Myths about fitness for girls. Women's Gym Myths

Every woman dreams of having a perfect figure. But not everything is so simple. The figure needs to be done. Nobody is born with big abs and perfect buttocks. Everyone has the opportunity to become beautiful and slim. You just need to work on yourself.

And what is the best thing to do? Many women are afraid to go to the gym. They believe that it is not a woman's business to "carry" iron. It turns out that stereotypes have not yet become obsolete, and still walk among us.

Is the gym only for men? We seem to have patriarchy again in the world. These are all stupid and far-fetched myths that were invented by strange people. Therefore, it's time to remove the veil of female myths, take sneakers and go to the gym for a workout.

The most common female misconceptions

Women think that the gym is not for them. Only men should use weight machines.

Myth one. Cardio training is all that is needed for a beautiful figure. To begin with, it is worth understanding that cardio training is an integral part of training. After all, thanks to it, you can effectively burn adipose tissue. It is recommended to run daily in the morning. Also worth jumping rope. Gyms are equipped with exercise bikes and orbitreks, which in turn diversify the workout. But you need to understand that in addition to cardio training, the body also needs power loads. After all, you can’t build muscle on one run. Of course, the buttocks will look better, but this is not enough.

Myth two. Drinking while exercising is not recommended. Ever since school days, many have remembered that teachers always forbade drinking during and after physical education. This is the worst mistake. The body sweats and it just needs fluid. Purified water is ideal during training. It is worth drinking in small sips. A liter of water is enough. You can drink green tea without sugar.

Myth three. A woman in the gym will become like a man. A lot of ladies believe that since they went to the gym, they will pump over very soon and will look like jocks. Is it true? It will probably be interesting to find out, but in order to pump up “such” muscles, you need to spend years and a lot of money on sports nutrition.

And if a girl lifts a dumbbell 20 times, then her hands certainly will not swell from inflated muscles. At most, a beautiful relief can form in a couple of months. The female body does not have such a metabolism as the male body, you definitely should not worry about this.

Myth four. Women do not need strength training equipment, they can do harm. Anything can harm. If a person has problems with the spine, joints, etc., then you need to see a doctor. Otherwise, strength training hasn't hurt anyone yet. Bodybuilding will make a woman the standard of beauty.

It's worth starting small. For starters, you can only lift the neck from the bar. And over time, add disks. The first workouts are best done under the supervision of a trainer. He will help to correctly draw up a training program and show you how to exercise on simulators.

Myth five. If you go to the gym, you can lose flexibility. A very interesting theory, which was generated by violent fantasy. Everything is just the opposite. After a woman goes to the gym, she will be able to stretch better. A good set of exercises will help make the body flexible and attractive. And female bodybuilding will provide an opportunity to become the owner of elastic buttocks and a flat stomach. Strength training is essential for the body.

Myth six. If you quit the gym, your muscles will turn into fat. The assertion is not substantiated. This definitely won't happen. If a person gets fat, it’s definitely not because of the muscles. Fat and muscle tissue are completely different types. In this case, it can be argued that the stone will become water.

Muscle mass does not sag. After a person ceases to actively engage in sports, the muscles relax and they no longer need to keep them in their previous shape. Then catabolism occurs. That is, the muscles decrease in size. And sagging skin appears due to malnutrition and non-compliance with the daily routine.

Myth seven. Who is engaged in the gym, he may not limit himself to food. This is probably the most dangerous statement. Many girls believe that if they visit the gym, they can give themselves free rein to food. But this is a delusion. You need to eat right.

Before lunch, you need to eat carbohydrates, and in the evening proteins. This rule must be learned. You need to limit your diet, and delete from it all flour, sweet and fried. You need to forget about fast food forever. This food slows down your metabolism. Don't forget to replenish fluids. Two liters of water a day is the norm for a person.

Today it is believed that without sports supplements it is impossible to train. Sports nutrition is not required. But they help to achieve results much faster. Let everyone set a goal for themselves and go towards it. The gym is a good way to get in shape.

The more popular women's fitness becomes, the more myths it becomes. It would seem that an increase in the number of girls who take care of their health and beauty should lead to an increase in the general literacy of people in the field of a healthy lifestyle. However, some misconceptions about women's fitness sit very deeply in the minds of mankind.

Unfortunately, the truth about women's fitness doesn't spread as fast as the myths. Non-specialized sites, silly broadcasts and advice from girlfriends gave the girls a lot of false information. Our task is to debunk the myths about women's fitness and provide professional knowledge to replace the refuted ones.

