Weightlifting: The Myths, The Science, and How to Start
I was coaching a high school girl’s soccer team, when in the middle of our conditioning session a player begrudgingly asked, “don’t squats make your butt big…?” My answer– “Squats don’t make your butt big, but do you know what does? . . . Potato chips.” Our culture has a laundry list of false beliefs about what weightlifting does and does not do to our bodies. It’s time to clear the air…
Listed as follows are eight of the most common weightlifting myths and the research that addresses the misconception:
- Myth: Squatting is bad for your knees.
- Truth: Sitting is bad for your knees… and your bone density, heart, mental health, etc. etc.
Research shows that our bodies have a musculotendinous adaptation to strenuous exercise including weightlifting, running, and other vigorous activities. Furthermore, there is no evidence that suggests that weightlifting causes damage to the tendons or muscle when progressively overloaded appropriately (Haff & Triplett, 2016).
At the same time, if you over-exercise by doing an excessive amount of volume at a high intensity, of course the risk of injury will increase. It’s kind of like, eating an orange is good for you. They’re healthy. But eating 40 oranges for lunch will give you a stomach ache among other digestive troubles…
- Myth: Weightlifting is dangerous.
- Truth: Weightlifting has relatively low rates of injury compared with common team sports. Furthermore, weightlifting actually prevents injuries by increasing the density, thickness, and strength of bones, tendons, cartilage, connective tissues, and skeletal muscles. Additionally, research shows that vigorous exercise is protective against back pain and rather, too much sitting and sedentary time may lead to back and knee pain (Hanna et al., 2019).
- Myth: Weightlifting causes high blood pressure.
- Truth: Blood pressure increases while you are lifting weights, but it returns to normal shortly after finishing your set. In the long-term, weightlifting decreases risk for cardiovascular disease just like any other form of physical activity.
- Myth: Lifting weights stunts growth in children.
- Truth: Growth is stunted when the growth plate in a child’s bone is damaged. Lifting weights, just like any other exercise like running or biking, does not inherently cause damage to the growth plate. Instead, injuries are the cause of damage to the growth plate. A child can become injured doing just about anything—riding their bike, playing on a playground, or if you are like my oldest daughter– you may break your leg climbing out of your crib during nap time. Instead of stunting growth, weightlifting may actually stimulate growth, because it increases bone mineralization.
- Myth: Lifting weights decreases flexibility.
- Truth: Research shows that weightlifting increases and maintains flexibility, likely because during a weightlifting exercise the muscle is taken through a full range of motion. The only way you will lose flexibility with weightlifting is if you become so super swoll, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, that your giant muscles impede the joint action. In other words, you would likely need to take steroids in order to grow enough muscle mass to restrict flexibility.
- Myth: Weightlifting makes you slow.
- Truth: Strong muscles from weightlifting can generate more power making you faster for short distances and explosive events. However, if you want to become faster for long distances, weight-training with higher repetitions (e.g. 15-20) will help build muscular endurance and facilitate speed-endurance for longer events.
- Myth: Weightlifting will cause women to look bulky and have a masculine physique.
- Truth: Steroids are necessary for women to grow a significant amount of muscles mass. Furthermore, women [and men] will become stronger and more toned when weightlifting regularly. Increasing muscle tone means that a muscle continues to develop tension even when at rest, which gives the muscle a firmer looking appearance.
- Myth: Muscle turns to fat if you stop lifting weights.
- Truth: Muscle mass will atrophy, die, and turn to fat and connective tissue if we are inactive for long periods of time, regardless of whether we first lift weights or not. Specifically, there is a selective loss of fast twitch (type II) muscle fibers as we age that occurs most rapidly among people who do not regularly recruit their fast twitch fibers. Put simply, use it or lose it!
Fast twitch (type II fibers) are used during activities that involve speed and strength. Therefore, weightlifting is one of the best ways to increase and maintain muscle mass, strength, and physical functioning throughout the life course.
How to Start Weightlifting
The current weight training guidelines for beginners are to do 1-2 sets of 8-12 repetitions to fatigue, targeting the major muscle groups 2-3 days of the week on non-consecutive days. Machines, body weight exercises, and light dumbbells are a great place to start for beginners.
My Why
While it is true that we will “use it or lose it”, in regards to our physical strength and functioning, instead of lifting weights out of a fear of loss, I prefer to lift weights because of what I gain from it– it’s fun, challenging, and I enjoy the sense of achievement I experience when I improve.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
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References:
Hanna, F., Daas, R. N., El-Shareif, T. J., Al-Marridi, H. H., Al-Rojoub, Z. M., & Adegboye, O. A. (2019). The Relationship Between Sedentary Behavior, Back Pain, and Psychosocial Correlates Among University Employees. Frontiers in public health, 7, 80. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00080
Haff, G. G., & Triplett, N. T. (2016). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed.
Keogh, J.W., & Winwood, P.W. (2017). The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Training Sports. Sports Med, 47, 479-501. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0575-0.
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