Body Building Hoax

Body Building Myths: Don’t let these common muscle myths hamper your training

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ow and then I hear people talking about Body-building, like how you need to get on endlessly and daily with the crunches for the six-pack, and that you need to lift weights slowly-let body feel the load for more duration, and endless other arguments. There was a time I once believed all those sh*ts.

But thanks to “Men’s Fitness” Magazine Special issue of “Complete Guide to Home Workouts”. On the page 9 of the MF, six muscle myths regarding the six-pack have been broken. So hold your abs tight when we go through this hexagon of myths and finally demolish all those false-beliefs.

Myth #1: Weight training will make you bulky

Reality: Even if you train regularly and push yourself to your limit, you won’t suddenly sprout huge muscles. Training properly will increase your muscle size but this happens over time and, if you don’t want your workouts to have a muscle building effect, you need to adjust key variables, such as how many reps you perform, so they have more of either a strength or endurance effect than a muscle gain one.

Myth#2: Endless crunches will give you a six-pack

Reality: Doing crunches will strengthen and define your abs but it will do little to improve any body fat that’s hiding them. You can’t lose fat from any one part of your body so, if you want to shift your spare tire, eat healthy and perform exercises that burn lots of calories. Crunches burn comparatively few calories, so they’re not good for getting rid of your gut. And doing hundreds of any exercise is an inefficient way of training because if you can do that many reps the movement isn’t challenging enough to stimulate new muscle growth.

Myth#3: Running is better for fat loss than weight lifting

Reality: Intense weights sessions will burn plenty of calories and have a fat-loss effect. High-intensity circuits give you the benefit of an aerobic workout, which improves your heart and lung function, as well as strengthen muscles. Running is good for developing you’re your heart and lungs but won’t build any muscle.

Myth#4: It’s safer to lift weights slowly

Reality: In rehabilitation, patients are told to perform exercises at slow tempo to retrain their bodies to execute movement smoothly, a tactic that has crept into gyms. But as long as you’re always in control of the lifting and lowering phases of an exercise you won’t set yourself for an injury. Indeed, performing reps with speed trains the muscle to react quickly in unexpected real-world situations, which is how you really protect yourself from injury. It also activates more muscle fibers, leading to greater gains.

Myth#5: Machines are safer than free-weights

Reality: The makers of weight machines advertise that their equipment isolates target muscles and prevents injury by eliminating room for error. But the restrictive movements of machines might actually increase the risk of injury (inspired for the Movie series “Final Destination”). Machines are fixed and rigid and therefore limit natural movement whereas when you use free-weights your body naturally makes adjustments throughout the exercise’s range of motion according to your strength level, speed of movement, and proficiency.

Myth#6: More training means more muscle

Reality: Muscle growth happens while you’re recovering, not while you’re working out. If you don’t leave enough time between sessions, you won’t let your muscles complete the repair process that makes them bigger and stronger.

Now that’s all about the myths. I hope you find out what you’ve been doing wrong in your workouts. Now you get the answers to the questions like “I’ve been working out day and night doing crunches, but I still got no abs. What is wrong with me? Is it my Genes?”

Good Luck!

Source: Men’s Fitness Magazine

©Linkinmyth: Bodybuilding myths from “Men’s Fitness”