Do not eat after six in the evening

A few years ago, diets based on not eating after 6 p.m. were very popular. Today, many people practice this principle and claim that they managed to lose weight only because of this. In fact, this is one of the most persistent myths about nutrition.

Dangerous for the figure can only be the consumption of super-calorie foods an hour and a half before bedtime. Therefore, you can eat when you think necessary, and limiting this time to 18 hours can only be reasonable if you go to bed at 19 hours.

Fasting days help you lose weight

The Internet is replete with headlines of articles telling how you can lose an impressive amount of kilograms in a few days on a kefir, buckwheat or apple fasting diet. Unfortunately, many girls practice such methods, and in the worst case, even resort to mono-diets, which involve the consumption of one product for several days.

In fact, fasting days are not only not effective for losing weight, but vice versa. "3 days on buckwheat" or "Apple week" will slow down the metabolism, forcing the body to fall into the search for nutrients. As soon as you return to a normal diet, the weight will return and even become more than it was originally - the body will make reserves for future “fasting days”

Fasting is the best way to lose weight fast

A lot has been said about the dangers of fasting, but for some reason, girls are increasingly cutting their diet to 1000 or even fewer calories during training in order to lose weight faster. They rejoice in the loss of a kilogram a day and think that they are losing fat.

Reducing the diet by more than 30% is dangerous for the body - it begins to suffer from a deficiency of substances, without which normal life is impossible. The weight lost during fasting is muscle and water, not fat. Weight will return, but not in the form of muscle and water, but in the form of fat.

Some foods can help you lose weight

Few of the girls have not heard of products with a "negative calorie", eating which you can lose weight without effort. According to legend, in order to assimilate these products, the body spends more energy than it receives from them.

This myth has the only rational grain - in order to lose weight, you need to count the calories consumed per day, and their consumption must be greater than the income. The list of "miraculous" products is limited and it will not work to make a balanced nutrition system out of them.

The more you eat, the better

Girls often hear recommendations to eat every 2 hours and little by little to lose weight. Not surprisingly, for some, following this myth is impossible, they simply do not allow them to eat like that due to their lifestyle, which involves 3-4 meals a day.

To lose weight, it is enough to spend a little more, and get a little less energy. You can distribute meals as you like - the body is affected by total calories, not the number of snacks.

Your girlfriend's program will give you the same results.

We are used to adopting the best from our friends, and sports are no exception. Envying the successes of their friends who visit the gym, girls often blindly follow their path, hoping for the same results. At best, weight changes come out lower than they could be.

Each organism is individual, in fitness this applies to women even more than men. It is important to develop a personal program with a trainer that takes into account exactly your characteristics. Fitness requires an individual approach. What works for one may hurt another.

Only running helps to lose weight

This myth sounds even wider - only cardio exercises help to lose weight. Running is popular among women who are losing weight, they have high hopes for it. However, running alone is powerless if the diet does not change.

Weight loss needs to be approached in a holistic way. An increase in calorie consumption can be achieved with the help of any activity, including running, and a decrease in calorie intake is provided by a small decrease in the amount of food taken. If you like running, then you can do only it, but it will be much more effective to use a more varied training plan.

If a woman is engaged in fitness, then she can eat whatever she wants and how much she wants.

Having started playing sports, many girls, in joy, allow themselves to eat more than usual, rewarding themselves for their work. Their logic is simple: after spending a lot of calories in a fitness club, you can use more of them without consequences. A common pattern seen in many gyms is that the buffet is filled with the victims of this myth.

In fact, the calorie loss from fitness isn't significant enough to allow for unrestricted eating. Often, removing all food restrictions from themselves, girls gain kilograms by playing sports. Therefore, even after a workout, you should not relax, but rather, more diligently monitor the calorie content of your diet.

Strength training will make you masculine

The tales of "Schwarzenegger muscles" of girls who begin to attend a fitness club are often frightened by both other girls and men who are afraid of losing the feminine forms of their lovers. Many people think that strength exercises in women grow muscles in the same way as in men, and therefore they are afraid to take the first step towards a healthy lifestyle.

The well-known hormone testosterone is involved in muscle growth. It is present in both men and women, only in the latter the amount of this hormone is negligible. That is why you can not be afraid of excessive muscle growth when you come to the gym.

If a woman is not overweight, she does not need to do fitness

If this myth were true, then only overweight women would be seen in fitness clubs. Why do even slender women go in for sports if they do not need to lose weight?

Weight loss is not the only effect of fitness. Increasing endurance, strengthening the body, improving appearance and health are also the consequences of fitness. Therefore, sport is useful not only for overweight women, but also for everyone who wants to improve their lives.

