Worst Advice =EVER=!

[Barfly]

This one annoys me to a great degree whenever I hear it. It's like Arnold got that way by accident. Oops I'm Mr. Olympia.

 

The worst piece of advice, from more than one person, was that I was genetically predisposed to be skinny and I shouldn't bother to lift weights because I would never get bigger. I get very angry whenever I hear this being perpetuated to anyone else.

 

Don't you mean "Meestah Oleempiah"?

[IslandGirl_Becks]

I've heard from  my sisters a couple of times "You shouldn't lift so heavy. you'll get bulky."

hmmm... I'm pretty sure that fat is bulkier than muscle... but i guess slimming down might not be a bad idea... 

[Zorch]

 

But I don't want to turn into a bodybuilder, Arnold, or get too bulky.  Lots of noobs say this and believe this, but it is downright insulting to people trying to get leaner and bigger due to how believing the phrase requires a gross miscalculation of difficulty.

Some variation of your last line(i.e. the "lifting will turn you into the Hulk" myth) was probably the biggest mistake I made/misconception I had when I was younger.  I thought lifting heavy, etc. would turn me into something resembling a linebacker - strong, and perhaps somewhat fast, but less agile/flexible.  I was a tennis player, so obviously I put a premium on quickness/agility/explosiveness, and I mistakenly thought strength training would make me bulky and slower.  In retrospect, not doing sport-appropriate strength training in my younger days was/is probably the biggest mistake I made, athletically speaking.

[MariahSnow]

Some variation of your last line(i.e. the "lifting will turn you into the Hulk" myth) was probably the biggest mistake I made/misconception I had when I was younger.  I thought lifting heavy, etc. would turn me into something resembling a linebacker - strong, and perhaps somewhat fast, but less agile/flexible.  I was a tennis player, so obviously I put a premium on quickness/agility/explosiveness, and I mistakenly thought strength training would make me bulky and slower.  In retrospect, not doing sport-appropriate strength training in my younger days was/is probably the biggest mistake I made, athletically speaking.

 

Does anyone know where the myth originates that more muscle = slower, less flexible, less agile?

 

Along the same lines, does anyone know where the myth comes from that bodybuilders aren't strong? I've heard this before that they are just gaining size, not necessarily strength. But I've seen some body builders do workouts and they are moving massive weight. I've even seen bodybuilders do bodyweight exercises and you know that's hard because they're so dense.

[Zorch]

Does anyone know where the myth originates that more muscle = slower, less flexible, less agile?

 

 

A lot of it is probably specificity of training.  Most folks that train for mass/pure strength aren't emphasizing quickness.  If they are, the two aren't mutually exclusive.  However, there is also one element of truth: carrying around a lot of weight that isn't in your legs will tend to make you slower/less agile, as speed/agility are all about power-to-weight ratio.  Squats will make you a faster sprinter, not slower.  Both leg and core strength are key to speed/agility.  However, too much upper body mass is a liability if speed/agility is your primary goal.

 

 

Along the same lines, does anyone know where the myth comes from that bodybuilders aren't strong? I've heard this before that they are just gaining size, not necessarily strength. But I've seen some body builders do workouts and they are moving massive weight. I've even seen bodybuilders do bodyweight exercises and you know that's hard because they're so dense.

Bodybuilding training is usually higher-rep/lower weight to induce hypertrophy, so they're rarely focusing on 1-rep maxes.  So maximal strength is rarely tested during training - however that doesn't mean that bodybuilders can't move heavy weights.  Given that strength is typically a function of overall muscle size(diameter), if a bodybuilder does the neuromuscular conditioning such that he/she is conditioned to do 1-rep max work, he/she is going to be quite strong.

[Waldo]

Does anyone know where the myth originates that more muscle = slower, less flexible, less agile?

 

Along the same lines, does anyone know where the myth comes from that bodybuilders aren't strong? I've heard this before that they are just gaining size, not necessarily strength. But I've seen some body builders do workouts and they are moving massive weight. I've even seen bodybuilders do bodyweight exercises and you know that's hard because they're so dense.

Well there is truth to the first one, at least at the top end.

Getting stronger and more muscular will make you stronger and more agile to a point, then it will start to have the opposite effect. 99.999% of people are nowhere near that point and have nothing to worry about. But it definitely matters in pro sports. Guys like receivers and DB's have to toe the line with size and strength because extra muscle mass hurts their agility and slows them down.

For me as a BW strength trainer, eventually muscle gain will not give enough additional strength to overcome the weight of the muscle; getting bigger just makes you "weaker" (strength increases as a function of cross sectional area, weight increases as a function of volume, volume increases at a faster rate than area). I can make educated guesses as to where this point is, but I haven't hit it yet.

The myth that bodybuilders aren't strong is a byproduct of the ongoing:

- Powerlifters call bodybuilders wimps

- Bodybuilders call powerlifters fatsos

In a tongue and cheek friendly jest sort of way. All the noobs want to be powerlifters nowadays, and don't really understand the mutual respect and freindliness that is part of the mockery; but they join in the culture and partake themselves, which causes quite a bit of drift of the central point. Likewise there is quite a bit of stupid programming out there for bodybuilders, whereas powerlifters tend to have a more uniform and well reasoned training. Noobs again tend to look at the stupid bodybuilding programming as being representative of all bodybuilding programming, whereas that just isn't the case at all.

[Waldo]

Squats will make you a faster sprinter, not slower.

To a point, but only training slow and grindy movement will eventually lead to slow and grindy movement.

Explosion training, learning to rapidly fire muscles against lesser loads, is also necessary.

