Myths About Women and Weight Lifting …

The other day I mentioned to a couple of women that I was lifting weights in the gym. 

I was surprised at the responses that I got. 

“Pam!  That’s not good for you!” 

“Yeah, you never want to use weights heavier than 5 pounds or so …” (this coming from a gal who weighs all of 230 pounds)

Frankly I thought that the myths about women and weight lifting had been put to rest years ago.  I have been using weights – dumbbells from 5 to 25 pounds and a barbell loaded at 25-55 pounds – for a number of years.  I’ve always found that the heavier I lifted, the leaner I got.  As a matter of fact, in another move to alleviate my joint pain from arthritis, I joined a gym four months ago so that I would have heavier weights at my disposal. 

The simple fact is, I don’t have much testosterone.  And testosterone is the hormone responsible for increasing muscle size.   Most female bodybuilders, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to get that high degree of muscularity that turns a lot of women off to weight training. 

There is also the common myth that women only need to do cardio and if they decide to lift weights, they should be very light.  First of all, if you only did cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. Women need to lift weights in order to get the muscle building machine going and thus prevent any loss of muscle tissue – not to mention bone loss. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very hard time achieving the look that they want. As far as the lifting of very light weights, this is just more baloney. Muscle responds to resistance and if the resistance is too light, then there will be no reason for the body to change. 

I’m always surprised at the myths that people accept as fact, myths that have been passed down by the mainstream American media. 

After all, what is the American mainstream media?

Generally it has very little to do with the news and the “facts” – and everything to do with selling you something.

I prefer the truth.  That’s why, in my quest for the best body of my life, weight lifting will play the most prominent role.

For more on how weight training is the best for burning fat, check out Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat!

One Response to “Myths About Women and Weight Lifting …”

1. Lynn says:

   February 5, 2010 at 8:10 pm

   I can’t believe no one has commented on this! I totally agree with you! I used to do The Firm. The Classics. I did these religiously for nearly 15 years, and wow, my body was killer! Unfortunately, I developed DVD ( I have a tendency to clot), and fell away from The Firm after taking a full year to recover from the damage done to my entire left leg and pelvis. Then I got lazy. For years. Now, I’m 53, and I’m getting ready to pick up The Firm again. I cannot wait. I’m looking for an old (wooden) Firm box. I have the tall box. I’d like to find the 8″ box, too. Yeah, I know they have the stackable plastic boxes now, but I don’t feel as stable on them. ANYway, I just wanted to thank you for writing this. I hope lots of women listened to you and took up weight lifting. It does WONders for any woman’s body. I never felt so good as I did in my 30s. And I had knee problems before I started the workouts. They were history once I got in shape. LOVE The Firm!