MYTHS- STEVE CANNON

WEIGHT TRAINING MYTHS – Steve Cannon

Prior to 1976 many publications insisted that weight training only benefited strength and muscle tone. However, well-documented research in the last 20 years has shown that many aspects of health and fitness can benefit from weight training. Despite this documented research, there persists to be a number of myths that deter people.

These myths are:

• There is a high risk of injuries from weight training.     
• Children performing weight training are at risk from bone damage.
• Children should not attempt maximal efforts.                            
• Weight training will damage the skeleton.
• Weight training can give poor flexibility.
• When you stop training, muscle will turn to fat.             
• Women/Girls are deterred from weight training because of bulging muscles.
• Health benefits do not accrue from weight training.      
• Weight training makes you slow / muscle bound.           
• Machine weight training is safer than free weight training.      
• Weights must be moved slowly to create strength.

Let's look at each of these myths and summarise the evidence:-

• There is a high risk of injuries from weight training

Research by Risser, Sheffield University, Brian Hamill and Michael Stone have all shown that weight training injuries are significantly fewer per participation hour than in most sports. This research has shown that weight training and lifting are very safe activities. There may be cause for concern if the activity is performed by children, unsupervised, with poor technique and incorrect training methods.

• Children performing weight training are at risk from bone damage.

An exhaustive review of the literature on this subject has been published by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (USA) in their Journal (Vol. 18.6 December 1996). It does not support this myth.

•  Children should avoid maximal efforts.

Children, particularly boys, have been encouraged to perform chin-ups and push ups in normal school curriculum PE lessons for many years. Author and teacher Wayne Westcott reports “Like 50 percent of all young people, then and now, I could not chin myself and always felt embarrassed struggling to lift my body weight. It was always interesting to me that this all-out, gut wrenching muscular effort was considered “good” but that any form of weight training was considered “bad”. Weight training can be done with a light body-bars (weighing 2kg) and youth technique lifting bars (weighing 5kg and 2.5kg) to learn correct technique. Trying to lift the whole body or another child, without sufficient strength, could cause poor posture and possibly lead to injury.

• Weight training will damage the skeleton.

For years it was said that children should not weight train or lift because bone damage could lead to stunted growth. More recently it is suggested that children can do weight training, but should not perform maximal lifts. There is no recorded case of stunted growth resulting from weight training of lifting. There have been wrist fractures as a result of falls whilst training, always in an unsupervised setting. The fractures healed without ensuing complications.

Weight training will promote bone growth and strengthen the skeleton.  Research suggests that free weights are superior to machines in this respect. A Russian study compared two groups of boys; lifters versus an inactive control group. The weightlifting group developed more rapidly in height and bone density.

Arnold Schwarzenegger started body-building at the age of 13. To become a champion at the age of 18, Arnold must have trained very intensely.  Arnold’s adult height is 6’ 2”. Would he have grown this tall had weights stunted his growth!

It is claimed that significant strength gains cannot be made before puberty. Children are continually growing and increasing in strength. The fact that a child can do more as it gets older is partly because of strength increases, accommodating a growing skeleton and increased workload. It is surely evident that children from rural backgrounds, used to heavy work, are stronger and more muscular that their urban counterparts.

Muscles grow longer more quickly than tendons. This is one factor leading to Osgood Schlatters syndrome. Full range, non ballistic weight training helps to stretch tendons, and may thus protect adolescents from such syndromes. The attitude towards the question of permitting specialisation for weightlifting or training at a fairly early age must surely be reviewed. Young people’s weight lifting or training is safe given the presence of an experienced coach, hand in hand with the principles of broad based physical education. The competitive disciplines can be introduced carefully taking into account the child’s physical, emotional and intellectual characteristics.

•  Weight training can give poor flexibility.

Observations and longitudinal studies indicate that weight training generally enhances flexibility. Care should be taken during resistance training so that full ranges of motion are used and partial movements are not overemphasised. Additionally, exercises for the agonist and antagonist muscle groups of a joint should be performed. Increasing flexibility may decrease injury potential and improve performance.

