5 Strength Training Myths That Are Wrecking Your Gains

I've heard every one of these in my career (way more than i should), usually from someone standing next to the dumbbell rack, arms crossed, ready to defend a myth their gym teacher told them in 1998. Let's fix that. All though some science does change in the fitness industry, most of what is changing though is marketing terms! lets sift through some of this nonsense together!

Myth 1: Lifting heavy makes women 'bulky.' Building visible muscle mass requires a caloric surplus, progressive overload, and usually years of consistent training. Bulking does not happen by complete accident or by you just looking at the dumbbell rack across the gym. It also, definitely does not happen from three sets of squats on a Tuesday. Strength training builds strength. Bulk is a separate, and a very deliberate project and goal.

Myth 2: Squats are bad for your knees. Squats done with sound mechanics strengthen the tissues around your knee joint. What's actually bad for your knees is ego-loading a barbell before your form is ready. If this was true, how would you ever sit and get up from a chair? Squats are as fundamental of a movement as walking. All movements need to be loaded correctly over time to prevent any mishaps and injuries. Bad form during any exercise is bad for the joints not exclusively squatting. Don't avoid movement, avoid bad form and too much load too soon!

Myth 3: High reps "tone," low reps "bulk." Being toned is just muscle with lower body fat sitting on top of it. There's no rep range that magically sculpts without building. This is touching base again on marketing terms that have been used to scare women out of the weight room and proper strength training programs.

Myth 4: You need to be sore to know it worked. Soreness is a byproduct of novelty and eccentric load, not a scoreboard. Chasing soreness is a great way to under-recover and stall out. Being too sore can be counter productive and may also shed light on your recovery protocol. The faster the recovery, the faster we can get back to our strength training goals!

Myth 5: You can spot-reduce fat. A thousand crunches will not touch belly fat, and tricep rope extensions until your arms fall off will not rid you of those annoying "flappy wings" specifically. Fat loss happens system-wide, driven by overall energy balance (calories in vs. calories out). None of this is me being a know-it-all for sport, I just genuinely don't want bad information costing you results, or worse, an injury. We have enough influencers saying "don't do this" and "do this instead". Come train with us and we'll build a program around what actually works and more importantly what works for you, your fitness level, and desired goals!