Through time, a vast number of bodybuilding statements have come and gone. Some of them are true, while others are far from it. Unfortunately, all it takes is one well-muscled guy to start spreading the word to bodybuilder beginners before it becomes “the new way.”
Below are some common myths and truths that seem to have passed the test of time. If you haven’t heard of them before, it’s time to take note so that you can integrate the positive ones into your workout and avoid letting the negative myths hurt you.
Always work a muscle to failure
This is a sneaky myth because most people know that in order to see results from a workout, you have to apply an overloading stimulus to the muscle cell. An overloading stimulus is defined as something that pushes the muscle’s boundary, creating microtears so that the muscle is forced to grow back bigger and stronger once rest is given. In other words, working the muscle to failure.
The problem with this is that while you do need to push a muscle to failure to see results, you don’t need to do it during every session. If you start giving 110% every time you’re in the gym, you’ll more than likely suffer from overtraining syndrome within a few weeks and you’ll be sidelined for quite some time. Then you’ll have plenty of time to recover because you could be out for weeks or months if the condition is severe enough.
The key is to develop a program that allows you to work a muscle to failure, but also incorporates a couple sessions per week that are done short of failure. Don’t forget to include a few days of complete rest.
Furthermore, if you’re on a low-carbohydrate diet, you may not want to work a muscle to complete failure as you risk depleting it of all its muscle glycogen stores. Unless you have planned large “carbups” after each workout, over time your body will become fully drained and you’ll no longer be able to perform your workouts.
Bodybuilding judgment: False
More weight means bigger muslces
Some guys focus solely on pushing the weight in their sessions. This is because they think there is a strict correlation between the amount of weight lifted and an increase in muscular size… and for many guys, the size of muscles like the biceps and pectorals is the point of bodybuilding.
This is not always the case. The fact of the matter is that regardless of what you do in the gym, you can’t build more muscle tissue out of nothing. If you aren’t eating more than enough of the nutrients that your body needs to maintain itself and to build the new muscle tissue, you aren’t going to get bigger — no matter how heavy the weights you lift are. It’s that simple.
Now, contrary to the point above, others think that if size is their goal, then life should become a 24-hour buffet. They eat everything and anything in sight, in the hopes that it will help spark new muscle growth.
What these individuals need to realize is that, yes, they do require more calories, however, the body can only assimilate so many of those extra calories into lean muscle tissue. After that, the remainder will go toward fat mass. Your P-ratio is what determines the amount of surplus calories going to fat and the amount going toward lean muscle mass. Your P-ratio is partly influenced by genetic make-up — which is something you can’t change — but the changeable factors that affect are your workout program, your nutritional intake and the timing of your meals.
So if size is your goal, you need to make sure that you are eating enough to get growth in the first place, but not so much that with the additional muscle mass, you get a great deal of fat mass as well.
Bodybuilding judgment: False
Time off from the gym means instant fat gains
Another common notion among the really hardcore lifters is the fear that if they miss an entire week (or sometimes even less), all their strength will go down the drain.
First off, realize that the body has something known as muscle memory. So, if you are planning a long layoff (two or more months), you can relax in knowing that it will be easier to bring your strength back up than it was before. This is because your muscles will “remember” how to get there.
For shorter layoffs, often you don’t lose strength, you gain it. The reason is because far too many individuals are on the verge of slight overtraining already. They are not letting their bodies fully recuperate between sessions and, therefore, are not seeing the strength gains that they could have. When they take a week off, their bodies fully recover and upon returning to the gym, they find that their strength shoots way up.
Furthermore, these shorter breaks are often just what is needed to really jump start your motivational levels.
Bodybuilding judgment: False
Gym sessions should never exceed one hour
This is one statement that is very true. Less is definitely more when it comes to bodybuilding. If your sessions are lasting over an hour, you are either doing way too many exercises and need to curtail it to include more compound lifts and less isolated movements or you are just taking extended rest intervals.
You want to get in the gym, do an intense workout and get out.
Working out past an hour could have you seeing rapidly declining blood sugar levels along with a decrease in testosterone output. Your cortisol release will also start to go up, which is a catabolic hormone that will promote muscle breakdown and fat storage.
