True Mass
5 Muscle Myths Holding You Back
In a hospital, using outdated information is considered malpractice; in a gym, it’s standard operating procedure. Don’t believe it? Take a look at today’s most sacred lifting guidelines, and you’ll find that some originated in the ’40s and ’50s, a time when castration was a cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer, and endurance exercise was thought to be harmful to women. What’s worse, other, more-recent recommendations regarding exercise form have been negated by new research yet are still commonly prescribed by fitness professionals.
Chances are, these are the same rules you lift by right now. And that means your workout is long past due for a 21st-century overhaul. Keep in mind, I’m not suggesting that your current plan doesn’t work. After all, at its most basic level, building muscle is simple: Pick up a heavy weight, put it down, repeat. But improve the details and avoid mistakes, and you’ll build more muscle in less time, with less risk of injury. Put a check next to today’s date—it marks the official expiration of your old workout.
Do 8 to 12 Repetitions
The claim: It’s the optimal repetition range for building muscle.
The origin: In 1954, Ian MacQueen, M.D., an English surgeon and competitive bodybuilder, published a scientific paper in which he recommended a moderately high number of repetitions for muscle growth.
The truth: This approach places the muscles under a medium amount of tension for a medium amount of time, making it both effective for and detrimental to maximum muscle gains.
A quick science lesson: Higher tension—a.k.a. heavier weights—induces the type of muscle growth in which the muscle fibers grow larger, leading to the best gains in strength; longer tension time, on the other hand, boosts muscle size by increasing the energy-producing structures around the fibers, improving muscular endurance. The classic prescription of eight to 12 repetitions strikes a balance between the two. But by using that scheme all the time, you miss out on the greater tension levels that come with heavier weights and fewer repetitions, and the longer tension time achieved with lighter weights and higher repetitions.
The new standard: Vary your repetition range—adjusting the weights accordingly—so that you stimulate every type of muscle growth. Try this method for a month, performing three full-body sessions a week: Do five repetitions per set in your first workout, 10 reps per set in your second workout, and 15 per set in your third workout.
Do 3 Sets of Each Exercise
The claim: This provides the ideal workload for achieving the fastest muscle gains.
The origin: In 1948, a physician named Thomas Delorme reported in the Archives of Physical Medicine that performing three sets of 10 repetitions was as effective at improving leg strength as 10 sets of 10 repetitions.
The truth: There’s nothing wrong with—or magical about—doing three sets. But the number of sets you perform shouldn’t be determined by a 50-year-old default recommendation. Here’s a rule of thumb: The more repetitions of an exercise you do, the fewer sets you should perform, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of reps you do of an exercise nearly equal, no matter how many repetitions make up each set.
The new standard: If you’re doing eight or more reps, keep it to three sets or less. If you’re pounding out less than three reps, you should be doing at least six sets.
Do 3 or 4 Exercises Per Muscle Group
The claim: This ensures that you work all the fibers of the target muscle.
The origin: Arnold, circa 1966.
The truth: You’ll waste a lot of time. Here’s why: Schwarzenegger’s 4-decade-old recommendation is almost always combined with “Do three sets of eight to 12 repetitions.” That means you’ll complete up to 144 repetitions for each muscle group. Trouble is, if you can perform even close to 100 repetitions for any muscle group, you’re not working hard enough.
Think of it this way: The harder you train, the less time you’ll be able to sustain that level of effort. For example, many men can run for an hour if they jog slowly, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do high-intensity sprints—without a major decrease in performance—for that period of time. And once performance starts to decline, you’ve achieved all the muscle-building benefits you can for that muscle group.
The new standard: Instead of focusing on the number of different exercises you do, shoot for a total number of repetitions between 25 and 50. That could mean five sets of five repetitions of one exercise (25 repetitions) or one set of 15 repetitions of two or three exercises (30 to 45 repetitions.)
Never Let Your Knees Go Past Your Toes
The claim: Allowing your knees to move too far forward during exercises such as the squat and lunge places dangerous shearing forces on your knee ligaments.
