Home Why Kettlebells? FAQs Exercises Articles Newsletter Archive Testimonials Why Personal Training? Nutrition Fitness Myths Meet Brian Training Services Products Denver Training Studio Achievements Links

Fitness Myths

Myth #1: Guys should lift weights but girls should do cardio

No… Guys should lift weights but girls should… lift weights. That’s right, not cardio, lift weights. Why? Cardio will not tone your muscles and in traditional cardio (which we call hamster training) you will not burn sufficient calories to affect a change in your body composition. In plain English, it won’t burn the body fat and give you the sexy toned body that you want ladies.

The better alternative is to do strength training that also gets your heart rate up. We call this incidental cardio. This not only will tone your muscles better and burn more calories but it is much healthier for your heart. If you doubt me check out Dr. Al Sears book “The Doctor’s Heart Cure”.

Myth #2: But girls will get all big and bulky from lifting weights

Ladies, guys in the gym lift heavy weights all the time and very few of us get big and bulky and we have a gazillion times more testosterone (which builds muscle) in our bodies than you do. If you lift weights and all of a sudden bulk up, let me know your secret because I’m a strength coach and I have a hard time adding any bulk to my 6’2” 200 lb frame. And I’ll let you in on a little secret, don’t tell; the big female bodybuilders and pro-wrestlers you see on TV… take steroids! Shhhh…. Don’t say anything.

Seriously, putting on a lot of muscle takes a lot of dedication and hard work; it is a lot more than just lifting heavy weights. You have to eat like a beast, get 8-9 hours of sleep per night, keep your stress down, etc. And I could show you tons of pictures of ladies who train with kettlebells, most of which who are kettlebell instructors themselves who are slim, sexy and definitely not bulky. In fact, take a look at my friend and fellow kettlebell lifter Andrea U-Shi Chang, RKC. She shows what kind of a transformation women can look forward to with dedicated kettlebell training and a smart nutrition program. See her at her site http://kettlebility.com/

Myth #3: Squats are bad for your knees

No they aren’t... That is like saying driving is how car accidents happen. Improperly squatting is bad for the knees; that is true. Properly squatting is good for the knees, your body was made, designed, to squat and pick things up. What is really bad for the knees are using machines to train your legs. Machines such as leg extensions and leg curls move your legs in a manner they were not designed to move in and put undue stress on the knees. People with knee problems shouldn’t squat until we have determined what is going on with the knee; it is usually a crooked lower back and hip imbalances… we will work on that.

Myth #4: Children should not lift weights!

According to the American National Strength and Conditioning Association:

"A common misperception is that resistance training will stunt the statural growth or children. Resistance training probably has a favorable influence on growth at any stage of development, as long as appropriate guidelines are followed. Children as young as age 6 have benefited from resistance training, and a variety of training modalities -- including modified adult-sized weight machines, child-sized weight machines, free weights (barbells and dumbbells), and bodyweight calisthenics -- have proven to be effective. Paradoxically, it seems that the forces placed on the joints of children during sport participation may be far greater than those generated from resistance training programs. The belief that resistance training is dangerous for children is not consistent with the needs of children and the documented risks associated with this type of training."

Now, having said that, I still take a safe and in my opinion conservative approach with children especially under the age of 15.

Myth #5: Jogging and Marathons will get me lean and tone and are healthy

I could go on about this a long time but I'll try and keep it brief and to-the-point.

1. Every time your foot lands while jogging, especially if you use the heal-to-toe method (running on your toes is much better), you place a great deal of stress on your ankles, knees, hips and low back. Additionally, this repetitive movement in a short range of motion will shorten the hamstrings and hip flexors and will lead to structural problems and back pain. Runners are notorious for having Plantar Fasciitis a very painful foot issue.

2. Name a marathon runner who has a great body... Go ahead I'll let you think about it for a moment. No offense if you are a runner but most marathon runners (triathaletes and cyclists included) look like anorexic heroin addicts and the hobbyists are usually out of shape and run like they are in total pain. (here come the slings and arrows, RAISE SHIELDS MR. SULU!) Any low intensity activity done at a constant pace for a prolonged time will sap your body's energy systems. The body needs more energy to keep going on for so long so where does it get the energy from? It breaks down your muscle fibers and makes energy out of them!!! YOU LOOSE HEALTHY LEAN MUSCLE!!! Compare a marathon runner's body to that of a sprinter who runs a short distance as fast as they can and then stops; they have toned, strong athletic bodies because they do intense activity for brief periods and rest. Plain and simple and there isn't anything more to it!

Now sure, someone can indulge in occasional long distance runs or run a couple of times a week and do other resistance exercise on the side and still have a nice body but is it worth the wear and tear on the body as seen in point number 1 above?

3. Ask a real fanatical marathon runner or triathalete to jump as high as they can. Jumping is a test of strength and power. I'd bet they wouldn't get more than a foot off of the ground unless they are a hobbyist runner and do resistance training on the side. They have conditioned their muscles for long distance at a mediocre pace instead of for expressing power and strength.

