7 Progress Draining Muscle Building Myths That Can Ruin Your Gain-Train

In the name of muscle building, there is so much misinformation floating out on the internet that it is mind-boggling. 

It amazes me to see so many people who go all out in the gym but keep getting mediocre results at best for their hard work.

 Many of us fell for some of these muscle-building myths and lies (I know I did) or probably still believe in it.

Muscle building is a slow process, and falling for these myths will make it even slower. Not only will these mistakes waste your time and energy but not going to benefit you in the long run too. So, you better look out for these myths before they wreck your progress.

 Below are the most common myths and mistakes you should avoid in your pursuit of muscle building.

7 Progress draining muscle-building myth or advice you may hear from the gym bros 

• Keep changing your workout schedule to confuse the muscles

Many fitness gurus suggest you keep changing your workout routine regularly. 

 If you ask why?

They reply; so that ‘you can keep your body guessing’ and the muscles don’t get adapted to a particular exercise which will slow down your progress. 

Fact:- For those who don’t understand how the muscles work, this may sound very logical and interesting (as you get to do a variety of different exercises), but it’s complete nonsense. Yes, the muscles do adapt, not to a particular movement but to the weight you are lifting. 

The muscles don’t know if you are doing exercise A or exercise B. It only recognizes the stress exerted by the load. So to progress, you have to increase the poundage, creating more damage to the muscle fibre. The muscles will recover by creating stronger muscle fiber, forcing itself to grow.

• More sets equal more gains 

Conventional wisdom says, to make progress, the more you do it better you become at it.

People apply the same principle to building muscles, thinking that more sets equal more muscles.

Fact:- Well, it may shock many gym junkies to know that more sets and more reps will not give you more gains.

Your target should be to stimulate the muscles, not destroy them.

For a particular muscle (say: chest, back, legs), 3 to 4 exercises are sufficient. Do three sets of 8-10 reps for each exercise. That is enough to break down your muscle fibres and stimulate them to grow big. The growth will happen with proper nutrition and adequate rest.  

Remember, there’s the hard way of doing things, and then there is the wise way of doing things.

• Focus on isolation exercises instead of compound exercises

Isolation exercise may feel more effective as it targets a particular muscle. Isolation exercise will give you the pump, making you believe that isolation exercises are more effective than compound exercises.

Fact:- Since compound exercises target multiple muscles, you may not feel the burn, but this doesn’t mean you are not getting the results. The heavier you train, the greater will be the muscle damage, thus better hypertrophy.

Since isolation exercises target a single muscle, you can’t lift as heavy as you can in a compound exercise. On the other hand, compound exercises allow you to lift heavy weights and make outstanding progress.

The squat will always be superior to leg press or leg extension in adding more meat to your quads. Deadlifts and bent over rows will add more mass to your back than any isolation exercises for the back.

 Add isolation exercises for smaller muscles like biceps, rear delts, middle deltoids and calves. For the bigger muscle groups, however, train with compound exercises with heavier weights.

• Lift heavy to get big 

Many guys believe that simply lifting heavy equals bigger muscles. It’s true but partially. Lifting big with proper form and technique will give you big muscles.

Fact:- Lifting heavy without maintaining proper form won’t give you any good results and increase the risk of injuries. Performing an exercise with proper form and technique will create a maximum impact on the target muscle. Also, your chances of injuries will be less. 

Lifting heavy means the weight should be in a rep range of 4- 8 reps which you can lift in a full range of motion in a controlled manner. So if you cannot lift the weight in this manner, it will do more harm than good.

• Crunching all day will give you six-pack abs

If there is one myth floating around for ages and refuses to die, it is this – do X number of crunches (100,200,500,1000) every day to get chiseled abs. You must have heard celebrities claiming to do so-and-so number of crunches every day to showcase the set of well-toned abs on the screen.

The fact is that crunches will not make your abs visible. Crunches will only work on the abdominal muscle, not on the layer of fat wrapped over the ab muscles. Crunches won’t have any significant effect on your belly fat.

It takes a good diet plan, along with a proper workout schedule to make those abs visible.

• Do not rest for more than 30 sec between sets

Another common myth is that you should not take too much rest between sets.

The belief is that if you are not out of breath and not feeling fatigued, then your workout intensity is low and won’t make the muscles grow. If you take more than 30 sec of rest, your muscles start to cool down. This cooldown will make you lose the pump, thus making the next set less effective.

 Fact:- The reality, however, is different. The rest period depends on the kind of load you are lifting. If the weight is relatively light and you can do a set of 15 reps without much difficulty, then taking a rest of 30 to 60 sec is enough.

 But, if your goal is to build muscles, you have to lift heavy (maximum amount of weight you can lift with proper form for 6-8 reps). A heavyset demands a longer rest interval.  Your muscles need more time to recover from a heavy-set to repeat the next set with maximum intensity.

• Weight training will make women bulky

Of all the muscle-building myths, this one takes the cake. This one awful piece of advice makes many females stir away from the weight room. And those who do weight training intentionally stick to lighter weights, fearing they will become muscular. They believe lifting heavier weights will make them look like a man. 

Fact:- It is true that women aspire for a slim and toned physique and not like a meaty bodybuilder. But even if you want to get a lean and toned body, you have to do weight training. The toned look comes because of the muscles. 

 Strength training will increase your muscles but not like a bodybuilder. It will give you a toned look.

Testosterone is the primary muscle-building hormone present in surplus in males. Therefore they can grow muscle. 

Compared to men, women have very little testosterone. Thus they will not get bulky and muscular like men. So women should not shy away from the weight room. Go ahead, lift some challenging weight and get that toned physique you deserve.

Were you aware of these muscle building myths? Or do you know any other prevalent fitness myths that you want to share? Do let me know in the comments below.

Author’s Bio:– Akash Dass is a fitness coach and nutrition consultant with a decade of experience under his belt. He runs a website where he writes articles to give authentic information on fitness and nutrition that can benefit his readers. He is an introvert, but he can talk to anyone when the topic is about nutrition and fitness.