Debunking The Biggest Myths About Women And Strength Training

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(Cont.) Debunking The Biggest Myths About Women And Strength Training

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Welcome to There Is a Method to the Magnets. My name is Rob Maxwell, and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs, and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and most importantly why things work. Hence the name There is a Method to the Magnets. Before I get to today's show, I want to thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilding of the Gilding Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. Good afternoon, everybody. Good morning, good evening, whatever time you are listening. We are going to talk about some fun things today, per usual. At least they're fun for me because I like getting into issues that I think uh people need to learn about. You know, the word of the day has been grifter. And don't worry, this entire podcast is not going to be about that. It's kind of an introduction to this whole thing. But, you know, that seems to be the word of the last couple years. And uh I open up social media and especially in my industry of health and fitness, sports medicine, nutrition, uh, exercise physiology, physical therapy, all these things. We're seeing a lot of other people, thank God not me, being accused of being a grifter. And the accusations are right. I mean, there are a lot of them out there. And by no means am I going to name names and turn this into that because I don't know. I can suspect many of them. I know when they're out there peddling some BS, I think that absolutely. But the way I want you to find them yourself and get away from them and only trust simple science. Trust people you know, for one thing. I mean, you should not be getting your advice from me in a podcast unless you know me, unless you come to the gym. If you hear some things I say and you don't know me at all, which, you know, I'm kind of grateful to say there's a lot of that, meaning that uh there's a lot of people listening now all over the place. I hear that, or I actually see it in the statistics. People are listening in other countries. That's really cool. I have a feeling I don't know them. But if that's you, I mean, don't go by everything that I say. I mean, I can tell you I'm being straight with you, and I am straight to my knowledge of everything I talk about. But like, you need to look things up. And if you're getting like workout programs offline, that's your mistake. You have to know people. If you're buying supplements online because someone told you to, that's your fault. You need to know better. So, in this area, there are a lot of grifters. There's a lot of people selling supplements and selling programs and workouts and nutrition and meal plans and meals and all that stuff. So a grifter is a person that takes advantage of somebody else for financial gain. That's what they do. They take advantage of somebody else for financial gain. And they usually have some sort of background to make you believe them. In other words, they make themselves kind of trustworthy. So if somebody comes out and blatantly tries to sell you something like a used car salesman, you typically will turn your back, laugh, and make a joke about it. They don't act like that. They will come across as physicians, and maybe they are. They will come across with people with degrees and know what they're talking about. They're typically well spoken. They're good at being grifters. That's why they've made millions or if not billions doing so. So they're good at it. All right. So I want you to stay clear of that. And first off, don't get your information online. Secondly, here's how you look for it. If it's overly complicated, or if it's something that only this or they can do, it's bullshit. Okay. It's that simple. I have a degree in exercise physiology. I was joking with a client today. Excuse me, not talking about like how easy my graduate degree is. Not because exercise physiology was easy. It's not. I mean, there are like so many different components to the Krebs cycle. I mean, it can be overwhelming like any study of science. But it was easy because the teachers basically let us teach the class and made the program really, really easy itself. Like there wasn't that um, you know, uh rigorousness of undergrad where you had to study and do this, this, and this. I mean, most of what we were graded upon was research work that we did that we presented to the class. So if we did our work, we did well. So, in any event, but the physiology part is difficult. Yes, exercise phys and physiology in general can be difficult, but but the programming and how we use it is not. So if somebody's selling you something complicated, it is BS. All right. So all that leads me into the topic of the day, which is some of the myths surrounding women and strength training. All right, ladies, men too. But ladies, you need to listen to this, okay, because grifters are out there selling programs and selling things that just aren't true. I'm going to give you the physiology and the real deal on these silly myths. All right. Myth number one. Girls need to wait until puberty to start strength training. Or, you know, you can buy a, you know, doctor, I don't know, Dr. Bill's program for pre-pubescent girls to work out on, and that'll solve the problem, right? So obviously, no, that's a myth. Girls, young girls even, can resistance train. There's no truth to it. And while I'm at it, the old myth of young boys, whatever, anybody pre-pubescent can strength train appropriately. Meaning, hire somebody with the right credentials and teach them the right way. Now, I'm not a huge advocate of that. Like, I'm not a real big believer that kids need to by any means. And God forbid, if you parents are having your kids lift weights because you think they're overweight and you're trying to like help them, that's to me abuse. I mean, you've just set them up for