4. Isn't running a good cardio exercise for the heart? Hell NO! Excuse me, no it isn't. Back in the 70's when marathon running was super popular lots of 'em were dropping dead of heart attacks! Remember the above example of how the body breaks down lean muscle tissue to provide energy for prolonged activity? Well, what do you think the heart is made of? It is muscle. Long distance athletes tend to have smaller hearts because their heart muscle has been broken down over time. A smaller heart equals a heart that is weaker. Dr. Al Sears, the Director of The Center for Health and Wellness in Florida, has helped over 15,000 patients successfully reverse heart disease. Dr. Sears states that cardio exercise should consist of brief intense interval training lasting no more than 25 minutes total to build a healthy heart capable of surviving or avoiding a heart attack. N'uff said.

Myth #6: Size Equals Strength

Ahhh that brings me back! Back in the day I was training at a commercial gym and there were always these 2 huge bodybuilder types there, big and cut, wearing striped pants and tank tops that were 2 sizes too small... God I hate commercial gyms! Anyways, here are these 2 huge dudes in the Smith machine; for those of you unfamiliar with a Smith machine, it is a barbell on a track so the barbell is easier to lift. These guys are spotting each other while squatting about 225 lbs! That ain't much, especially considering these guys weren't even going to legal squatting depth which is parallel. I was next to them, not on purpose mind you, squatting like a real man with a barbell and was using almost twice as much. Now I ain't that big, 6'2" and about 195 to 205 and rather long limbed (I appear lean). These guys were looking over in what seemed like surprise turned to shame.

An entire book ("Power to the People" by Pavel Tsatsouline) was dedicated to what real strong men have known for centuries and science has proven, strength is a function of the central nervous system's efficiency. That means that a smaller person who has a better trained central nervous system (CNS) will be stronger than a larger person with all the showy muscles.

Now if the person with the large muscles also has a well trained CNS you will get someone along the lines of the World's Strongest Man competitors. If you have a person who has trained to get big without getting strong they will be all show and no go.

How do you train to get big and not strong? Glad you asked. You follow the advice of most bodybuilding magazines. 3 sets of 10-15 reps in isolation exercises like the pec deck, preacher curls, dumbbell flies, leg extensions and leg curls, etc. You perform umpteen exercises for one muscle group and 'go-for-the-pump.' When you hit a 'plateau' you switch exercises and start something new. Sure you get stronger on those exercises but that is only a factor of the CNS learning the new movement, you haven't really gotten any stronger.

How do you train to get strong? Simple my dear Watson; lift heavy 1-6 rep sets with adequate rest to recover. Stick to basic compound lifts like deadlifts, squats, military press, chinups, bench press, rows, etc.

How do you train to get strong AND big? Do the above but add more volume. A low amount of volume with heavy weights equals an efficient CNS (strength gain). Add a higher volume to that, say 25-100 total reps per major lift done and you will get bigger and stronger. That might look something like this: 10 sets of 5 reps with a heavy enough weight that you could only do 8 reps total with it. This is just a rough guideline, leave program design for the experts (me) please.

Myth #7: I should follow the advice of the biggest guy in my gym if I want to get big

First off, do you know this guy? He could be on steroids? Seriously what makes him an expert just because he is big. He may have happen-chanced his way to it and not really know how he got there.

It also gets more complex, there are different body/personality types like ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. Lucky me I happen to be the skinny body/personality type so my humble muscles are all hard-earned! You also can't get big when your testosterone is low from poor nutrition, poor sleep and high stress. This guy could have all of the right metabolic environments working for him with a very relaxed life and you could be working 2 jobs and barely eating enough food. Following his program will get you nowhere FAST! And by the way, it is easier and faster to gain sacroplasmic muscle which is the type of muscle referenced in Myth #6 that is all show and no go. For any athlete or hard living man or woman say no to this phony muscle! Be as strong as you look! Or if you have my body type be stronger than you look! ;-)

Myth #8: Doing lots of crunches and abdominal work will get me a toned lean stomach

Nope! Sorry, that is a myth being touted by late night infomercials selling expensive ab exercise machines. You see a toned midsection, or six-pack if you will, is a matter of low body fat levels and at least 'some' tone in the abdominal muscles. Every exercise that I have my clients do, especially the kettlebell ones, will give you plenty of tone and strength in the abdominal muscles. Now on to the body fat. There is not such thing as 'spot-reduction' of body fat. That means that you can't remove body fat from your stomach but doing lots of stomach exercises. When you loose body fat you loose it all over your body, not in one specific area.

Some people are leaner up top and carry more body fat in their legs and hips, others carry love handles but are lean everywhere else. This is genetics my friend, blame your parents! Your body has favorite places to store body fat (typically breasts and hips for women and midsection for men) and thank goodness it does, that is why women look like women and men look like men. Bottom line, you want to look more lean in ANY part of your body you will have to loose more body fat overall. This is done mostly by controlling your food intake and secondly by doing exercises that burn the most calories, namely full body exercises like kettlebell swings, snatches, squats, etc.