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Muscle Fiction and Muscle Truth

By: Brad Martinson If you have been training, here's a short list of bodybuilding fiction.

1. The 12 Rep rule

Most weight training program include this much repetitions for gaining muscle. The truth is this approach places the muscles with not enough tension for effective muscle gain. High tension e.g. heavy weights provides muscle growth in which the muscle grows much larger, leading to the maximum gains in strength. Having longer tension time boosts the muscle size by generating the structures around the muscle fibers, improving endurance.

Heavy weights mean bigger gains in strength and muscle due to longer tension. Longer tension, of course results in more muscle mass. This is because it encourages growth of the muscle fibers, also building endurance.

Eight to twelve reps does not give you the tension levels that can be achieved by less reps with heavier weights, or the longer tension that comes from light weights with more reps. To create all types of muscle growth, change up your routine - both in terms of repetitions and the weights you use.

2. Three Set rule

The truth is there's nothing wrong with three sets but then again there is nothing amazing about it either. The number of sets you perform should be base on your goals and not on a half-century old rule. 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

There is really no basis for this myth. It is better to do more reps of one exercise than lose focus by trying to do too many different exercises per group. Try upping the number of reps (say 30-50, somewhere in there). Obviously, break this up into sets.

4. My knees, my toes

An adage of the gym with some basis, though it is more common to be injured as a result of leaning forward too far during an exercise. Memphis University researchers have found stress on the knees increases approximately one third when the knees go past the toes during squats. However, stress on the hips goes up ten times when the knee is held back from passing the toes.

The strain is merely shifted from the knees to the lower back, which can cause worse injuries than can having ones knees pass the toes.

Focus 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

What is the most important muscle group? The transverse abdominis? That all depends. The answer depends on what exercise you are doing. In most cases, the body already knows which muscle group to call into action to keep the spine supported. Focusing on the wrong muscle group (in this example, the transverse abdominis again) can work the wrong muscles while holding back the correct ones, which raises your risk of injuries and lowers the weight you can lift.