You can't follow the myths

Being in captivity of myths, we not only slow down our progress and do not get the desired results, but also expose our body to serious danger. Having decided to start fitness classes, it is important to subject your knowledge of physical education to a thorough revision. And continue to draw information only from official, trusted sources.

StyleFintess Total

When doing fitness, follow only the recommendations of professional trainers and specialized publications with a good reputation. The advice of girlfriends, friends, neighbors on the porch and your own knowledge, taken from obscure sources, should be discarded or carefully checked. This will save you time and health.

Throw aside unmotivated myths about women's fitness and focus all your energy on the main goal - fat loss. Avoid lies and seek the real truth. Your body can get better.

Whatever lazy and incompetent people say, fitness for women plays a very important role. The notion that strength training turns women into masculine jocks is a mistake. If you love what you do, you are more likely to stick with the program and get results.

To achieve the goal, it is necessary to take into account any little things, and figure out what is true about women's fitness and what is a lie.

Common fitness myths for women

Phrases like “I only want to get rid of belly fat and nowhere else”, “I only want to strengthen the inner thighs”, “Weight lifting will make me look like a man” are constantly heard in the audience. All three statements have one thing in common: it is almost impossible.

Fat can be burned in a specific area

Let's start with the theories of fat burning and toning a specific part of the body. The tone includes two components: adipose (subcutaneous fat) and muscle tissue. In order to look more elastic, you need to reduce body fat percentage and increase muscle mass.

The body cannot burn fat in one specific place, for example, only in the abdomen. Fat is removed from the entire body. Unfortunately, not necessarily evenly.

Many have so-called problem areas, where the fat goes last. In women, this is usually the abdomen, arms or legs. There are not so many resources. Almost the only way out is to just keep losing weight.

Fat loss comes from a calorie deficit. This can be achieved in two ways: by reducing the amount of calories consumed or by increasing the amount of exercise, or both. Weight training focuses on gaining and maintaining muscle, while cardio helps you achieve a calorie deficit.

There is only one truth that many do not want to believe: there is no such exercise in women's fitness that burns fat in only one specific place! No amount of resistance training will burn fat. Only a calorie deficit and an increase in working weight will help.

So where to start? Try short interval workouts for the whole body. They will help start the metabolic processes.

There is also a misconception that through a large number of repetitions in the exercise, you can achieve "burning" of the muscles, and it is believed that this fat melts right before your eyes! This “burning” is actually caused by lactic acid, which is used by the muscles to replenish adenosine triphosphoric acid (ATP) for fast energy.

Often in the hall you can see women lying on the floor and doing a hundred twists. They probably believe that the burning sensation really brings the "stomach into tone." If you can do any exercise for 100 reps per set, don't you think it's time to move on to something more difficult?

Ideally, 12-15 reps will be sufficient for any strength training exercise.

Fitness robs femininity

The opinion that women's fitness training with weights makes a woman masculine is an absolute delusion.

I must say that strength training in itself is not a problem. The whole point is in nutrition, namely in the amount of food, because to gain muscle mass you need a lot of calories. Excessive mass gain does not happen by itself. It's safe to say that for most people, building muscle is much more difficult than burning fat.

Another little detail that many women forget about is testosterone. Testosterone is an anabolic hormone found in the human body, both men and women. It plays a vital role in gaining muscle mass.

Men tend to have about ten times more testosterone than women. Therefore, even if women consume food in huge quantities, they still have to make about ten times more effort to look like a man. Now it’s clear why it’s not so easy for a girl to pump up muscles to male sizes while doing female fitness?

Chest exercises should be avoided

Another fairly common misconception is the theory that there shouldn't be any pectoral exercises in women's fitness, as this will "shrink breasts". Women's breasts are mostly made up of adipose tissue, so they will shrink only when the overall body fat levels go down. Inflated chest muscles give women more relief also to the arms and legs.

Beginner girls can successfully pick up interesting exercises on chest simulators, like "Butterfly" or Chest Press.

Exercise "Butterfly"

Sit on the machine, grasp the handles with both hands and slowly bring them together in front of you. Hold the tension that will arise in the muscles of the middle part of the chest for a second, and then return to the starting position.

Chest press in the simulator

Adjust the simulator and choose the appropriate weight. At the beginning of the movement, the handles should be at the level of the upper part of the pectoral muscles. Extending your arms at the elbows, perform a bench press. Do not lower the handles all the way. Maintain tension in the pectoral muscles throughout the approach.

Resistance exercises do not lead to a reduction in breast size. In fact, due to the increase in muscles, it can visually even become larger. The stronger the muscles will push the fat forward, the larger the chest will appear.

