Myth Busting 101

I can’t lift that it will make me huge!

By Mark Gallagher                                        29/02/2016

Ok, so you are the gym or a class and the weight you are lifting is getting easier and you could probably lift a bit more. So do you move up in weight or just stay where you are? Common sense would suggest you move up in weight and make it more difficult. However there seems to be a universal myth that lifting heavy weights will make you have big muscles and look like a bodybuilder. All I am saying is I WISH! I’d like it to be as easy as picking up a heavier weight and instantly putting on loads of muscle (that’s if I could pick the weight up in the first place). It’s my job to convince you that this is the case. So that’s what I am about to try and do. Stay with me!

So why should I lift heavier weights?

Well firstly if it’s safe to do so and you are finding it pretty comfortable at the weight you currently use then why not? I know that’s a pretty basic answer but sometimes most of the time keeping things super simple is the way forward. But on a more serious note there a couple of legitimate reasons as to why we should increase the weight, sets and reps when exercising on a regular basis. Here are my thoughts on the subject:

1. Your body and everyone else’s for that matter is a smart piece of kit and adapts very quickly. So if you have been training for a while using the same weights your body adapts to make the task in hand easier and there is less impact on the body. Therefore your progress slows down, hence why we always see great progress with people who have just started as the body isn’t used to the exercise and has to adapt. So you need to keep pushing yourself to see adaptations and progress otherwise we will just plateau over time.
2. Secondly a Woman doesn’t have the same testosterone levels as men when it comes to building muscle. So it would take females much longer and much more training and food to put on more muscle over time. Male and Female hormones work differently (as we all know) so as much as we have many of the same systems in the body some are different and result in Male and Female characteristics.

So lets get lifting!

Now it’s time to increase the weight you use next time you are at the gym. Even just a couple of kg’s or the next weight up from what you have been using previously. Here is a though…

“If we keep doing what we have always done, we will get what we always got.”

So lets challenge ourselves and not just go through the motions at the gym and in life.

Next time we will discuss Progressive Overload, not the sexiest of titles but it is directly linked to the topic of muscle building we have just went over.

Mark

Synergy Performance

I needed a break!