If you can’t seem to get your workouts under an hour, then it’s likely time to have a look at a specific exercise selection or your workout split of choice. If you are trying to do a full-body plan three times per week for example, it may be better to look at doing a four-day, push-pull type of split instead.
Bodybuilding judgment: True
Workout through pain
This is one of those myths that require you to consider the situation. If it’s a small amount of muscular soreness from a previous workout session, then more than likely you are fine to do your workout the next day.
However, if the pain is more deep-tissue related and feels as though it could be a torn muscle or ligament, then you may want to hold off and either give it a few more days to rest or see a doctor. You never want to risk pulling a tendon — they can take a long time to heal, particularly if you keep aggravating it with more exercise.
You need to judge your own body and learn what type of pain will still give you a green light to go ahead with your workouts and what type of pain means you need to stop. Don’t let determination to keep progressing cause you to push through pain you know you shouldn’t. At times, when motivational level is high, it’s really hard to take the day off and allow for more rest, but consider the long-term consequences of your actions and hopefully that will enable you to make the right decision.
Bodybuilding judgment: False (kind of)
Myth 1: You can get a six-pack if you do a thousand crunches a day
The one thing every guy wants from his workout is a nice defined six-pack. Guys will do crunch upon crunch in their quest for perfect abs, but the reality is that if they have a layer of fat covering their muscles, definition will never come.
Their time would be much better spent doing some quality cardio sessions and making sure they are eating well, which would help them lose body fat — the key to unveiling remarkable abs.
Myth 2: Each workout should be devoted to one specific muscle group
Are you devoting an entire day of your workout program to biceps and triceps? Do you have a separate day for hamstrings and quads? What some guys don’t realize is that compound lifts work many muscles indirectly.
Take the bench press: If you perform this exercise on your “chest day,” you will also stimulate your triceps fairly heavily. This means that by carefully choosing your exercises, you can incorporate more muscle groups into every workout, which will provide better results in less time.
Keep in mind that you don’t always have to do very specific exercises to target certain smaller muscles; by simply working them indirectly, you will see improvements in your strength and size.
Myth 3: Stretching is not really necessary
The component that is most often left out of a fitness program is stretching. If you are like most men, you probably think that right after you are finished your last set, you should head for the showers. However, you should really finish off with some stretching, as it will increase the range of motion in your muscles and joints, which will thus allow you to perform your weightlifting exercises over a greater range of motion, as well as target more muscle fibers throughout the lift. Stretching also helps you to become more limber and allows you to better maneuver around opponents when you are out playing football or basketball with the guys.
Finally, when you finish off your workout with some stretching, you reduce the severity of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which you will most likely greatly appreciate the next morning.
Myth 4: Taking supplements will make you look monstrous in no time
We are constantly bombarded with ads for a wide variety of supplements. Some promise you a tight, ripped middle, while others ensure that you can pack on pounds of new muscle over the course of just a few weeks. There may be some benefits to a few of these supplements, but more often than not, your results won’t be much better than those you would get from a good training program combined with a well-planned out diet.
These are truly the two factors that lead to the greatest gains, so you should focus most of your energy on them rather than on finding the latest magic pill. Also, some supplements can have very harmful side effects (such as infertility, increased heart rate and nervous system problems) that should not be taken lightly. You are far better off achieving your results naturally; remember that your long-term health is not something you should risk.
Myth 5: Food eaten after 8 p.m. will turn into body fat
Do you think your metabolism knows what time it is? While your body does run according to a circadian rhythm, your metabolism does not shut down at night. You still need to provide your body with fuel to repair and rebuild while you sleep, and to prevent it from going into a catabolic state brought on by a long period of fasting. This is especially important if you work out later in the day.
After a workout, your body is crying for a good source of carbohydrates, so don’t skimp because you think eating at this time will make you gain fat.
It is important to make sure you are eating healthy foods later in the day — such as lean meat, healthy fats, plenty of vegetables, and even some complex carbohydrates if you are really active later in the day — to reduce your risk of adding unwanted body fat, but there is no need to avoid eating altogether.
demystifying fitness.
Take a good look at your current fitness and diet program, and ensure that you aren’t making any of these errors. They are easy mistakes to make, but as more and more people realize that they are not the way to see optimal results, they will slowly begin to die out.
