Bodybuilding Myths - Pitfalls to
Avoid
I suppose every sport has its own supply of useless
lore and half-truths that get passed on to newcomers.
But I’d put bodybuilding up against any of them
in a contest for what has the most time wasting and
even dangerous mythology.
The fact is, there’s a ton of free advice dispensed
in gyms that, if taken as gospel, can really set back
your progress. That can lead to the kind of frustration
that makes guys think they are “hard gainers”
or need to resort to the needle to get the physique
they desire. Not true.
I’ve already shown you in previous AskMen articles
that simple, fundamental principles apply to generating
all muscle gain. (High intensity, progressive overload
and variable frequency.) Now lets take a look at some
of the pitfalls to avoid while you train rationally.
Myth #1 “Big muscles slow
you down.”
Muscles are responsible for every movement your body
can make. From the wink of an eyelid to a thousand
pound leg press, it’s muscles that create motion.
This “muscles slow you down” myth is a
carryover from the days when people used the term
“muscle-bound” to describe bodybuilders.
But in one sport after another, from baseball to
kayaking, athletes are discovering that a stronger
athlete is a better athlete. If you want to swing
a bat faster you need more horsepower. If you want
to paddle faster you need more horsepower. That power
comes from your muscles. We recently conducted a study on middle-aged golfers
who had been golfing an average of about 20 years.
We made them stronger over a six week period and guess
what? They all hit their drives farther. No change
in technique. No change in equipment. When they were
stronger they played better golf. Big muscles make
you fast and powerful.
Myth #2 “Muscle just turns
to fat later.”
Muscle tissue and fat tissue are two different things.
It is impossible for one to “turn into”
the other. Here’s where this myth comes from.
Muscle is called “active tissue” because
it requires a lot of energy from the body in order
to be maintained. A pound of muscle burns about 60
calories per day. If you train well and add ten pounds
of muscle to your frame, your body will require an
extra 600 calories per day in order to maintain your
new bodyweight. (Incidentally, this is why adding
muscle is a great way to lose bodyfat.)
With more muscle on your body you’ll tend to
have a bigger appetite and consequently you’ll
eat more. Fine. But if you stop training, that new
muscle can begin to atrophy, or shrink, and you’ll
no longer need those extra calories you’ve gotten
used to eating. And sure enough, if the 10 pounds
of muscle disappears and you keep eating as if you’re
still training hard, you’ll soon have extra
fat on you.
So this is a pitfall you can easily avoid. Build
all the muscle you want. Then go to the gym often
enough to make sure you maintain it. That keeps you
looking great and the extra “active tissue”
wards off the accumulation of fat.
Myth #3 “You need to shock
your muscles by doing things they don’t expect.”
This one really hands me a laugh. The idea behind
this myth is that you need to change your training
routine and exercises as a way to surprise your muscles
and get a fresh reaction out of them. Yeah right.
Think of your biceps muscle; like your other muscles,
it attaches between two points and contracts in a
straight-line direction. When it contracts, your elbow
bends. Your elbow always bends in the same direction.
There is no variation whatsoever. So you can lift
bricks or you can lift the bar on a $5,000 exercise
machine and the action of your biceps is the same.
So where is the shock? Why would your biceps say,
“Whoa, today we’re suddenly lifting a
dumbbell instead of a barbell! Better pack on some
more size!”
Here’s another variation. The gym lore goes
like this: “Train, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Then your body ‘expects’ a workout on
Sunday…but you ‘shock’ it by waiting
until Monday.” Apart from the false premise
that your body will “expect” a workout
when your brain knows it isn’t going to happen,
is the presupposition that your body never figures
out this is a repeating cycle with the Sunday workout
always missing. Week after week your body is “shocked”
that the Sunday workout is skipped. Please!
Muscles are not shocked by variation in exercise.
They are designed to tolerate it. Similarly, your
stomach is not shocked you ate spaghetti on Tuesday
after not eating it for a month. Rational, productive
strength training is easy. What’s difficult
is seeing past all the bad advice that is freely dispensed
in the gym.
Train Smart!
All the best,
Pete |
