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30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 11 - 15)
MUSCLE MEDIA
2000 EXPOSES 30 OF BODYBUILDING’S BIGGEST LIES THAT STAND
BETWEEN YOU AND SUCCESS!
By T.C. Luoma and Bill Phillips.
(Originally
printed in the October/November issue of Muscle Media 2000)
11 -- You
should only rest 45 seconds in between sets.
That's true if you're
trying to improve cardiovascular health or lose some
bodyfat. But in order to build muscle, you need to
allow enough time for the muscle to recuperate fully (ie.
let the lactic acid buildup in your muscles dissipate and
ATP levels build back up). In order to make muscles grow,
you have to lift the heaviest weight possible, thereby
allowing the maximum number of muscle fibers to be
recruited. If the amount of weight you lift is being
limited by the amount of lactic acid left over from the
previous set, you're only testing your ability to battle
the effects of lactic acid. In other words, you're trying
to swim across a pool while wearing concrete overshoes.
When training heavy, take [at least!] two and three
minutes between your sets. Notice I said, "when training
heavy." The truth is, you can't train heavy all the time.
Periodization calls for cycling heavy workouts with less
intense training sessions in an effort to keep the body
from becoming overtrained. (See 'Periodization' by Brad
Jeffreys on p. 85 of the Feb/March 1993 issue of MM2K)
12 -- You have
to use fancy weightlifting equipment
in order to make the best gains.
Futuristic-looking,
complex machinery designed to give your muscles the
'ultimate workout' is typically less effective than
good-old barbells and dumbbells. Using simple free weights
(barbells and dumbbells) on basic multi-joint exercises,
like the squat, bench press, shoulder press, and deadlift,
is still the most effective means of resistance exercise
ever invented. Scientific research has shown that many
exercise machines lack the proper eccentric component of
an exercise that's necessary to stimulate muscle tissue to
remodel (grow). (See the article titled 'Research Confirms
that Bodybuilders Should Pay Heavy Attention to Negative
Reps' by Bill Phillips on p.18 of the Feb/March issue of
MM2K)
13 -- Weight
training makes you big; aerobic exercise cuts you up.
Manipulations in your
nutrient intake are the main factor in getting cut up, and
how you do it doesn't matter. If your daily caloric
expenditure exceeds your daily caloric intake on a
consistent basis, you will lose fat and get more cut.
Aerobic exercise is
generally meant to improve cardiovascular efficiency, but
if you do it long enough, you will burn up calories and in
the long run drop the fat. However, weightlifting can do
the same thing, only better. Studies have shown that the
body burns far more efficiently if exercise is performed
at a moderate pace for periods longer than 20 minutes. (It
generally takes that long for the glucose in the
bloodstream to be 'burned up', causing the body to dip
into glycogen reserves for its energy) Once the glycogen
reserves are used up, the body must metabolize fatty acids
for energy. That equate to lost bodyfat.
In the long run,
bodybuilding is more efficient than aerobics for
burning up calories. Let me explain--if researchers were
to undertake a study of twins whereby one twin performed
daily aerobics and the other practiced a bodybuilding
programme where the end result was increased lean body
mass, the bodybuilding twin would ultimately be a more
efficient fat burner than his aerobic twin. Why? Well, by
adding lean body mass, that person's metabolic
requirements are higher--muscle uses energy even while it
is not being used. The aerobic twin might use more
calories during the time period of exercise itself, but
the weight-lifting twin would use a higher amount during
rest time, leading to a higher net 24-hour expenditure.
The weight lifter burns fat just sitting there.
14 -- You can
completely reshape a muscle
by doing isolation exercises.
You can't limit growth to
only one area of a muscle. Larry Scott, for whom the
'biceps peaking' Scott curl was named, had tremendous
biceps, but he didn't have much of a peak. The
shape of your biceps, or for that matter, any muscle, is
determined by your genetic makeup. When you work a muscle,
any muscle, it works on the all-or-nothing principle,
meaning that each muscle fiber recruited to do a lift --
along the entire length of that muscle -- is contracted
fully. Why would a certain number of them, like the ones
in the middle of the biceps, suddenly start to grow
differently or at a faster rate than its partners? If
anything, the muscles that are closest to the insertion
points are the most prone to mechanical stress, and you
don't see them get any bigger than the rest of the muscle.
If they did, everyone would have proportions like Popeye.
This is true of any
muscle, but you're probably thinking, what about quads? I
know that when I do hack squats with my feet together, it
tends to give me more sweep in my legs. Sure it does, but
the quadriceps are made up of four different main muscles,
and doing hacks with your feet together forces the
vastus lateralis muscles on the outside of the leg to
work harder; consequently, they grow proportionately along
their entire length and give the outer quads more sweep.
As further evidence, take
a look at a picture of any young professional bodybuilder
before he was developed enough to become a pro. He will
have virtually the same structural lines as he does today.
All that has changed is that his muscles are now bigger.
15 -- If you
get a pump
, you're working the muscles adequately to ensure muscular
hypertrophy, or if your muscles are burning, that means
you are promoting muscle growth.
A pump, despite what
Arnold Schwarzenegger said about it "feeling better than
coming", is nothing more than the muscle becoming engorged
with blood from capillary action. It can be achieved
easily by curling a soup can fifty times. It by no means
equates to the muscular intensity needed to promote
growth. The same is true of the coveted 'burn' that
Hollywood muscleheads advise the public to 'go for'. A
burn is simply an accumulation of lactic acid, a
by-product of chemical respiration. You can get a burn by
peddling a bicycle or simply extending your arm straight
out and moving it in tiny circles [or sitting in a burning
fireplace!]. It does not necessarily mean you are
promoting muscle growth. For hypertrophy to occur, you
have to subject the muscles to high levels of tension, and
high tension levels are best induced by heavy weights.
30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 1 - 5)
30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 6 - 10)
30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 16 - 20)
30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 21 - 25)
30 Of
Bodybuilding's Biggest Lies (Parts 26 - 30)
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