This week, I’m debunking the myths about bodybuilding!
1) Bodybuilding is simply about lifting weights!
Weight training isn’t a sport for brutes where the practice is simply about mindlessly lifting heavy weights. While it certainly requires willpower, this activity is suitable for everyone. It can be used for various purposes: – Weight loss
– Increased muscle mass (building arms, pecs, thighs…)
– Achieve aesthetic goals (shape your buttocks, have a flat stomach, firm your arms)
– Relief and prevention of lower back pain (no more back pain due to prolonged sitting or driving)
– Muscle strengthening and toning (combating sagging skin due to aging)
– Resuming activity safely (you wish to resume physical activity or a sport, but it has been 5 years or more since you have done anything regularly)
– To achieve/realize sporting goals or performances with or without competition (successfully running a 10 km without stopping and within a given time, bench pressing 100kg…)
– Re-athletization (preparation following physiotherapy to optimize your physical condition and improve your performance before resuming your activity)
– Physical preparation specific to an activity: skiing, swimming, team and individual sports (approaching these activities in the best conditions to fully enjoy them)
– Preparation for competitions and selection tests
2) Weight training is for young people, but definitely not for children!
Weight training isn’t just for the young. It can be practiced at any age, but in different ways and with different goals. Contrary to popular belief and the all-too-common phrase, “Don’t do weight training before 18 because it stunts growth,” for teenagers, it helps prevent injuries and optimize their athletic performance. For men and women over 45, it limits the age-related decline in strength and muscle mass. It also helps prevent osteoporosis.
3) Weight training makes you become huge, like bodybuilders!
Weight training won’t make you huge and muscular overnight. Reaching that stage is a long road, requiring years of training, a specific diet, consistency, and dedication. A smart approach to weight training, combined with a suitable diet, will allow you to pleasantly transform your physique according to your goals.
4) Bodybuilding and doping
The world of bodybuilding is not a world of doping. It is primarily a world of passionate individuals dedicated to physical development, physical effort, and discipline, as well as competitors who strive to achieve the ideal physique they envision. It is only at a certain level of muscle development that some resort to illicit substances to surpass genetic limitations, but this in no way negates the importance of hard work in training and a strict diet. Taking dietary supplements is not doping either; it is a practical and quick way to fuel oneself, and most supplements are found in food.
5) Weight training: watch out for your back!
You’ve probably heard things like, “You’ll hurt your back if you do squats!” or “Be careful with your back when you go to the gym.” Weight training doesn’t actually hurt your back; it strengthens all the muscles in your body, as well as your tendons, ligaments, and joints. This overall strengthening helps prevent many injuries, both in everyday life and those related to sports at any level. For this to be effective, weight training must be done intelligently and adapted to your individual needs.
6) Muscle strength and intelligence
Weight training requires good motor skills and body awareness. This means being able to control your body, to perceive the position of its segments in relation to each other and in space. Furthermore, for effective and optimal weight training, it is essential to adhere to numerous training principles, such as training frequency, consistency, intensity, progressive overload, work-rest intervals, and the specificity of the exercise.
7) You won’t lose weight by doing weight training! You’ll actually gain weight.
Who hasn’t heard, “If you want to lose weight, do cardio”? However, strength training is also an ally in weight loss. Workouts increase energy expenditure, and thanks to muscle gain, your metabolism increases, so you’ll burn more energy each day. A study from the American College of Sports Medicine showed that after strength training in untrained subjects, their body fat percentage decreased while their muscle mass increased.
8) Strength training and dynamism
If you think weight training slows you down or makes you “sluggish,” I suggest you ask a sprinter. Weight training is very common in the physical preparation of elite athletes to improve their performance in terms of strength, speed, explosiveness, power, and endurance. Practicing an explosive sport and weight training are therefore not incompatible; in fact, it’s a very good way to improve your athletic performance!
9) Weight training isn’t just about getting bloated.
Strength training has benefits that many people are unaware of, such as reducing risk factors for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer. It helps prevent osteoporosis and promotes weight loss and maintenance. It improves balance, preserves functional abilities, and promotes psychological well-being.
10) Strength training and cardio-respiratory activity
Do you think that weight training doesn’t build endurance and a good cardiovascular system? Practicing both activities is very compatible and even recommended, but only if certain training principles are followed. It’s not uncommon to find marathon runners in the gym. Furthermore, cardiovascular training can be done through a specific structure of weight training exercises. Finally, recovery from weight training engages the aerobic system (the endurance system).
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