The origin: A 1978 study at Duke University found that keeping the lower leg as vertical as possible during the squat reduced shearing forces on the knee.
The truth: Leaning forward too much is more likely to cause injury. In 2003, University of Memphis researchers confirmed that knee stress was 28 percent higher when the knees were allowed to move past the toes during the squat. But the researchers also found a countereffect: Hip stress increased nearly 1,000 percent when forward movement of the knee was restricted. The reason: The squatters had to lean their torsos farther forward. And that’s a problem, because forces that act on the hip are transferred to the lower back, a more frequent site of injury than the knees.
The new standard: Focus more on your upper body and less on knee position. By trying to keep your torso as upright as possible as you perform squats (and lunges), you’ll reduce the stress on your hips and back. Two tips for staying upright: Before squatting, squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold them that way; and as you squat, try to keep your forearms perpendicular to the floor.
When You Lift Weights, Draw in Your Abs
The claim: You’ll increase the support to your spine, reducing the risk of back injuries.
The origin: In 1999, researchers in Australia found that some men with back pain had a slight delay in activating their transverse abdominis, a deep abdominal muscle that’s part of the musculature that maintains spine stability. As a result, many fitness professionals began instructing their clients to try to pull their belly buttons to their spines—which engages the transverse abdominis—as they performed exercises.
The truth: “The research was accurate, but the interpretation by many researchers and therapists wasn’t,” says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance and widely recognized as the world’s top researcher on the spine. That’s because muscles work in teams to stabilize your spine, and the most valuable players change depending on the exercise, says McGill. Read: The transverse abdominis isn’t always the quarterback.
In fact, for any given exercise, your body automatically activates the muscles that are most needed for spine support. So focusing only on your transverse abdominis can overrecruit the wrong muscles and underrecruit the right ones. This not only increases injury risk, but reduces the amount of weight you can lift. Read more
Mass Building
20 Mass Building Sins Part 1
Mass Muscle Building
Muscle Building Mistake # 1: Training Too Often
The number one mistake I see hardgainers making is that they train too often. I was once the exact same way and used to go to the gym six days per week in the hopes that it would help me grow faster. Sadly, the only thing it did was make me smaller and weaker.
There is absolutely no need for anyone to spend more than four days per week in the gym. In fact, three days actually delivers the best results in most cases. Too many people are still obsessed with the “more is better” attitude, yet those are the ones that never seem to get anywhere in their quest for a more muscular physique. Week after week, month after month, year after year they look exactly same and are still lifting the exact same weights.
Training too often only leads to a state of overtraining, and overtraining leads to losses in size and strength. Remember, you don’t grow when you’re training; you grow when you’re recovering. Furthermore, after a brutal workout, it’s not just your muscles that need to recover, but also your central nervous system. Your CNS typically takes significantly longer than your muscles to recover.
Also, when you train too often, it can be hard to keep your motivation up from one workout to the next. It’s very refreshing and beneficial to have a day off between sessions to ensure full physical and mental recovery. That way you will be fully prepared for battle next time you enter the gym. For all of these reasons I recommend that you limit your training days to no more than three per week.
Muscle Building Mistake # 2: Training for Too Long
Many times I go to a public gym and finish my entire workout before others even finish their first exercise of the day. When new clients come to train with me for the first time, they are absolutely shocked at how short their workouts are and by the fact that they are getting significantly better results in half the time.
Spending too much time in the gym is another thing that leads to overtraining. When you first start your workout your body begins to increase its release of testosterone. This peaks at 27 minutes. At the 45 minute mark your testosterone levels return to baseline.
If you train longer than that your testosterone levels will slowly start to drop below baseline and your cortisol (the stress hormone that eats muscle and increases body-fat storage) levels will slowly creep up. By the one hour mark your cortisol levels will be higher than your testosterone levels. Obviously this is the worst possible scenario.
That is why I never allow my clients to train for longer than 45 minutes and would strongly suggest that you don’t either. You will be shocked at how much faster you will grow.