a lifetime of an eating disorder. I'm talking kids' kids, you know, if kids are coming in, which I've had many who are in high school or even junior high or middle school because they're training for athletics, that's different. But the point is, if they really want to, like if a little kid sees mommy doing dumbbells exercising and wants to pick up some small dumbbells and do them with mommy, by all means, as long as mommy's keeping her or yes, her or him safe, then it does not cause growth spurt issues. That is not true, okay? It does not kill that ability to grow. It's not true. So you know, that's a myth. Kids under puberty can strength train if taught appropriately, and if there's a real reason to, such as they simply want to pick up little dumbbells and work out with mommy and daddy. Okay, that would be the best motive. And as long as the kids aren't lifting overheads or doing anything like, you know, risky, which common sense should answer, then they can. I don't see that issue too much. Number two, this is a biggie, and it still goes around the myth that if women strength train, they will get bulky. Oh my goodness. That's like that, low carbs and doing crunches are the three biggest, biggest myths that I've had to tackle or tried to tackle for 32 years. I mean, people, it's not true. And the grift, well, it can be true, but I'll tell you why. It's not true overall. And the grifters are trying to sell you perfect programs where you don't get bulky because you just do these exercises for this amount of reps and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Look, here's the deal the way we respond to strength training is highly genetic. If you're going to get bulky, which means add muscle mass, which means hypertrophy, hypertrophy is growth of the individual muscle cells. All right. If we are going to get those kind of muscles, bulky muscles, you have to have four things going in your advantage genetically. Number one, you have to be predominantly fast twitch muscle fiber versus slow twitch. That is genetic. Muscle fibers do not change. Number two, you have to have long muscle bellies in relation to short muscle bellies. That is genetic. People either have long muscle bellies and short tendons or long tendons and short muscles. If you have short muscles, they can't fill up very big. That is genetic. And naturally, most people have a mix of all of this, right? But if you want to get bulky, you have predominantly long muscle bellies and your predominantly fast twitch. And your somatotype has to be a mesomorph. You got ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs. Mesomorphs is a bone structure that allows for greater muscular bulk. Ectomorph, very skinny, very small bone structure. Typically think of like long-distance runners, people like that. That is an ectomorph. A endomorph is typically overweight, carry more weight, bigger bone structures has a greater tendency towards obesity. Mesomorphs are muscular. That is genetic. You cannot change your somatotype. And finally, your natural levels of resting growth hormones, such as testosterone, human growth hormone, and insulin growth factor F. Those three. If you have more resting testosterone, especially, or resting other growth hormones, you have a tendency to grow more muscle. That's very genetic. That's very, very genetic as well, which is why some people illegally take that. Some people take it for other reasons. But I mean, the guys in the gyms trying to get big and bulky, especially 10 years ago, taking it illegally because it helps boost that. So the bottom line is, women, when you strength train, your body's going to develop as it develops, regardless of the reps you do, regardless of the exercises you do, regardless of the loads you do. So my question for you is if you have those genetic tendencies, would you rather be like muscular, more built, and have all the other things that the muscles give you the luxury to have, like a faster metabolism, most likely a better looking build for aesthetics, or would you rather them just go undeveloped? I mean, that's the question. But it's genetic. I don't know too many women who have that kind of tendency to bulk up like that. I know one or two. And fortunately, one that I know, she's happy she has that. Like, because if you develop your muscles as much as you can, you're probably leaner in regards to fat, because the number one thing that boosts your metabolism is having more muscle. So let's just get rid of that myth. How you work out does not change how you respond to how you work out. We all get stronger, but if you want big muscles, you better have picked the right parents for that. Okay, so hopefully we can put that myth to rest. Along the same lines, myth number three: women should follow a different type of program than men. That is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing to base that on, no truth whatsoever. What more do I have to say? Usually different programs are developed because you're going to have a grifter out there telling you that they make programs for women only. They're selling you a load of bullshit. Do not believe it. You know, it is not true. The only difference is at times maybe women do tend to be more prone to osteopenia and osteoporosis. But men can get it too. But women do tend to be more prone to it. If that's the case, then women need to make sure. I mean, I think everybody should, but do a lot of their strength training standing, because standing is going to build the bone density and naturally do all the other good things like weight-bearing exercise, like walking and so on. But that would be the only change, but that's not a different program. Okay, so that one. Total, false, not true. All right. Uh, let's see. Number four, women should avoid lifting heavy weights. I mean, I think that goes with the other two. I think that, you know, there's this fear of bulking up, you know, I would assume is one of the reasons why that rumor spreads around the old internet and within gyms of clueless