Reducing the amount of food contributes to weight loss

Most women claim to know everything about weight loss diets. But usually this means malnutrition or starvation. Most often, a diet means no breakfast, a salad for lunch and a slice of cheese for dinner. And what kind of nutrition will be right for women's fitness?

Breakfast is not without reason considered the most important meal of the day. Your body needs fuel because it has been without food for 8-10 hours. By skipping meals, you slow down your metabolism, so it is much more effective to eat small meals 5-6 times a day.

For example, to lose weight, you need to eat 1500. Instead of two meals of 700 calories, a much better option is five meals containing 300 calories. If one time you eat 500 calories, and the other 200, it's not scary. As long as you meet your daily calorie intake for women with a few meals, you'll be fine.

It is much more effective to eat small meals 5-6 times a day.

Daily calorie intake:

According to the Harris-Benedict formula: Kcal

According to the Mifflin-San Geor formula: Kcal

Guidelines for weight loss:

Calorie Range: Kcal

Daily protein intake: gr

Daily fat intake: gr

Daily intake of carbohydrates: gr

Fitness gadgets are a guaranteed success

How many people actually believe that one small belt will reduce belly fat without a single drop of sweat! Believe me, not a single person has lost weight only with their help. No gadget can replace hard work. Everything is as old as the world: diet and women's fitness are the best means for losing weight. And strength training for weight loss is the best thing you can do for a beautiful body.

It is important to pay more attention to complex exercises that affect several muscle groups at once. These include all variations: squats, lunges, bench press, deadlifts, and standing dumbbell presses.

Working out several muscle groups at once is an excellent load for the whole body. Do variations of these exercises, at least twice a week for 40 minutes, and soon you won't recognize yourself.

Don't forget about cardio. Remember that fat-burning cardio isn't just limited to the treadmill. It's important to find what you enjoy doing the most: hiking, tennis, swimming, or even rowing.

After all, if you love what you do, then you will stick with it for much longer, working hard for months and years, which increases the chances of success.

Diet is an important component of women's fitness

Diet is just as important to women as fitness. Proper nutrition will certainly speed up progress. Remember to eat often, controlling portion sizes.

Your body needs protein-rich foods to repair muscle after exercise. Opt for lean meats, eggs, and whey protein.

A moderate amount of carbohydrates should also be included in the diet as it is the main source of energy. Whole grains are perfect for this. They digest more slowly and keep you active for a longer time.

Fats play an important role in the recovery process and hormone production. Healthy fats include olive oil, canola oil, any variety of nuts, and oily fish such as salmon and mackerel.

Eat fruits and vegetables, they are rich in vitamins and minerals necessary for the normal functioning of the body. Fiber improves digestion and fills the stomach without extra calories.

Remember, to achieve the goal, you need to consider every little thing. Everything matters!

To become a happy owner of the body of your dreams, in your training program you need to algorithmically combine three integral components that are the foundation of modern fitness for women:

Strength training with weights
Aerobic training
Rational distribution of nutrients in the diet

These are the three factors on which the future of your figure depends.

However, statistics show that a very small percentage of the beautiful half of humanity use all three basic components of proper training. Basically, girls prefer aerobic exercise, thus trying not only to get rid of excess weight, but also to tighten the necessary parts of the body.

By aerobics, we mean: shaping, different types of dancing, stretching, team sports, running, step aerobics and similar fitness classes. In addition to the above, women can make some adjustments to their diet, do not eat food after 6 pm and partially give up sweets.

I'll have to disappoint you, dear women.

Because using only cardio training, you will not be able to form a beautiful figure and impress everyone around you with a chic appearance.

Remember:
A beautiful figure depends on the ratio of muscle mass and tone
in relation to the percentage of body fat.
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Excessive thinness is not the standard of female beauty, and most women of this type of physique have a low muscle content in relation to the fat layer. When such a girl begins to perform any active movement, it is immediately clear that there can be no talk of muscle tone. A completely logical question arises - why?

Because aerobic exercise, even in combination with proper nutrition, is not able to increase muscles and give them the necessary tone. To become the owner of an attractive figure that will combine convex body shapes and elasticity, it is necessary to apply strength training with progressive weights (barbells and dumbbells).

However, women do not want to hear about strength training, preferring to do only aerobics, at most, with the addition of exercises for the press.

When a trainer in the gym suggests that at least barbell squats be included in the training complex, a negative reaction immediately follows, and the discussion stops. Even if the girl agreed to do exercises with weights, there is much less enthusiasm than with group dancing or shaping.

