Common Fitness Myths Exposed
Written By Robert Forney ISSA CFT 

     In this paper I will discuss the most commonly heard and repeated myths. You may have heard these myths from the big guys in the gym, or from a personal trainer who has fallen for them him or herself. I will expose these myths and explain why these commonly believed fitness ideas are indeed myths. So, lets get started. 

Myth #1:

If I lift weights I will become muscle bound! I usually hear this one from women.

The Truth:

If it was so easy to become muscle bound, then why isn’t everyone in the gym muscle bound? It is not an easy feat to become muscle bound, and it usually requires the use of anabolic steroids.  

Myth #2:

Muscle turns into fat and fat turns into muscle.

The Truth:

Muscle does not turn into fat or vice versa. Muscle and fat are completely different substances. Muscle is protein and fat is well….fat (adipose tissue). When you quit working out, your muscle atrophies, and gets smaller and flabbier. You use it or lose it. It does not turn into fat!!  

Myth #3:

Slow lifting is safer than fast lifting, or ballistic exercises are dangerous!

The Truth:

Most injuries that occur during weight lifting are caused by improper form. Slow tempo lifting can be just as dangerous as fast tempo lifting. Think about maxing out, is the weight moving fast or slow? Of course the weight is moving slow. Even jogging is very ballistic, and everything you do in life is ballistic. The truth is, ballistic lifting is required for certain types of adaptation and elicits a completely different neuromuscular response than slow lifting.  

Myth #4:

Lifting weights will stunt a child’s growth.

The Truth:

This myth just won't die. The truth is that height is predetermined by your genetics, not by lifting weights.  As Dr. Siff says “Don't believe any tales about resistance training making you shorter or prematurely closing the growth centres of the bones. There are even some Russian studies and one Russian book ("School of Height"), which suggests that resistance training from youth, may stimulate increase in height. Use any weight training methods that you like - none of them will ever make you shorter. Other British studies show that people who avoid imposing ballistic or shock loading on the body tend to exhibit a higher incidence of arthritis and bone deterioration (see the Supertraining archives or my "Facts & Fallacies of Fitness" book for more details).

Another study has shown that lifters have the highest bone density of all athletes (like the study cited a few months ago on the superheavy powerlifters whose bones were scanned in a scientific study), so any decision to do weight training will be of great personal benefit in many ways if one simply follows the basic method of gradual progressive overload.

In other letters, I have also pointed out that many daily and sporting activities involving running, jumping, hitting and kicking impose far greater loads on the growing bones of children than even squats or jerks with double bodymass. Thus, if one militates against weightlifting for juveniles, then all sports involving those types of activity (including football, basketball, track & field, soccer and baseball) should also be banned from schools. Some people seem to have forgotten that the body of the human adapts at any age to sensibly imposed stresses and strains. Damage is the consequence of bad training, not because weight training is intrinsically "bad" for the body.” 

So, lifting weights may actually be beneficial and not harmful to children.