trainers and gyms with, you know, clueless people trying to sell clueless things or whatever. It is not true, though. I mean, or is the second reason? Do you think women are a bunch of dandelions, like they can't handle it? Let me tell you guys, I don't want anybody to get offended out there, but that is not true. I mean, for the most part, yeah, I mean, you can quote me on this, whatever. I mean, I'm quoted, right? It's right here. For the most part, generally speaking, women are tougher than men. There, I said it. When it comes to the gym, they quit less, they work harder, they are more coachable. Um, but that's a whole nother issue. But yet they work harder. They're not babies, you know, they get burns in the muscle, they keep going, they keep pushing. So that's not true. I don't know where that comes from. And the capacity to get stronger. I mean, so genetically speaking, or um, gender speaking, I should say, women are 50% less strong in the upper body. That's just because of mostly lack of pectoralis major muscles that men have, because women have breasts, so that's a big part of it, but they're only 30% weaker in the lower body. But a lot of that just has to do with body weight, because typically women tend to weigh less than men, but the capacity to get stronger is absolutely there. So lifting heavy weights, I mean, what's heavy anyway? What's heavy to one person is light to another. Uh a funny story on that, years and years ago, when I was in a different location, one of my clients asked if his nephew could come in and work out with me in a summer because he was home from football camp and he played for uh University of Texas in Austin. And uh he was a very nice kid. He was like 6'4, 300 pounds, played defensive and or defensive tackle, actually nose tackle. And uh I had 60-pound dumbbells. That was the heaviest my gym went up to. And um, I wrote out a program for him. We were doing upper body, we were doing like inclined dumbbell press or something. And I said, Here, we'll start, you know, with these and then we'll go up to the 60s, you know, that's the heaviest I got. I said, Um, you know, so what do you use when you do this exercise? And you know, he's super polite kid, you know, and he just looks at me, oh, but you know, those will be fine. I go, Oh, okay, that's cool. I said, but like, do you go a lot heavier than that normally? He goes, Well, yeah, I mean, my last set I usually use 120s, 120 pound dumbbells in each hand. I just kind of laughed. I'm like, well, we're gonna have to do super high reps with these 60s. And he just said, Ah, yes, sir. Any super polite. But that's my point. Like, what's heavy to one person is light to another. So what does that even mean? You know, can women train heavy? Of course they can, as heavy as they can take in good form, just like anybody else. It's such a stupid question. All right. Number five, women should not strength train during their menstrual cycle. What? I don't know where that one came from. I mean, I don't, but it's whatever. And here's such a simple answer on that. There is nothing physiological speaking that should stop them. It totally comes down to comfort. Are you comfortable doing certain exercises? Are you comfortable in general? That's what it comes down to. Personal choice of you know what? I'm uncomfortable. I'm gonna skip today and go tomorrow. Okay. There's nothing physiological that says you should skip it. My goodness, people can be really, really dumb. All right. Here's number, where are we at? Seven? Yes. Resistance. Nope, nope, nope, six. Women should not strength train during pregnancy. Okay, not true. Most, I mean, all the OBGYNs I know are telling their clients, look, you should strength train at least up until your third trimester and even then maybe do things safely. Look, all of this goes with saying that you need to make sure you have a supervised, qualified person that you're getting advice from. I don't believe women should be doing barbell back squats when they're in their second trimester because of the load that's putting on their spine. And to me, that sounds really, really silly and ridiculous. But doing some form of strength training to the point of comfort, of course, that should be done under qualified supervision. So that's a myth. It is not true. If anything, it helps and it helps mindset, it helps everybody feel better. All right. Again, with supervised training, doing the right exercises, which I could give you right now, but I'm not going to. Number one, it would take too long. And number two, you really need to hire the right person to guide you if you are in that situation. Do not pull a workout for pregnant women workout off the internet. Please don't do that. Talk to somebody qualified who will design you a program. All right. Next, what do we have here? Oh, another stupid one, right? Resistance exercise is not effective weight loss for females. I mean, for anybody. Of course it is. I told you the number one way we boost our metabolism is by adding muscle mass. That's the number one way. We can't eat chili peppers, we can't sit in the sauna, we can't do any of these things the grifters tell us to do to raise our metabolism. And yes, literally, I kid you not, there was somebody going around once saying, eat jalapeno peppers because it will raise your metabolism. And morons were out buying jalapeno peppers. Is that you? I'm sorry, but you're a moron. Don't do that. I mean, are you serious? You really think that boosts your metabolism? I mean, sometimes I wish I had no morals because I would just sell people the most ridiculous things in the world and they'd buy it. But I'm kind of glad I do have morals. I wouldn't do that. That is just so ridiculous. People, the only way we raise our metabolism is by adding muscle mass. Okay. Strength training is probably the best way to help you lose weight because you're going to boost your metabolism. You're going to strengthen your joints so you can do the cardio that you need to do and you're going to feel better. All