More meathead urban myths from the weight room...

This past week I thought of some more dumb urban myths you frequently hear in gym.  Most of them are from meatheads who liken themselves to be philosophers. Just ask them the next time they spew one of these stupid laws of the gym what is the scientific rational behind their "law."  Chances are you'll get the deer in the headlights look or  the "I read it in Muscle and Fiction." 

Here are some more that make me cringe...:

1. During bench press touch the bar to your chest.  This is great if you are short an stocky and have a barrel chest. Most people that try to do this bring their shoulders into a dangerous position that puts a lot of stress on the glenohumeral joint and connective tissue versus the muscles. A good good general rule of thumb is go slightly past 90 degrees at the elbow. Always retract and pinch your shoulder blades when lowering to keep good rhythm between your shoulder blades and glenohumeral joint thus preventing injuries.

2. Squat to parallel. I used to go beyond parallel which looked cool but gave me some sweet tendinitis.  We do tons of movement screens. Many people don't have the flexibility, mobility or stability to get to parallel especially with a load on their back.  Our rule of thumb is squat to the depth where you have good form and can maintain a neutral spine. A good place to start when trying to get lower on your squats is improving calf flexibility and foot mobility which will instantly add depth to your squat. 

3.)Machines are king because you can do more weight.  Get out of the stone ages!  I hear guys brag about their leg press all the time. Big F***in deal ! Get under the rack and squat than I'll be impressed anyone who has done a free weight squat will attest that it is way more difficult than a leg press. Free weights challenge stabilizers and core musculature. Machines don't do any of this! If you are trying to build muscle they have their place but as finishing movements. Like icing on the cake. Start with basic compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull ups, rows and overhead presses. Add in things like leg curls, leg extensions and tricep pushdowns when you have done the big movements. 

4.)High reps tone,  heavy weights bulk you up!    This is another piece of BS I hear all the time. Higher weights build endurance.  Moderate to heavier weights add hypertrophy i.e. muscle bulk.  Using reps of 6-12 is generally what has been shown to build muscle.  Also look at tempo which has to with time under tension for the muscle.  Keeping the muscle under tension between 40-70 seconds is a good guideline to use. We recommend using a tempo of 3 sec lowering 2 sec pause and 2 sec hold this would be about 7 seconds per rep.  Doing heavy weights will add alot of intensity to your muscles but won't necessarily add much size. 

Women fear bulking up but let me reiterate they don't have the hormone levels to bulk up like men and it also depends heavily on caloric intake.

In Prescription Alternatives, Professor Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins detail these findings: "In a recent study on bone density and exercise, older women who did high-intensity weight training two days per week for a year were able to increase their bone density by one percent, while a control group of women who did not exercise had a bone density decrease of 1.8 to 2.5 percent. The women who exercised also had improved muscle strength and better balance, while both decreased in the non-exercising group."

Notice it said high intensity weight training not light weights for toning. Being strong doesn't mean being big.

I have soccer moms who are lean, athletic, and feminine who can flip tractor tires in back of my studio.  That's strong!

Here is a breakdown of good rep ranges we use for different adaptations:

12-25 Endurance

6-12   Hypertrophy (building muscles a.k,a "toning)

1-5     Strength

So there you go. The next time the local gym "expert" starts ranting all his knowledge you'll now have a different perspective.