decrease with prolonged endurance training)
• Builds bone density (something many runners lack due to poor dietary practices, but desperately needed in light of the high risk of stress fractures)
• Enables us to more rapidly correct muscle imbalances (another thing common in runner), as evidenced by the fact that resistance training is the cornerstone of any good physical therapy program
If that’s not enough lets see what some researchers have to say. A University of Alabama meta-analysis of the endurance training scientific literature revealed that 10 weeks of resistance training in trained distance runners improved running economy by eight to 10 per cent. That equates to about 20-24 minutes off a four-hour marathon -- likely more if you’re not a well-trained endurance athlete in the first place. Pretty darn good.
In anther study, French researchers found that the addition of two weight-training sessions per week for 14 weeks significantly increased maximal strength and running economy while maintaining peak power in triathletes. Meanwhile, the control group – which only did endurance training – gained no maximal strength or running economy, and their peak power actually decreased. And, interestingly, the group that combined endurance with resistance training saw greater increases in VO2 max over the course of the intervention.
Scientists at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland found that replacing 32 per cent of regular endurance training volume with explosive resistance training for nine weeks improved five-km times, running economy, VO2max, maximal 20-m speed, and performance on a five-jump test. With the exception of VO2max, none of these measures improved in the control group that just did endurance training. How do you think they felt knowing that a good third of their entire training volume was largely unnecessary, and would have been better spent on other initiatives?
Lastly, University of Illinois researchers found that the addition of three resistance training sessions for 10 weeks improved short-term endurance performance by 11 per cent and 13 per cent during cycling and running, respectively. Additionally, the researchers noted that “long-term cycling to exhaustion at 80 per cent of VO2max increased from 71 to 85 minutes after the addition of strength training.”
Myth #5: Machines are just as good as free weights
Can you think of any physical activity you perform whether athletic or around the house -- i.e. gardening, vacuuming, washing the car, carrying the groceries from your car, etc. -- where you are in a fixed plane of motion without any deviation from that plane? If you can think of one please let me know. So why when we go to the gym do we move from machine to machine which move in a fixed plane of motion and are bolted to the floor?
Look at the simple movements involved in getting into your car: First you have to perform a single-legged squat, followed by a lateral shift, and finally a rotation. A simple movement like getting into a car requires more instability than one may realize. If you’re working on machines all the time that work in a fixed plane of motion, you’re not requiring your body to synchronize your muscles and nervous system together to produce smooth, efficient movements nor to recruit the necessary stabilizer muscles to help stabilize the joints in an unstable, three-dimentional environment such as getting into a car. What you’ll get is strong, dumb muscles that aren’t as effective at recruiting a list of muscles together to produce a specific movement. You’ll turn into a “motor moron.”
Now going back to our car example, an exercise such as a lunge would have a much higher carryover to getting into a car than say a seated leg extension machine. The body will not as effectively translate the strength produced in the seated leg extension machine into this single-legged, lateral shift squat with rotation movement. However while performing the lunge the body is constantly having to produce stability over the hip joint through co-contraction of the adductors (inner thigh muscles) and abductors (outer thigh muscles) to prevent from falling over. By performing this movement properly you’ll be strengthening the muscles and movement patterns that closely resemble functional movement patterns such as, getting into a car.
Now it’s up to you to put these myths behind you and modify your exercise program or begin exercising. No more excuses for not getting results. Just like anything, stick with it, make changes to your program every four weeks, get a training partner or trainer to keep you motivated and make sure you’re doing it properly, and go intense. Happy training!
Tyron Piteau is a registered kinesiologist, personal fitness coach, corrective exercise specialist, and nutrition consultation on the North Shore. www.makersbody.com 604-626-2342 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 604-626-2342 end_of_the_skype_highlighting tyron@makersbody.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 07-Jan 08
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