Category Archives: Bodybuilding Myths

Gym Sessions Should Never Exceed One Hour Myth

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Brunotraining

This is one statement that is very true. Less is definitely more when it comes to bodybuilding. If your sessions are lasting over an hour, you are either doing way too many exercises and need to curtail it to include more compound lifts and less isolated movements or you are just taking extended rest intervals.

You want to get in the gym, do an intense workout and get out.

Working out past an hour could have you seeing rapidly declining blood sugar levels along with a decrease in testosterone output. Your cortisol release will also start to go up, which is a catabolic hormone that will promote muscle breakdown and fat storage.

If you can’t seem to get your workouts under an hour, then it’s likely time to have a look at a specific exercise selection or your workout split of choice. If you are trying to do a full-body plan three times per week for example, it may be better to look at doing a four-day, push-pull type of split instead.

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Time Off From The Gym Means Instant Fat Gains Myth

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bjsingle

Another common notion among the really hardcore lifters is the fear that if they miss an entire week (or sometimes even less), all their strength will go down the drain.

First off, realize that the body has something known as muscle memory. So, if you are planning a long layoff (two or more months), you can relax in knowing that it will be easier to bring your strength back up than it was before. This is because your muscles will “remember” how to get there.

For shorter layoffs, often you don’t lose strength, you gain it. The reason is because far too many individuals are on the verge of slight overtraining already. They are not letting their bodies fully recuperate between sessions and, therefore, are not seeing the strength gains that they could have. When they take a week off, their bodies fully recover and upon returning to the gym, they find that their strength shoots way up.

Furthermore, these shorter breaks are often just what is needed to really jump start your motivational levels.

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Always Work A Muscle To Failure Myth

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BrunoFailure

This is a sneaky myth because most people know that in order to see results from a workout, you have to apply an overloading stimulus to the muscle cell. An overloading stimulus is defined as something that pushes the muscle’s boundary, creating microtears so that the muscle is forced to grow back bigger and stronger once rest is given. In other words, working the muscle to failure.

The problem with this is that while you do need to push a muscle to failure to see results, you don’t need to do it during every session. If you start giving 110% every time you’re in the gym, you’ll more than likely suffer from overtraining syndrome within a few weeks and you’ll be sidelined for quite some time. Then you’ll have plenty of time to recover because you could be out for weeks or months if the condition is severe enough.

The key is to develop a program that allows you to work a muscle to failure, but also incorporates a couple sessions per week that are done short of failure. Don’t forget to include a few days of complete rest.

Furthermore, if you’re on a low-carbohydrate diet, you may not want to work a muscle to complete failure as you risk depleting it of all its muscle glycogen stores. Unless you have planned large “carbups” after each workout, over time your body will become fully drained and you’ll no longer be able to perform your workouts.

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