Don't let these myths derail your weight training progress at the gym.
3 Common Workout Myths
With this article I would like to dispel some training myths frequently heard in the gym. I feel this is very important in order to help young trainees learn from the outset how to properly plan their programs and move in the right direction. Wasted time and energy only serves to discourage people from continuing to pursue their fitness goals, which is something I work quite hard to prevent. That being said, here are my top 3 workout myths.
Myth #1: If you’re not getting stronger you’re not getting bigger.
This is simply not true. Twenty years ago I was far stronger than I am now, but yet not nearly as big and muscular. While it is certainly important to try and push greater poundage as you move along in your training, this is not the only factor necessary for inducing hypertrophy. Gaining strength is often a function of “practicing” and “getting better” at a particular exercise, which is more of a neuromuscular adaptation than anything else. Truth be told, becoming too “efficient” at lifting a weight can actually be counterproductive to forcing muscle growth.
If you are constantly doing the same exercises, your CNS (central nervous system) may begin to get so good at performing the movements that less muscle fibers will need to fire in order to move the weight (opposite of what we want). Another thing to consider is that strength gains are finite and will eventually plateau. Of course I am not trying to tell you to prevent yourself from getting stronger, but to simply understand that hypertrophy is not solely reliant upon pushing heavier weights workout to workout.
You can also stimulate gains in mass by improving your mind/muscle connection, getting more work done in the same period of time, introducing novel training techniques, switching up lifting tempos, varying repetitions, altering angles, grips and planes of motion, etc.
Myth #2: Use heavy weight/low reps for mass and light weights/high reps for definition.
It would be great if it was actually that simple, but unfortunately, it is not. The truth of the matter is that building muscle is a rather complex process and a function of many physiological mechanisms, which collectively ignite our anabolic pathways. In order to maximally stimulate all of these mechanisms we must present the muscles with a variety of stimuli, which means variations in rep ranges, training techniques, lifting speeds, and more. In other words, “heavy weights” do assist in building bigger muscles, but so do “medium” and “light weights.” However, the key lies in giving your body the proper dose of each, and not relying on a one-dimensional approach.
As for muscle definition, this is something that results from achieving a body fat percentage of about 10% and lower (obviously the lower you get, the more definition you will display). Lifting lighter weights for high reps is certainly not going to be solely responsible for making this occur, as some people seem to wrongly believe. Only a sound nutritional regimen, coupled with consistent cardio workouts and intelligent supplementation (in conjunction with your resistance training program) can push the body to rid itself of fat through increased calorie burn and boosted metabolic rate.
