Bodybuilding Myths & Facts

The bodybuilding world is full of fantastic information all available at your finger tips, and with all this information so frequently available it can be hard to filter facts from just plain BS. It is for this reason I decided to create a section of popular myths and facts, as I hear more myths & facts I will add them to this section, also if you have heard of any common myths or facts that you feel should be included in this section please leave me a comment.

So I thought its best to start with the facts, as to clear up any confusion, these facts range from building muscle, lifting weights, diet, nutrition bodybuilding supplements and much more so make note of them!

Fact 1: Progressive Resistance is Key to Building Muscle

I see it time and time again when I visit my local gym, guys doing all these different weight lifting workouts, trying different workout routines, lifting different weights and doing different exercises week after week. Whilst there is nothing strictly wrong with what they are doing (because at least they are trying) there is one important part of their training program that is missing. Progressive resistance!

Progressive resistance is required to build muscle, progressive resistance is when you increase the weight lifted, number of repetitions or number of sets (or all three) from the previous workout session.

For example let’s say that you do barbell bench press twice a week, assuming you perform 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions with 200lbs:

Session 1: Set1: 9 reps with 200 lbs, Set2: 8 reps with 200lbs, Set3: 8 reps with 200lbs
Session 2: Set1: 10 reps with 200lbs, Set2: 8 reps with 200lbs, Set3: 8 reps with 200lbs

So, in session 2 you managed one additional repetition on the first set and managed the same number of repetitions for the 2nd and 3rd set. This increase in the number of repetitions caused you to progressively increase the resistance, therefore increasing your strength and muscle mass.

That’s the key to building muscle, it’s that simple. If you consistently lift the same weight for the same number of sets & reps week after week your muscles will have no reason to grow. Muscles only increase in mass when placed under stress, once muscles can cope with the stress loads they stop responding and therefore stop growing, for this reason progressive resistance is required to continually build muscle size & strength.

This is also why I tell people time and time again to write down the weight they lift and the number of reps & sets they performed for a given exercise, they write it down so they can try their very best to increase one of those factors next time they perform the exercise.

Reference:The effect of autoregulatory progressive resistance exercise vs. linear periodization on strength improvement in college athletes. Department of Athletic Performance, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA. 24th July 2010

Fact 2: To Build Muscle Consume 1g of Protein for Every 1lb of Bodyweight

The other key ingredient to build muscle comes from your diet, as well as progressive resistance you also need to ensure a good diet, but more importantly a diet consisting of natural protein sources.

Protein is used to build and repair muscle and other tissues, so it is recommended that to continue the muscle building process you need to consume adequate amounts of protein.

The most agreed upon figure for a weight lifter or bodybuilder is approximately 1g of protein for every pound of bodyweight, so if you weight 200lbs and want to continue building muscle, you should aim to consume 200g of protein every single day.

Secondly the time that proteins are ingested into the body becomes important when you train with weights, the most important times to take protein is when you wake up, before a workout, after a workout and before going to bed, so make sure you consume enough protein every day to ensure you keep building muscle.

Reference: The effect of resistance training combined with timed ingestion of protein on muscle fiber size and muscle strength. Sports Medicine Research, Unit/Team Denmark Test Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, DK-2400 Copenhagen, Denmark. February 2005

Fact 3: You Build Muscle when you rest

People often make the mistake of thinking muscle is build in the gym when they lift weights. Whilst you do need to lift weights to build muscle your muscle does not build as you lift weights, muscle is built during sleep (providing you have ingested adequate amounts of protein).

Fact 4: Make sure you do Cardio as part of your workout routine

I say this is a fact but in reality it’s more of a recommendation, you should perform cardio vascular workouts on a regular basis to help maintain good health, healthy blood flow, high lung capacity and endurance. Also, if you have trouble losing weight it I strongly recommend performing cardio workouts to help keep your body fat percentage low.

You don’t have to do anything stressful, just a light 10-20 minute run on a treadmill 2-3 times per week is adequate, especially if you already lift weights 3 times per week.

Myth 1: You Build Muscle in the Gym

One of the most biggest myths I have ever heard is that you build muscle as you lift weights, whilst it’s true that to build muscle you need to place your muscles under strain (by lifting weights) you do not actually build muscle mass when you lift weights, you build muscle when you sleep.

When you sleep many chemical reactions occur in the body, one of them being the synthesis of muscle proteins. This synthesis is what causes your muscles to repair and when they are repaired they grow bigger.

Myth 2: You Need to Consume Supplements to Build Muscle or lose weight

Despite what fitness magazines tell you supplements are NOT required to build muscle or lose weight. Bodybuilding Supplements do the job of “supplementing” your diet, they are not suppose to be a replacement for meals.

Magazines will often tell you to consume their products to “build muscle”, “lose weight” or “give you energy”, they often state that without their products you will never build muscle or lose fat and use clever marketing and scientific buzzwords to draw you in, sadly this is complete bullshit!

I agree that supplements can help you along the way, or times when you may need some motivation, but are by no means required to build muscle or lose weight.

What makes you build muscle and what makes you lose weight hasn’t changed since the dawn of time, to put it simply if you want to build muscle: lift weights and eat right, if you want to lose weight: eat less and move more.

Myth 3: Eating Fats make you Fat

Sorry, this is complete crap, eating fat foods does not make you fat. What makes people fat is when they consume more calories than they burn off.

If you wanted, you could eat pizza, candy, chocolate and drink sodas all day long without gaining weight providing you don’t go over you calorie maintenance levels, whilst of course you won’t gain weight doing this you won’t be particularly healthy and I would never recommend it.

You need to consume fats in your diet, but these should be natural fats found in fish, nuts, beans, dairy etc. For more information see my section on diet and nutrition

Myth 4: Doing Endless Crunches will give you a six pack

We all have six packs, it’s just most of us have body fat that covers those stomach muscles, so doing endless crunches won’t give you a six pack, but it will make your stomach muscles stronger.

To see your six pack you have to lose your belly fat (known as visceral fat), this can only be done by losing weight, by reducing the number of calories you consume on a daily basis.

Myth 5: Follow Magazine Workouts to Get Big & Strong

Magazines bring out new workout routines that are better than last week’s issue, and this seems to happen week after week.

If you look at the front cover of any fitness magazine from years gone by I can guarantee you that there will be the “new” best way to “build muscle” or “get stronger”. It’s almost like the magazines are saying “Hey, we got it wrong last month, but this month we found the best workout ever” until next month!

I can’t blame the fitness magazines, it must be tough coming up with new material every week that grabs people’s attention and get them to subscribe to them, as they are a business after all. Their main business is to write content to gain subscriber numbers, not provide accurate information, which is why their content is not going to be scientifically proven, despite what they tell you!