Many people are unable to squat down, keeping their heels on the ground. This is because they do not normally practice this movement. Consequently the muscles and ligaments are tight and inflexible. Regular exercise will improve the elasticity of the muscles and ligaments and improve flexibility.

Weight lifters move their joints through a full range of movements regularly and are very flexible, second only to gymnasts. Losses in flexibility are normally the result of inactivity.

• When you stop weight training,    muscle will turn to fat.

When weight training or any sport is performed, activity increases, using more energy. In order to supply it, food intake is increased. When a person reduces or stops training, activity is decreased, but appetite may remain high.  Consequently, calorie intake may exceed calorie expenditure, and the excess food may be deposited as fat. At the same time muscle strength and size deteriorate because of inactivity.

The overall situation is that muscle wastes away due to inactivity and excess food is deposited as fat. Muscle cannot turn into fat, just as brain tissue cannot turn into bone marrow, or any other type of tissue. If you change your activity level, you may have to change your calorie intake, if you wish to control your bodyweight.

• Women/Girls are deterred from weight training, fearing bulging muscles.

The rate and potential for muscle growth in females is less than in males, mainly because females have a much lower level of testosterone, a hormone which regulates muscle growth. It is also interesting to note that an increase in strength isn’t always accompanied by an increase in muscle size. Increased strength can be brought about by training the nervous system to activate muscles more effectively. In fact, research indicates that females may be superior in this aspect.

• Health benefits do not result

Until recently there was very little evidence of physiological changes suggesting health benefits from strength training. There is now evidence that strength training can reduce some risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. Although some studies found improvements in blood lipids and reductions in blood pressure with strength training, it is unclear whether individuals who are at high risk for coronary heart disease or hypertension can actually reduce their risk status as a result of strength training.

The President’s Council for Fitness and Sport in USA recommends that any health promoting exercise programme should include regular strength training to help decrease the risk of “chronic diseases” and improve the quality of life and functionality.

• Weights make you slow.

Weight training and lifting will make you slow, it is said, because of bigger muscles and “muscle boundness”. In reality, weight training and lifting usually increase athletes’ speed.

Muscular strength is the ability to overcome a resistance. Therefore the greater the muscular strength the greater will be the resistance handled. When performing submaximal attempts, the greater muscular strength will make the task easier and possibly quicker. Stronger muscles will allow an athlete to move faster by overcoming the force of gravity more efficiently, increasing stride length and frequency. This is why many top-class athletes are using weight training to improve their performance. Remember Flo-Jo with her well developed legs storming to victory in the 100 metres and 200 metres events of the 1988 Olympic Games?

Strength training is not only used by power event athletes, but also those involved in endurance events. Marathon runners perform weight training with a large number of repetitions in order to increase strength and endurance. The result is an increase in stride length and frequency, a greater ability to resist tiredness and fatigue, and the ability to sprint at the finish.

The Principle of Specificity. If you strength train to improve athletic performance, your weight exercises should duplicate your sport’s movements as closely as possible. The closer the training exercise matches the speed and movement pattern of competition, the more likely the increased muscular power built through weight training will contribute to the power of the competition movement.

• Machines are safer than free weights

There is no published evidence at all, with both appearing to be remarkably safe (Risser). Case studies in the literature and in newspaper articles suggest that fatal and disabling injuries are more commonly associated with machines, but this may reflect their greater popularity, not any intrinsic risk factor.

• Weights must be moved slowly to create strength.

Is Naim Suleymanoglu (three times Olympic weight lifting champion), who can move over twice his own bodyweight from the floor to arms length above his head in one second and hold it there, weak? Of course not; he is incredibly strong. Yet his training is all dynamic. All his movements are made as fast as possible.

I wish to acknowledge the assistance Brian Hamill for his valuable input to this article. In addition to Brian, I wish to acknowledge the National Strength and Conditioning Association (USA) and Fitness Professionals (Prolink) whose publications have been extremely helpful in preparing this article.