Dear representatives of the fair sex! Do not rush to jump to conclusions. Because "aerobics + strength training" are inseparable things in achieving the main goal: "A beautiful and elastic figure without excess body fat."

It would seem that everything is stated logically ... So why do women avoid strength training, if everything is simple and extremely clear?

The myths regarding the consequences of strength training, which simply flooded the female psychology, are to blame. Now we will dispel outdated misconceptions one by one and instill in women the confidence that barbells and dumbbells are an integral part of body reconstruction to achieve an ideal figure.

KEY MYTHS ABOUT WOMEN'S STRENGTH TRAINING

Myth #1. Fear of using weight training to build muscle mass like in men.

Big masculine muscles are exactly what women who take their first steps in visiting the gym are afraid of. In this sense, the beautiful half can be understood. So let's take a closer look at the physiology of women and see how deep the concerns are.

How to give the female physique a great shape, but without extra muscle volume? This is precisely the main goal of modern fitness for women, which is much easier to achieve than for a man to increase muscle mass.

First of all, in the female body, there is an insufficient amount of stress hormones (testosterone), which are directly responsible for increasing muscle volume.

The exceptions are girls who are professionally engaged in bodybuilding, powerlifting and weightlifting. They specifically use synthetic analogues of testosterone to increase their athletic performance. But even with the use of pharmacology, it is not easy to force the female body to increase the muscle structure to a masculine form.

To force the body to increase muscle mass, it is necessary to create conditions under which the body will have to survive; then, in order to transfer the resulting training stress, he will need to hypertrophy muscle fibers.

The above is difficult to implement even for professional bodybuilders who only create “necessary conditions” for days with the help of training, nutrition and taking pharmacology. The process of anabolism is much more complicated than catabolism, therefore, even with all the female desire to increase muscle mass excessively, in 99% of cases it will not work.

Secondly, muscles cannot grow when there is not enough building material (protein) and energy (carbohydrates).

Most women want to get rid of excess body fat, so calorie restriction simply will not allow you to start the process of anabolism! There is a small percentage of girls who, due to excessive thinness, want to increase their overall body weight. Strength training and proper nutrition will be able to give shape and elasticity, without an excessive increase in muscle mass - this is simply impossible due to rule number one.

Thirdly, modern female fitness is a simple task that is much easier to perform than it is for a man to increase muscle size.

The beautiful half can calmly improve their body, without fear of losing muscle mass against the background of dietary measures. However, the main problem of women lies in two factors:

In connection with the myths inspired by the fear of using strength training to achieve the desired result;
The second reason is the intensity of the training: even when a woman agrees to use strength training, she trains with a small load. It turns out that strength training turns into ordinary physical education and progress is completely absent.
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Remember:
Strength exercises for women burn more subcutaneous fat
and to a lesser extent increase muscle mass.
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Myth #2. Many women claim that they already have a muscular physique, so they do not need to use strength training.

There is one rule: the body can increase muscle mass only when the necessary stress conditions are created through training and the necessary amount of building material is provided. Simply put, without training, muscles cannot grow on their own.

Therefore, dear girls, if you get the impression that a certain part of the body is "muscular" because it has a large shape and is hard, this is a wrong conclusion. It's just that this part of the body has a dense fatty structure.

Scientific studies confirm that in women who do not play sports after 25 years, there is an active catabolism of muscle mass towards adipose tissue. During the year, from 200 to 300 grams of muscle fiber is lost, which is replaced by body fat. If the muscles are not involved in active strength work, then their partial atrophy occurs, and the body leaves only the right amount to perform vital functions.

Guess from three times what kind of activity solves the above problem? That's right - only strength training with weights.

Myth #3. Muscle growth causes an increase in own weight.

As a percentage, muscle tissue is 30% heavier than fat. However, remember that against the background of an increase in muscle tissue, it is necessary to get rid of the fat layer.
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The main criterion for the fact that excess weight goes away,
is the separation of muscles and a decrease in the volume of the waist.
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Even if the weights show the same weight, and the waist circumference is decreasing, it means that you are moving in the right direction.

In addition to the above, it must be added that strength training actively affects the state of your bone structure, which begins to accumulate additional calcium and becomes much stronger. By the way, weight gain is also associated with this factor.

Sometimes it happens that in the first month of training, women increase their weight and body volume. This indicates that there is more muscle tissue, but fat deposits have not yet left your body. You need to rethink your diet: you may be overeating and creating excellent conditions for building adipose tissue.

Dear women, use the above facts and reconsider your adamantly negative attitude towards strength training.

Combine aerobics + strength training + proper nutrition - and you will become the owner of a beautiful body that everyone around will envy!