right. So it's 100% myth. Why do they say that? Well, because if you're strength training, you're going to add some muscle. Hopefully, if you're doing it right. So then the scale doesn't reflect that weight loss as much. Okay. I mean, that's like moving, transferring money in your bank account from one account to the other and just going, well, if I keep this here, it looks like I have more money. It's like, yeah, you gain muscle. I mean, you didn't really lose weight, you lost muscle. I mean, get the analogy. Hope you do. Muscle mass is the best way to raise your metabolism. It is a great aid to losing weight. So don't buy that myth. When it's time for you to drop a few pounds, if that's what you want to do, you have to create a caloric deficit by eating less. You probably should do some cardio to burn fat and calories, and you need to strength train. It's those three things. That's it. Do it. It's simple. All right. Oh man. This last one, am I even really gonna say this out loud? Strength training is not safe for older women. Really? My book says this right now. Crazy, right? Number one, what's older? What's older? I mean, I have a client now, he's male, he's not a female, but he's 94. He's in better shape than some 40-year-olds, I know. I mean, what does older mean? One of my clients who passed a couple years ago was 98, 99, 99. Sorry. Oh man, Gina, I am sorry. She's 99. She was in here in her 99th year. Okay. I mean, what does older even mean? Number one. Number two, it's safe and should be done for everybody. I mean, thank God the majority of my clients are older, older men and older women. Why? Because The most motivated people. They work hard, they understand the value of strength training. They realize that at one point everything hurt. They get out of the car, their hips hurt. They get something off the grocery shelf and their shoulder hurts. They push a cart and that everything hurts. And then they start strength training. Everything gets stronger. Now they can do these things again. You know, I had a client the other day, she's awesome. You know, she comes in, she goes, Hey, victory, I'm able to get my carry-on luggage up without help asking for help from my husband. I mean, you might laugh at that. I don't. I think that's awesome. I think that's independence. Strength training gives us independence. I mean, God, it is so freaking important. I can't get everybody to get on board. Like only 20% of our country is strength training. 20%. I talk about it in my book. Why? Because we have grifters out there lying to people. Because we do have a natural tendency towards being lazy, I think. And lazy in the in the form of like, well, I think this is good for me, but I really don't want to go too far out of my way to figure out what I should do. That's a form of laziness. There's a lot of factors. But the one thing I want to get people to at least understand, I want to get the misinformation out there and squash it. And that is a huge part of this podcast. That's why there's a method to the madness. That's why I call it that. Because when we bring up things, they sound stupid, right? Like you'll hear, oh, women shouldn't strength train when they're older. Like you'll hear that. You could probably get enough people in a waiting room if you're sitting there biting time to shake their heads and go, oh, yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense because the question was framed that way. But then if you go, well, why is that? Well, they're weak. Well, why are they weak? Because they haven't strength trained. So what happens if they strength train starting out with appropriate loads, right technique, and right exercises, and they like strengthen all of those joints, then they're stronger, right? Right. So if they're stronger, they're less prone to be considered weak and to get injured, right? Right. So you frame it that way, everybody's shaking their heads, right? We have too many people out there trying to be experts. And that is a big problem. And I just mean in every realm of life. I mean, you know, in everything. You have political experts out there, you have medical experts. I mean, I never knew there were so many people that were so educated on vaccines. I never knew that until COVID. I'm like, oh my God, I had no idea my friends went to Harvard Medical School. I I didn't know that. I was blown away to find that out. All right, catching my sarcasm. We got too many people out there in all realms of life trying to act like experts. All right. You need to learn as a listener to know who to listen to and know who not to listen to. All right. But for now, I want everybody to forget those silly myths of strength training. And if you have any questions, anything you want me to cover, just reach out. Until next time, B Max Fit and B Max Well. All right. Thank you everybody for listening to today's show. I really appreciate it. I want to remind you to please hit automatic download. It really helps me and it helps the show. And now I'd like to thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, the area's premier garage door company. They have the best product and the best service. I personally vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great. They're going to get you exactly what you need. So if you have any garage door needs, give them a shout at 386-222-3165. And now I'm very excited to add another sponsor. ProCharge Liquid Protein Enhancer has joined the team. And let me tell you, they are a great product. I pop one after a workout. Each container has 40 grams of protein. So that's two servings. I take 20 grams after I work out. What's really cool about them is it's portable. You can throw them in your suitcase. You don't have to worry about mixing powders and making a mess. At least that's an issue I've had with some of the protein powders through the years. And you know what? They taste really, really good. So you can check them out on my website, fit to themax.net, or you can go right to them at prochargeprotein.com.