Kevin Turner-Turner Strength & Performance

When starting your journey to a healthier lifestyle, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the misinformation readily available at your fingertips. Marketing campaigns designed to create revenue instead of results seem to be the norm. Gimmicks and new contraptions hit the market everyday with the promise of a slimmer waist, bigger muscles and the summer body you have always dreamed of. Many people go down this path only to find little to no results and eventually quit out of frustration. Overcoming common myths is our first step in achieving our goals, so join me as we tackle more of the most common and egregious ones below.

Debunking More Myths Of Strength Training

1. Strength training will not help me perform better at my sport. –  FALSE Many athletes underestimate the importance of strength training in relation to their sport. Although there is no substitute for sport specific practice, there is a point of diminishing returns and an increase in the likelihood of an overuse injury. Understanding strength as an important training component will develop a healthier and more successful athlete.  A properly designed and periodized strength training program is vital to an athlete’s overall performance and numerous studies have proven that relative strength increases power, vertical jump, speed and acceleration in a variety of sports.

2. Light weight is all that you need. – FALSE Heavy compound lifts such as the squat, deadlift, shoulder press and bench press improve intramuscular coordination (a group of muscles working together to complete an action or generate force). Heavy strength training increases bone density, tendon/ligament strength, improved cognitive function, self-confidence and prevents injury. A well-designed program will utilize a range of weights, sets and reps for maximum results.

3. I don’t have the time to strength train. –  FALSE One of the most common reasons for not strength training is a lack of time. Jobs, family and responsibilities take precedent over a few hours a week under the barbell. Depending on your goals and schedule, strength training most certainly can fit into your life. By concentrating on the compound multi-joint movements that incorporate several muscle groups at a time, the workouts can be very efficient and productive. Creating the time to improve your mental and physical health will pay dividends in all parts of your life.

4. Muscle Soreness indicates a good workout. –  FALSE The myth that you should feel beat up and sore as an indicator of a good training session is completely false. DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness is the pain and stiffness felt in the muscle hours or days after a training session. Training with the intent of achieving muscle soreness is likely to have a negative impact on your workout, decrease your motivation and can lead to injuries. A more accurate way of judging progress is by keeping a training journal in lieu of how hard it is to get out of bed the next morning.

Strength training is an excellent way for athletes to improve sports performance, build self-esteem, reduce the risk of injuries and create the building blocks for playing at the next level. Following a training program that utilizes a variety of weight, rep and set schemes, that includes heavy weights under safe and supervised conditions, while avoiding crippling soreness will produce the best results. Creating the time to include strength training as part of your week will help promote a healthy lifestyle, a clearer mind and the energy to tackle anything that comes your way. For more myths debunked check out Part 1 of this series- Myths of Strength Training Part 1.