Muscle Building Mistake # 3: Doing Too Many Sets per Workout
If I had to take a guess I would say that most people do somewhere between 20 and 30 sets every time they go to the gym. The question is why? Why would you possibly want to do that many sets? Why would you want to abuse your joints with that much volume? Despite what you may have heard or read, and despite what the big guy at the gym tells you, there is absolutely no need to ever do that many sets.
When you do a large number of sets it’s impossible to put the required amount of focus or energy into each one of them. With fewer sets your workout has a greater sense of purpose and urgency. Knowing that you have 25 more sets to go after you first set of the day is a bit daunting. But if you only have a limited number of sets to complete you will go all out and do your best to make sure each one really counts. And that’s exactly the kind of effort required to get big and strong.
That is why I recommend a grand total of only 10-16 sets per workout! This is a far cry from the norm, but then again normal training only produces normal results. We want extraordinary results. And the way to get them is not by doing what everyone else does.
So start training three days per week, cut your workouts down to 45 minutes and don’t do more than 10-16 sets at any one session. I guarantee you’ll be pleased with the results.
Muscle Building Mistake #4: Not Training Each Muscle Group or Body Part Often Enough
Most bodybuilding programs tell you to train each body part once per week. You do chest, shoulders and triceps on Monday, legs on Wednesday and back and biceps on Friday. This system is all but useless to skinny hardgainers who want to pack on the most muscle in the shortest time possible.
One of the most important keys to stimulating muscle growth is training frequency. You must train a muscle more often than once per week or your gains will come at a snails pace. If you were learning to surf of play the guitar surely you would do it more frequently than once every seven days. So why should your weight training be any different? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Hardgainers should be hitting each muscle group at least twice per week, and in most cases three times will be more beneficial. Think about it logically for a second…
Do you think your chest will grow faster if it gets trained 52 times per year or 104 times? Or what about 156 times?
The answer is obvious. Ditch the once per week routines, switch to three times per week and you will immediately jump start your progress.
Muscle Building Mistake #5: Not Lifting Heavy Weights
If you want to get massive, you have to lift massive weights; it’s as simple as that. Yes, some genetically gifted and juiced to the gills bodybuilders can grow with lighter weights. That doesn’t mean you can, though. Getting big is hard work and requires a lot of discipline, desire and dedication, all of which are needed to move big iron.
Heavy lifting stimulates the type IIB muscle fibers which are the ones with the greatest potential for growth. Now this doesn’t mean that you should ever use weights you can’t handle with good form or that you have to be doing only singles and one rep max attempts in your training. Far from it. But whatever rep range you are training in you had better be sure that the weight is heavy and you are busting your ass. You can’t pussyfoot around with light weights and ever expect to build an ounce of muscle.
Like 8 time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman said, “Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but don’t nobody want to lift no heavy-ass weights.” He called you out. Now you gotta step up.
Muscle Building Mistake #6: Ignoring the Law of Progressive Overload
Next to frequency the most important law to follow in your muscle building quest is that of progressive overload. You absolutely have to do all you can to force muscle growth, basically leaving your body with no other choice. Otherwise it won’t adapt at all. The body loves to remain in a state of homeostasis and it’s gonna take some serious stimulation in order for it to lay down new muscle tissue.
Like I said in mistake number six, you have to lift heavy weights. But the key is that they have to get heavier and heavier from workout to workout. You can’t simply go heavy and expect to grow. It’s the progression that forces the adaptation.
If you bench press 100 pounds for six reps today, you had better be sure that you do at least seven reps with that or add five pounds to the bar at your next workout. Simply doing the same thing will be a waste of time and your body will not change in the least.
To get bigger you have to get stronger. And you have to keep getting stronger. As long as you are on a program that allows you to make great strength gains you will be able to make great size gains.
Muscle Building Mistake #7: Training Strictly for the Pump
We already know that you need to lift heavy weights, but what about getting a pump? After decades of debate many people still don’t know if you should be training for a pump or not. I’m here to tell you that the answer is a resounding no. For those that don’t know, a pump is nothing more than blood rushing to the muscle while working out which causes it to swell. There is nothing inherently magical about it.
