I have been lifting for many years, over 30 to be exact. Over the years I have learned a lot from my own personal experience. Many of the things we are told about working out, gaining muscle, and losing body fat just don't make a lot of sense.
I have always looked at bodybuilding more from a common-sense point of view instead of all this bro-science stuff we read today.
You can watch bodybuilding videos and read articles all day long and the more you do the more complicated and confusing things seem to be.
Gaining muscle and getting a ripped body doesn't have to be complicated.
When I was young I would see all these modern-day bodybuilders who had massive bodies that would show how much they ate and the things they did to get massive.
When I smartened up realized it was all smoke and mirrors and these guys took a lot of steroids in order to look like they did.
I have made a list of myths to share with you, it's what I have learned about gaining muscle, losing fat, and increasing strength.
Table of Contents
You can't gain muscle without lifting heavy
This is not true.
I personally tried this after working out for several years, at one point in time I spent six months working out as heavy as I could.
I focused a lot on compound movements (deadlifts, rack pulls, and squats) and while I did gain a lot of strength and some muscle it was not as much as I had expected.
I did the opposite for six months and focused more on high reps, form, and contractions, and to my surprise, I gained a good amount of muscle, not only did I have more muscle definition I had more vascularity.
To this day I have been able to maintain lean muscle with a better physique and more vascularity.
Muscle growth is all about stimulating muscle fibers, the best way to do this is to maintain tension on the muscle.
While lifting heavy keeps tension on the muscle for a few seconds, slow controlled movements where you squeeze on every contraction pumps more blood into the muscle.
Gaining muscle is more about quality contractions and the squeeze versus lifting heavy all the time., best of all the pumps are insane!
Less is more
Performing several reps with light to moderate weight not only gives you a better pump, it results in better muscle gains.
If you have ever seen tradesmen like butchers, mechanics, and construction workers, you will notice “depending on the muscle groups worked” how developed those muscles are.
Butchers and mechanics have huge forearms, while those who work in construction often do a lot of pushing, pulling, and lifting movements and tend to have big biceps and muscular backs.
The reason they develop those muscles is because of repetitive movements using the same muscles all day.
Essentially focusing on lighter weight with more reps can give you a better-looking physique than lifting heavy all the time.
You need to take steroids to gain muscle.
This is something I had a hard time coming to grips with.
For starters getting Big Rammy or Ronnie Coleman big is not healthy, and unless you want to be Mr. Olympia there's no need to put your body through all that chemical torture so you can weigh 250+ pounds.
I'm sure there are personal preferences but look at the picture below, while Jay looks Massive Frank Zan has a much better physique a better v taper, and a chiseled look. This is not to say that Frank Zane didn't take steroids now and then but my point is that you don't need them to have an incredible-looking physique.
You need steroids to stay ripped
Go into any bodybuilding forum and you will find guys that juice all year round, they take steroids cycles for bulking and cutting. Some guys take them all year round cause they think it's cool.
This is something that is not necessary at all, in fact, many bodybuilders both modern and old school just took steroids 6-8 weeks out from a bodybuilding competition.
The rest of the year they watched their diet closely, they ate a lot of (different kinds of foods), and still maintained a lean and vascular body.
You can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time
One thing that is frustrating is having all these wannabe fitness gurus tell you that the only way to stay lean is by eating rich and nutritious foods.
This is not true at all.
This does not mean you should eat twinkies all day, but maintaining a lean body is all about calories in and calories out.
Arnold Schwarzenneger used to eat high carb meals, red meats, and starchy foods, he even talked about eating a whole apple pie before a bodybuilding competition.
When it comes to nutrition listen to your body.
As you begin to lose weight your body's metabolism will slow down, this does not mean you will gain fat. Your body will naturally adapt so you will crave less food, the same goes for those who have a fast metabolism, once your full if you continue eating, you'll gain fat.
Gaining fat has no correlation with your current body fat percentage, that is unless you are really lean, in this case, your body will begin to store fat, (this is a protection mechanism that kicks in from your body).
In order to maintain a lean body you need to compromise, sure you can eat a burger and fries just don't eat two.
Lean bulk prevents fat gain
There are some that believe the only way you can gain lean vascular muscle is by eating small meals 6-7 times throughout the day. This will help you build muscle without gaining fat, which is not true.
The truth is you will gain about the same amount of muscle as you will body fat.
Gaining muscle is more about preventing plateaus, best thing you can do is switch up your workout routine often, this will consistently keep muscles stimulated.
You need supplements
The sports supplements industry is a billion-dollar industry, every year hundreds of new supplement brands are released, they all claim you can gain more muscle and get better performance results from taking them.
This is only half true.
In theory, if you are eating nutrient-rich foods every day, this includes protein, plenty of fruits, and vegetables you probably don't need to take supplements.
Supplements only come in handy if you feel that you are not getting the right nutrients in your diet needed to gain muscle and maintain good energy levels.
The only time I have taken supplements is if I felt I was not getting enough nutrients through my diet, this was usually during a cutting cycle when I was eliminating a lot of calories. The other reason I take them is when I want quick results.
Supplements like whey protein, creatine, and legal steroids offer decent results and can give you a good increase in energy and ensure you are getting enough nutrients and calories when you're faced with calorie or nutrient deficits.
You don't need to eat healthy all the time to get lean
While most people think the only way to get lean is by eating lean meat and chicken every day this could not be further from the truth, in fact, you can lose weight by eating junk food.
The type of food you eat does not affect your body composition, the amount of food you eat does.
There are a few reasons why you do want to eat healthily, and this mainly has to do with how much better you will feel, eating protein-rich foods, whole grains and green leafy vegetables are full of nutrients that will help you meet your gains quicker.
Conclusion
These are just a few common bodybuilding myths, there are dozens of others but these are ones I feel are essential to point out so that men and women realize that they don't have to go to extremes to be able to gain muscle and transform their body.