Weight Training Myths

I'm sure that I'll think of a few more, but here's some off of the top of my head (nice thread idea btw, Dave):

-If you don't work out, your muscle will turn into fat (Without exercise and sufficient stress, you will slowly lose muscle. If you eat more than your caloric requirements, you will gain fat. In no way can muscle tissue become adipose tissue: they are just two processes that will occur together if you stop lifting and eat poorly)

-"Clean" food = diet/weight loss ("clean" simply means healthy, non-processed, fruits, veggies, etc. It in no way implies that you will lose fat, i.e. "I don't get it: I'm eating clean but I'm not losing any weight." It's more difficult to overeat fruits, veggies and lean proteins, but that doesn't mean that you can't gain weight from healthy foods. You still must account for calories and output)

-Their is a "best" way to workout (as in "what is the best way to lose fat," or "what is the best workout to gain strength?" There is no "best way," just some ways that are more effective than others for a number of reasons. If there was a "best way," there wouldn't be fitness boards, personal trainers, or a billion dollar fitness industry: everyone would just do the "best workout" and get great results)

-Running/cardio causes you to lose muscle (While this is true for heavy endurance running-think marathon training, your 20 minutes/day 3x each week won't impact your muscle growth unless you are severely undereating...in which case you have a lot more to worry about than simply losing a little muscle)
 
heres one: (idk if it has been mentioned)
that guy is huge! if i do his workout, and do what he does, i will get huge like him!!! it just doesnt work like that. you have to find what works for you.
 
Myth: You can get big arms just by working the biceps.
Myth-Buster: The triceps make 60% of your arms' size and should be worked as much as the bicep in order to gain bigger arms.

I figure that one out the hard way, despite being warned.
 
Along with that biceps myth is that doing 5 differnet kinds of curls is what will help you get huge arms and strong biceps. Having tried this, I can safely say that doing pullups has helpedm e far more than doing curls.
 
Myth #9 submitted by: buzz
you can shape your muscles (untrue)
you can make them larger or smaller you cant shape them.

You can shape aspects of an overall muscle, making it possible to shape it. Take your chest for example, You can lift so that the top of your chest gets bigger and only that area. You are shaping your chest. Not working one area of a muscle and working others is shaping. Just my 2 cents though...........
 
Street Workout said:
Myth #9 submitted by: buzz
you can shape your muscles (untrue)
you can make them larger or smaller you cant shape them.

You can shape aspects of an overall muscle, making it possible to shape it. Take your chest for example, You can lift so that the top of your chest gets bigger and only that area. You are shaping your chest. Not working one area of a muscle and working others is shaping. Just my 2 cents though...........
Click to expand...

No, that's a myth, you can work muscles in different ways but they don't get bigger in one part and not another. You cannot shape muscles
 
Street Workout said:
Myth #9 submitted by: buzz
you can shape your muscles (untrue)
you can make them larger or smaller you cant shape them.

You can shape aspects of an overall muscle, making it possible to shape it. Take your chest for example, You can lift so that the top of your chest gets bigger and only that area. You are shaping your chest. Not working one area of a muscle and working others is shaping. Just my 2 cents though...........
Click to expand...

Uh... I'm pretty darn sure you can't shape the whole pectoralis muscle so that just the top of it is large. If what you mean is that you can get your pectoralis to become larger without the enlargement of muscles below the pectoralis (abs, obliques) then yes I suppose so.
 
Any exercise which works the pectorals will work the entire length of the muscle, because the muscle's origin is the sternum and the insertion point is the humerus. There is no point in between which the muscle can anchor to, so any tension generated will pull the entire length of the fiber.
 
buzz said:
Any exercise which works the pectorals will work the entire length of the muscle, because the muscle's origin is the sternum and the insertion point is the humerus. There is no point in between which the muscle can anchor to, so any tension generated will pull the entire length of the fiber.
Click to expand...

So using your logic, why are there incline, decline and flat bench presses? If it's all one muscle and one fiber, then why exercise different areas?
 
Street Workout said:
So using your logic, why are there incline, decline and flat bench presses? If it's all one muscle and one fiber, then why exercise different areas?
Click to expand...

To exercise the same msucle in a different way so your body doesn't get used to the stimulus.

If you did decline dumbbell press or decline bench press and only that press no incline or flat, it's not like you'd just have a flat chest with a little bump sticking out at the bottom of your pectoralis.
 
Let me end this uninformed conversation...............................

Add Slabs of Muscle to Your Chest

By: Todd Blue

The main thing that you need to do to develop a nice full chest is focus on proper form on the incline/flat bench press. That means no bouncing off the chest and don't worry about how much you can bench just worry about getting a good pump and breaking down the muscle. Also, like I said above, stay very basic using power movements: Flat Bench and Incline Bench these are the two movements that will bring the most mass, basically all other chest movements are only shaping movements.

Link to entire article, let me know if you need more.....................

Bodybuilding.com - Todd Blue - Adding Slabs Of Muscle To Your Chest!
 
i dont trust anything from bodybuilding.com
just because you can provide a link with some guy saying it doesnt mean its true.

theres no argument for why you CAN "shape" a muscle there, you cant provide it either. I see no scientific data suggesting you can stimulate different parts of a muscle. Can you kindly tell us how a muscle which has two places of attachment can be stimulated to grow in different places?

