The world of training is full of misconceptions. Everyone out there seems to have ideas in their heads about what works and what doesn’t. This is why the best thing you could do is see what science says about how your body works, instead of listening to everyone’s individual versions.
According to Shawn Arent, a training scientist, there are two big mistakes about training.
What 2 great myths exist about fitness?
1. If I lift weights I will get too big
What he pointed out was quite interesting: people have the wrong idea about weight lifting exercises and about cardio. The truth is that most people could benefit from combining both workouts – so much so that if people understood the truth, such a healthy mix would become the rule.
“I think one of the biggest mistakes is that if you lift weights you will get bigger and bigger. That is not true. Plus, you could get a lot of benefits doing it. Women, in particular, tend to say “oh, I don’t want to widen.” You don’t actually have the hormones that you would need to actually be that bulky. And if you do a lot of aerobic exercise on top of that, it is impossible for that to happen to you.
“In fact, cardiovascular exercise disrupts the protein synthesis process that takes place after resistance training. And if there is something resistance training does, it is create selective hypertrophy , or make type 2 muscle fibers grow, so that your fats are replaced by muscle fibers. Aerobic exercise , on the other hand, favors type 1 muscle fibers.
“This does not mean that you cannot gain muscle in the process. This means that you would not earn as much as if you were exclusively lifting weights ”.
2. Cardio makes you lose muscle mass
“Another mistake that goes around a lot in this environment is that you don’t need to do cardio, or that cardio is bad because it causes you to lose muscle mass.
“It’s like cardio has become the carbohydrates of the fitness world. Suddenly one day we started hearing “don’t eat carbohydrates, they’re bad for you” and now suddenly all we hear is “don’t do cardio, it’s bad for you.” Cardio is good for you! And this is told to you by someone who does not like doing cardio very much, but it is good. I like more about everything related to strength and bodybuilding, but aerobic exercises are important to the extent that they are very beneficial for our health, so there is no reason why you have to stop doing it ”.
“If you don’t like it, don’t do it, but don’t stop doing it for fear that it’s bad. Resistance exercises, for example, are also something that can be essential to the success of any training program ”.
Conclution
In the field of fitness there are many myths that need to be dispelled so that people can train and progress properly. The truth is that:
- Only by lifting weights you will not get bigger , many other factors will intervene such as the number of calories ingested and the role that your hormones play, among others.
- Cardiovascular exercise is not going to cause you to lose muscle mass . The only thing aerobic exercise will do is improve your overall health and make the most of whatever training program you decide to start.
References
- Johnston, M. An exercise scientist told us the 2 things everyone gets wrong about working out. For Businessinsider.com [Revised January 2016].
