Top 12 Bodybuilding Myths - Busted!

1) Nutrition supplements will help you to gain muscle
Assuming the factors that promote muscle growth are already at their optimum level, for example, sleep, nutrition, your gym workouts and your lifestyle, introducing supplements will give you about a 10% difference at best. Take whatever you read in every muscle building supplement advertisement you come across in those popular bodybuilding magazines with a pinch of salt, as some of them might just be nothing more than crushed up food loaded with lots of artificial flavoring, sweeteners, preservatives, which do your body more harm than good. Also remember that supplements SUPPLEMENT your diet. Do not look at them as if they are the 'miracle' powders or pills which will be the only way for you to get that lean and ripped physique. No supplement has the same anabolic effect as the food we eat.

2) You Need To Alternate Between Low Intensity Phases and High Intensity Phases
Your muscles will only get bigger and stronger if you apply the commonly misunderstood principle of 'Progressive Overload'. Meaning to say, you would have to subject your muscles to a new level of stress every time you go back to the gym for your workout. In this way, your muscles will try to adapt to these new levels of stress you place upon them by getting bigger and stronger. Low intensity workouts totally contradict the basic principles required for building muscle.

3) Blame Your Genetics If You Are Not Getting Bigger or Stronger
If you feel that you are really genetically cursed, you would just have to work harder than the average guy, and definitely much harder than the genetically gifted. The truth is, having the thought that you are genetically inferior is just a lazy excuse. With the right nutrition, workout plans, good understandings of the basics of muscle growth and last but not least, a good attitude, anyone, even the most skinny or overweight, can get the lean and ripped body that they dream of.

4) Take Steroids If You Want Extra Results
Again, the most fundamental principle of muscle growth is 'Progressive Overload'. Taking drugs like steroids, growth hormones or thyroid pills will give you that huge and ripped physique you yearn for in the shortest time possible, however at the expense of health issues like heart disease, impotency, cancer, hair loss etc. Why take drugs when you can proudly tell your friends and family that the lean and ripped physique you have achieved is through your very own hard work and commitment!

5) "I Am Training To Sculpt, Tone, And Define"
Your body can only do four things- gain muscle, gain fat, lose muscle or lose fat. Your body does not have its own consciousness by telling your muscles the way it should shape, where it should cut etc. The only way to getting your muscles more defined is to build that muscle and lose the fat around it.

6) High Reps Equal Getting Cut and Low Reps Equal Getting Mass
Your muscles can only grow or shrink. The way to put on those extra pounds of muscle is to practice the principle of "Progressive Overload". Light weights do not shape your muscle in any manner; they only burn calories. Therefore if want to get those defined muscles by doing exercises with high reps and light weights, it is advised that the treadmill or the 'stair climber' would be a better option.

7) Yesterday Was Chest Day, Today is Leg Day And Tomorrow is Arms day
This idea of splitting up your routine has been prevalent in the bodybuilding world since many years ago till today. Yes, splitting up your routine has some benefits however it is also the fastest way to over-train and burn out. Targeting a particular muscle group in one gym session by doing multiple workouts is overkill. Note that your muscles do not get bigger and stronger in the gym, but only do so when you rest, sleep and eat until you fully recover.

8) You Need To 'Shock' Your Muscles And Keep Them Guessing
Your muscles can only understand basic movements like a pull or a push. They do not know if you have changed a particular exercise, they only tolerate it. Your muscles operate on laws of science, not confusion, shock or trickery.

9) For The Best Results, Train To Failure
I believe there is nothing wrong with the statement above. The problem is more towards how people understand it. Training to failure does not mean training a particular muscle group till you drop. Many people fail to realize that intensity is NOT equal to failure. Once your muscles perform more work than your previous workout, you are done. You have achieved progressive overload.

10) Train 'Instinctively' and 'Listen' to Your Body
I believe that building muscle is based on increasing the intensity from your previous workout and by using proper tools to track your progress, not by using your own 'gut feeling' to do so. Do professional swimmers or runners train without a stopwatch?

11) Searching For The Perfect Workout
There are perfect muscle building principles but not perfect workouts. The 'perfect' workout usually follows the latest trends, involve the use of a 'miracle' pill or powder and usually appear on popular bodybuilding advertisements and do not take into account your age, goals and genetics. Focus on searching for the right muscle building principles instead and you will be on your way to maximum muscle growth, no matter whom you are or where you come from.

12) Getting A Pump Is Necessary For Muscle Size
The muscle 'pump' is usually achieved by placing them under a constant period of muscular tension, leaving them feeling bigger and tighter, and is not necessary for making your muscles grow. Doing hundreds of reps with a very light weight will cause a muscle pump, but will it make your muscle grow? Definitely not! Instead, what it leaves behind is muscular fatigue due to lactic acid build up in your muscles caused from a lack of oxygen. This would probably cause you to stop the set simply due to the burning sensation from the lactic acid you get, but not because your muscles failed due to the lack of muscular strength. Therefore, aim to lift heavy weights with increasing intensity for each session to achieve maximum muscle growth.

The above information is adapted from Vince DelMonte's 'No Nonsense Muscle Building' Ebook. If you wish to know more and to get that lean and ripped physique that you dream of, or to know what workout or nutrition plans that are right for YOU, visit [http://www.insanemuscle.info].