5 Muscle Building Myths
As a bodybuilder yourself, you have doubtless heard some of these myths before at some point.
1. 12 Rep rule
Most weight training program include this much repetitions for gaining muscle. The truth is this approach places the muscles with not enough tension for effective muscle gain. High tension e.g. heavy weights provides muscle growth in which the muscle grows much larger, leading to the maximum gains in strength. Having longer tension time boosts the muscle size by generating the structures around the muscle fibers, improving endurance.
Heavy weights mean bigger gains in strength and muscle due to longer tension. Longer tension, of course results in more muscle mass. This is because it encourages growth of the muscle fibers, also building endurance.
Eight to twelve reps does not give you the tension levels that can be achieved by less reps with heavier weights, or the longer tension that comes from light weights with more reps. To create all types of muscle growth, change up your routine - both in terms of repetitions and the weights you use.
2. Three Set rule
While three sets is perfectly fine, it is also not a magic number for weight training. The number of sets to do should have more to do with what you hope to accomplish, and not an old rule which may or may not work for you. Just keep in mind that the more reps you do in a set, the fewer sets. The converse is also true; the total number of reps should remain equal.
3. Three to four exercises per group
The truth is this is a waste of time. Combined with twelve reps of three sets, the total number of reps amount to 144. If your doing this much reps for a muscle group your not doing enough. Instead of doing too many varieties of exercises, try doing 30 to 50 reps. That can be anywhere from 2 sets of 15 reps or 5 sets of 10 reps.
4. My knees, my toes
An adage of the gym with some basis, though it is more common to be injured as a result of leaning forward too far during an exercise. Memphis University researchers have found stress on the knees increases approximately one third when the knees go past the toes during squats. However, stress on the hips goes up ten times when the knee is held back from passing the toes.
The strain is merely shifted from the knees to the lower back, which can cause worse injuries than can having ones knees pass the toes.
Keep the position of your torso at the forefront, and your knees a little farther back. Keep your torso as straight as possible when lunging or squatting. This will mean less stress for your lower back and hips. To stay upright, before squatting, press your shoulder blades together (and keep them there). Try to keep your forearms at a 90 degree angle to the floor when you squat.
5. Lift weights, draw abs
What is the most important muscle group? The transverse abdominis? That all depends. The answer depends on what exercise you are doing. In most cases, the body already knows which muscle group to call into action to keep the spine supported. Focusing on the wrong muscle group (in this example, the transverse abdominis again) can work the wrong muscles while holding back the correct ones, which raises your risk of injuries and lowers the weight you can lift.