BTW: incline hits the shoulders more, and with decline you use more lats.
 
Karky said:
i dont trust anything from bodybuilding.com
just because you can provide a link with some guy saying it doesnt mean its true.

theres no argument for why you CAN "shape" a muscle there, you cant provide it either. I see no scientific data suggesting you can stimulate different parts of a muscle. Can you kindly tell us how a muscle which has two places of attachment can be stimulated to grow in different places?

BTW: incline hits the shoulders more, and with decline you use more lats.
Click to expand...

I provide a link to support my position (right or wrong) and you present nothing. That in it self speaks volumes........................
 
uninformed conversation huh? If you were informed by the wrong source I'd say that's worse than being uninformed.

Karky presents nothing because no one needs to write a whole article on how you CAN'T shape muscles. There is so much bull**** floating around online. If you believe all this you might as well believe all those infomercials about weight loss pills as well.
 
If you want someone to present sometihng, here, read this


here's the first paragraph
"A term commonly used amongst most fitness amateurs is "Shaping Muscle". Well, can you really shape a muscle? No, you cannot. You can make a muscle grow, but you can't shape it as if it were a piece of clay. The structure of your muscle is all genetic and cannot be manipulated. Sure, it's important to do exercises that target all of the different angles of a muscle, but the shape of your muscle is genetic and you're stuck with what you have. So instead of using the term "Shaping muscle" or "Shape a muscle" use the more correct terminology, "Building muscle".
 
AZN_Dave said:
uninformed conversation huh? If you were informed by the wrong source I'd say that's worse than being uninformed.

Karky presents nothing because no one needs to write a whole article on how you CAN'T shape muscles. There is so much bull**** floating around online. If you believe all this you might as well believe all those infomercials about weight loss pills as well.
Click to expand...

Wow, you seem upset. No offense, didn't realize agreeing with you was a prerequisite to this conversation. But I still would like to proof of this being a myth. I personally work the top of my chest to accent that area and it works. P.S. When did a muscle become a mass NOT containing multiple fibers that could be stimulated in an isolated manner? One more thing, according to your sig, you are 15 years old, or was that your stats at that age?
 
AZN_Dave said:
If you want someone to present sometihng, here, read this


here's the first paragraph
"A term commonly used amongst most fitness amateurs is "Shaping Muscle". Well, can you really shape a muscle? No, you cannot. You can make a muscle grow, but you can't shape it as if it were a piece of clay. The structure of your muscle is all genetic and cannot be manipulated. Sure, it's important to do exercises that target all of the different angles of a muscle, but the shape of your muscle is genetic and you're stuck with what you have. So instead of using the term "Shaping muscle" or "Shape a muscle" use the more correct terminology, "Building muscle".
Click to expand...

Also from your own link page "For example, if you want the best chest possible, you wouldn't only do flat barbell press. You need a variety of exercises that will fully work every aspect of the muscle, every bit of muscle fiber."

This is saying that the fiber of the top of the chest can be stimulated without stimulating the bottom. Really, If you have never lifted weights and developed an area a bit too much and had to change to counteract this, we shouldn't even have this conversation.
 
Street Workout said:
Wow, you seem upset. No offense, didn't realize agreeing with you was a prerequisite to this conversation. But I still would like to proof of this being a myth. I personally work the top of my chest to accent that area and it works. P.S. When did a muscle become a mass NOT containing multiple fibers that could be stimulated in an isolated manner?
Click to expand...

I'm not upset. Also, I didn't say that you couldn't stimulate muscles in isolation. Ther are exercises to isolate the pecs.

Street Workout said:
One more thing, according to your sig, you are 15 years old, or was that your stats at that age?
Click to expand...

Why? are you suggesting my age undermines my level of intelligence and knowledge?

Street Workout said:
Also from your own link page "For example, if you want the best chest possible, you wouldn't only do flat barbell press. You need a variety of exercises that will fully work every aspect of the muscle, every bit of muscle fiber."
Click to expand...


This doesn't say that you can shape muscle... Interestingly enough you ignore the rest of the article stating that you cannot shape muscle

Street Workout said:
Really, If you have never lifted weights and developed an area a bit too much and had to change to counteract this, we shouldn't even have this conversation.
Click to expand...

What is this even supposed to mean? You want me to develope an area a bit too much to provey our theory?
 
Here, why don't we analyze another article.


let me copy some highlights in here

Question:
I want to build up my upper and inner chest, should I do incline presses and cable crossovers for this?

Answer:
YES! As well as flat barbell presses, decline barbell presses & dumbbell flyes.

I do not say this because any of those exercises will actually target any specific region of your pectorial, cause they will not. I say this because to obtain "complete" chest development to your maximum genetic potential you will need a variety of exercises.

a single muscle and muscles grow as a whole, not in parts

There are no "special" exercises that build a peak, or shape a muscle. You train a muscle and it grows, whatever genetic shape it has that is how it will grow. It really is that simple.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top