But that’s not to say that a pump is completely useless; just that it should never be the focus of your workouts. Everyone knows that you can get a pump from doing 50 pushups or going for a swim, but neither of those activities is going to build massive amounts of muscle.
Lifting heavy and beating your previous numbers should always be your main goal at each and every training session. However, some trainers ardently insist that getting a good pump is a necessary part of the growth process.
While there are no scientific studies proving this theory to be true there are some possible benefits to be gained from getting a pump.
For one, a good pump may be able to stretch the fascia, which is the sheath that encases your muscles. If it is tight it will be difficult for the muscle to grow. This is just theory but may hold some validity.
A pump also brings growth inducing and healing nutrients into the muscle and enhances amino acid uptake.
Finally, the ability to get a good pump with ease is a sign that you are well fed, well hydrated and well rested and are in an anabolic state and ready to grow. By the time you finish your first few sets you should have some kind of pump going, otherwise you probably shouldn’t be training that day.
So while there are some benefits to getting a pump you should never, ever chase the pump or be training with the sole purpose of getting a pump. Going heavy should be your focus, and if you can get a good pump with heavy weights, watch out, because you’re primed to grow!
Muscle Building Mistake #8: Using the Wrong Exercises
If you are wasting time doing triceps kickbacks, lateral raises, leg extensions, cable crossovers and Smith machine squats you can forget about ever getting big and strong. Machine training should make up a very, very small portion of your overall workout volume (if at all) and isolation exercises an even smaller percentage. In fact, isolation exercises should rarely be used by anyone with less than two years of training experience and even then they should be used sparingly.
Big muscle groups such as the back, chest, shoulders and legs should rarely be trained with any isolation movements whatsoever. The way to get big is by using big, badass compound exercises that allow you to use a lot of weight and pile the plates on.
These exercises are squats, deadlifts, cleans, bent over rows, chin ups, dips, dumbbell presses, military presses, weighted pushups and barbell curls.
Mistake #9: Trying to Build Muscle & Lose Fat Simultaneously
This is a very common mistake that I see people making all the time. Despite what the muscle mags and over hyped supplement ads may tell you, it’s physiologically impossible to gain large amounts of muscle and lose body fat at the same time. They are two contradictory goals.
To build muscle you have to eat more calories than you burn. To lose fat you have to burn more calories than you eat. While there are some other factors to consider and it’s not always that simple, that pretty much sums it up. So to get huge you know that you have to be eating a ton of food. And that’s never conducive to getting shredded. To get lean you have to diet strictly and do cardio, and that’s never conducive to getting big.
Now, that’s not to say that you can’t gain some muscle and lose some body fat at the same time, because you can. But neither one will be maximized. So if your main goal is to gain twenty pounds of mass you should put the quest for a six pack on the back shelf for a few months and just focus on getting jacked.
The only people who can gain a decent amount of muscle and get ripped at the same time are beginners, genetic freaks and steroid users. Everyone else should pick one goal or the other. My recommendation is to eat and train for size first, while doing as little cardio as is needed to keep your body fat in check without compromising your size and strength gains, then switch over to fat loss phase later.
Muscle Building Mistake #10: Not Eating Enough of the RIGHT Foods to Build Muscle
To gain muscle you need to eat a surplus of calories. Studies have shown that sumo wrestlers actually have more muscle per square inch than competitive bodybuilders do. And most sumo wrestlers don’t even lift weights! That right there goes to show you just how powerfully anabolic (muscle building) eating is. But of course, you don’t want to end up looking like a sumo wrestler. That is why you have to eat intelligently and make smart food choices.
To gain muscle while minimizing fat gain you need to eat several small meals per day. You also need to time your carbohydrate intake so that you ingest the majority of you carbs during the two critical windows of opportunity each day when your insulin sensitivity is highest and when your body is primed to grow. These two times are first thing in the morning and right after your workouts. That’s not to say that you can’t eat carbs at other times, as you should, but that you should consume the bulk of them during those two windows.
Be sure that you eat every two to three hours and have protein, fat and carbs at every meal before 6pm. At night your insulin sensitivity decreases, meaning that you should avoid starchy carbs if you don’t want to get fat. Read more
