Myths About Strength Training

Television and magazines have created an image of a bodybuilder as an enormous, unnatural, muscle bound person, which has turned many people off of strength training due to a fear of developing unnatural muscles. I would like to take this opportunity to dispel this myth and let you know how strength training can help you reach your goals.

A competitive bodybuilder who you may see on television or in a magazine has likely trained very hard for years and has trained in a specific way to gain muscle. They also have eaten a high calorie diet, because the body needs extra calories to build muscle. Additionally, some have taken steroids, growth hormones, and other unnatural substances. If you compare a bodybuilder who competes in a natural, drug tested competition with one who competes in non drug tested events you will see that those who have been drug tested are considerably smaller and look much more like a normal, fit person.
Building up a large muscle base takes a great deal of time, work and commitment. It does not happen by accident. When a person begins an exercise program using light weights and doing a high repetition routine (15 or more repetitions per set) fluid accumulation around the muscles is possible, and may be mistaken for muscle growth because the muscles appear bigger. This often leads a person to believe that they are going to get big and bulky if they continue strength training and they may give up.
In reality, strength training has many benefits, including aiding in weight loss. Intense strength training burns up to 275 calories in a half hour. Strength training will help build bone mass and maintain muscle mass, which we naturally lose as we age. Muscle mass requires more calories to maintain itself on a daily basis than fat mass. So maintaining your muscle mass will keep your metabolism up. Maintaining your muscle mass will also give you a firm, fit look as you lose weight.
This should not be taken to mean that if you begin a strength training routine you will not build any muscle. Some muscle growth is possible, especially in the beginning. However, a routine can designed to focus on building strength and endurance instead of on building muscle.
Strength training can consist of lifting weights, body weight exercises, use of resistance bands, medicine balls, and machines. There are countless exercises for each muscle group and countless ways to format a strength training routine. With all the variety in strength training a routine can always be new and exciting.

Learn more about this author, Sarah Brown.
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