The amount of information concerning proper techniques for bodybuilding can be overwhelming for those individuals starting on the road to building lean muscle. In order to obtain the desired look and feel for your body, one must avoid believing in century old myths for resistance training. Whether you use free weights, machines, or body weight weight to train; the most important aspect to resistance training is that you consistently challenge your muscles. By challenging your muscles you promote growth and increase strength. Like most things in life, good things don’t tend to happen over night. You will need to be persistent, have patience and have a willingness to tweak your workout routine when necessary. The following list dispels a handful of bodybuilding myths.
1. 10 Rep rule
Most resistance training program include this much repetitions for gaining muscle. The reality is this approach places the muscles with not enough tension for hard-hitting muscle amplification. High tension e.g. heavy weights provides muscle growth in which the muscle grows much larger, leading to the peak gains in strength. Sustaining longer tension time boosts the muscle size by generating the structures around the muscle fibers, improving endurance.
The acceptable standard of eight to 10 repetitions provides a balance but by just using that program all of the time, you do not generate the greater tension levels that is provided by the heavier weights and lesser reps, and the longer tension achieved with lighter weights and more repetitions. You must change the number of reps and adjust the weights to stimulate all types of muscle growth. A good rule of thumb is to switch your routine every four weeks. This can be done by either heavier weights/low reps, lighter weights/hi reps or by choosing different exercises.
2. Three Set rule
The truth is there’s nothing wrong with three sets but then again there is nothing astonishing about it either. The number of sets you perform should be base on your goals and not on a half-century old rule. You should not feel compelled to stick with the three set rule. For example, if your goal is to do “49″ number of reps for a particular exercise, you can pyramid your sets “15,12,12,10.” The more repetitions you do on an exercise, the fewer sets you should do, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of repetitions done of an exercise equal.
3. Three to four exercises per group
Doing three to four exercises per group is the biggest waste of time. Combined with fifteen reps of three sets, the total number of reps amount to 180. If your doing this much reps for a muscle group your not doing enough. As an alternative of doing too many varieties of exercises, try doing 30 to 50 reps of two excercises. I know it is difficult to grasp that less is more. That can be anywhere from 2 sets of 15 reps or 5 sets of 10 reps.
4. My knees, my toes
It is a gym folklore that you “shouldn’t let your knees go past your toes.” Truth is that tilting forward a little too much is more likely a cause of injury. In 2003, Memphis University researchers confirmed that knee stress was almost thirty percent higher when the knees are allowed to move beyond the toes during a squat.
But hip stress increased nearly 10 times or (1000 percent) when the forward movement of the knee was restricted. Because the squatters needed to lean their body forward and that forces the strain to transfer to the lower back.
Concentrate on your upper body position and less on the knee. Keep the torso in an upright position as much as possible when doing squats and lunges. These reduces the stress generated on the hips and back. To stay upright, before squatting, squeeze the shoulder blades together and hold them in that position; and then as you squat, keep the forearms 90 degree to the floor.
5. Lift weights, draw abs
The truth is the muscles work in groups to stabilize the spine, and the most significant muscle group change hinging on the type of exercise. The transverse abdominis isn’t always the most important muscle group. Actually, for most exercise, the body automatically activates the muscle group that are needed most for support of the spine. So if you focus only on the transverse abdominis, it can recruit wrong muscles and limit the right muscles. This increases the chance of injury, and reduces the weight that can be lifted.
