Myth: If I lift heavy weights I’ll end up looking like those super muscular women in bodybuilding magazines.

Fact: This is by far one of the most perpetuated gym myths around that has had a serious negative effect on female exercisers.

For most females, lifting heavy weights on a properly designed program will greatly help reduce body fat.

Females do not have the necessary levels of androgens (specific types of hormones) to cause the same response to resistance training that men have.

So rest assured: extreme musculature in women typically occurs only after the extreme use of anabolic steroids and years of specific training (notice the use of the word extreme TWICE in that sentence!)

What does occur after regular bouts of heavy resistance training is an increase in your metabolism.

Think of your metabolism as your body’s internal furnace and after a heavy workout, your body will require MORE energy to keep the furnace running properly. That means your body continues to use energy for hours after you are done your exercising, so you burn more calories while resting!

There you have it.  A four of the biggest female training myths exposed.

Make sure you check back often as I’ll be deconstructing even more of these common yet absurd female training myths.

Dev Chengkalath