Every week I'm helping you get clarity surrounding some popular beliefs in the health and fitness industry. My last post was all about the 80/20 diet. Read about that here.
Today I'm excited to cover 'Using weights will make you bulky'.
This belief comes from a traditional style of training that was specifically designed to build muscle mass and density to create a big, muscley and bulky appearance.
It's a massively popular way to train with weighhts but they are more than just tools for building big muscles.
A heavy traditional weights session uses a considerable amount of extra loaded weight. The workout is usually slow paced, controlled and at a lower rep count ranging from 5-10 for each exercise. The slow controlled type of training with heavy weights work the muscles - slowly, and under tension so that they can recruit as much muscle fibre as possible. The muscles are worked longer and harder resulting in that big, strong build.
This is often the reason the weights section gets overlooked by people who want to lose weight, the common belief is weights = BIG but if used in a different fashion you can massively different results!
One of the fastest ways to burn serious fat is by using weights and this is because your body has to use a lot more energy when it is battling against weighted movements.
The extra load doesnt have to be very much at all and the results can be amazing. The extra weight, extra reps and less rest gets your heart and energy pumping in an aerobic state - most commonly known as cardio and this style of training is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. The extra bit of weight gives your muscles something small but mighty to contend with and helps build up that soft definition in all the right places.
The difference between these two styes is weight and rest time - the traditional heavyweights method would use a considerable amount of weight in porportion to your bodyweight, has a low rep range anywhere from 5-10 and is set at a slow, controlled pace with a good amount of rest at the end of each set.
The second way uses a medium to light weight. The rep count is set higher betwenn 10-20 and has a lower rest between each set. (this is what changes it from anearobic to aerobic / cardio style traning.)
You can even choose to go super light weight (1-3kg Dumbells and or exercise bands) adopting the same fat burning technique above for very similar results. Bands are really inexpensive - you can pick a set up with delivery for less than £15.
(I even have free banded workouts on my youtube channel - come and join me for a full demo and workout.)
In conclusion - whilst it is true that weights will make you bulky it is also equally true that weights are also very effective at shrinking.
The belief that weights will ONLY give you big muscles is definitely not true.
Check out the truth about 'Arse to Grass Squats'.