I absolutely proved this to myself with pullups.

I'm pretty sure the vertical jump bible (vertical jumping and sprinting are very related activities) says that squats alone will increase your vert up to about 2x BW, but around that point you have to begin doing explosion training as additional strength will not in itself increase your vert.

Amongst those I know that have been around higher level football S&C programs, power cleans, not squats, is the speed increasing exercise; but at that level everyone has a strong squatting base of strength.

[insanity]

Does anyone know where the myth originates that more muscle = slower, less flexible, less agile?

 

Along the same lines, does anyone know where the myth comes from that bodybuilders aren't strong? I've heard this before that they are just gaining size, not necessarily strength. But I've seen some body builders do workouts and they are moving massive weight. I've even seen bodybuilders do bodyweight exercises and you know that's hard because they're so dense.

Coming from my experience as a cross country runner, the belief I had was simply if you have less weight to carry, you can go faster. You never see a bodybuilder in a footrace. I extended that out to basically speed in inversely proportional to size... not realizing that it was more like a bell curve.

 

As for bodybuilders, I've heard that they're so focused on isolating the large muscles, that they don't really build the supportive muscles. While they might be able to lift more than me, they can't lift what someone their size, who incorporated the supportive muscles would be able to.

[El Exorcisto]

Insanity, the reason bodybuilders have smaller one-rep maxes than powerlifters is because they don't train for it. The weight on the bar is secondary to the effect for a bodybuilder, while a powerlifter trains for strength with muscle balance being a lesser focus. Bodybuilders actually hit supporting musculature more than powerlifters by default, since their goal is to be aesthetic and symmetrical. A powerlifter will try to keep in balance to stay healthy, but in general hit their muscles from fewer angles and planes.

[El Exorcisto]

As for bad advice... "You have a bad back. Don't deadlift or squat, you'll just make it worse." Little did I know that there are a million reasons for a "bad back." The reason for mine was because of weakness and imbalance, not because of the oft-quoted but rarely appearing herniation.

 

And of course, "You just lost 24 pounds, why are you trying to gain it all back?!?" If I wanted to be skinny and androgenous then I would be. I don't. I want to be a jacked, scary motherfucker when I grow up.

[insanity]

Insanity, the reason bodybuilders have smaller one-rep maxes than powerlifters is because they don't train for it. The weight on the bar is secondary to the effect for a bodybuilder, while a powerlifter trains for strength with muscle balance being a lesser focus. Bodybuilders actually hit supporting musculature more than powerlifters by default, since their goal is to be aesthetic and symmetrical. A powerlifter will try to keep in balance to stay healthy, but in general hit their muscles from fewer angles and planes.

This I know now, just like the running deal. I was just referencing my past experience to give a possible explanation for why the myth lives on.

[Flex Luthor]

I think the more muscle slowing you down thing comes from the force/weight ratio. The greater that number is the better you will be at anything relating to bodyweight, like running, pull ups, push ups, etc. Now the reason that this holds some people back is that they don't realize more muscle = more force. It's really about maximizing the ratio by making the muscle you do have as strong as it can be.

 

Using football as an example look at your typical NFL receiver. By a normal person's standards they are all quite huge and muscular. However, they are also extremely fast, can jump high, so on and so forth. They've maximized the potential of the muscle they have so they're able to still generate a large force/weight ratio despite having a lot of weight. 

 

It's been my observation that the limiting factor is often bodyfat. Bodyfat helps generate more force but obviously to a much lesser degree than extra muscle. This is ideal for sports like powerlifting or for the NFL example a lineman. More force = better performance.

 

Again this is pure speculation.

 

Something that really opened my eyes was seeing the youtube personality Kali Muscle do muscle ups easier than I can and at ~260 lbs. The only sport I could see you needing to be super small for would be your extreme endurance racing like marathons and triathalons. In almost every other sport more muscle will help you and it would be extremely difficult to get to a weight that would be a hindrance without trying to.

[MetalNinja]

I know it's true that more weight isn't good for triathlons, which is why they have a racing category specifically for larger racers (Athena and Clydesdale, but these are for age group racers, not pros).  I remember watching the Kona Ironman a few years ago, and this guy (whose name I don't remember unfortunately) was like 6'3" and in the lead on the run, but he was so big that keeping himself cool was just really hard, and he had ice down his suit and everything but he was passed by a smaller, lighter racer.  (I think that was also the race where Chrissie Wellington got a flat, screwed up fixing it, had another racer toss her a CO2 cartridge, and then go on to win the whole thing again.)  For endurance sports, you're just using more energy because you're moving more mass, which puts you at a disadvantage.  Because, y'know, energy is force times distance.

 

Sprinting sports, though, are all about explosive power, which would be your American football receivers and so forth.  You'll notice that American football players are much bulkier than soccer players, because soccer players are constantly running out on the pitch, whereas Am-football players are resting in between sprints.

 

So yeah, Simon, it's not really speculation, you're pretty much spot-on there.  Or, like, I confirm your speculation.

[Buff Brogan]

worst advice ever, fresh into high school at a commercial gym "you shouldn't deadlift, it's terrible for your back and you'll barely see any progress from doing them."

[Ghostbird]

worst advice ever, fresh into high school at a commercial gym "you shouldn't deadlift, it's terrible for your back and you'll barely see any progress from doing them."

 

From what I've heard, deadlift is the most beneficial. xD

[Buff Brogan]

From what I've heard, deadlift is the most beneficial. xD

yeah, from what i can tell there's a hot debate whether or not Deadlift or the Squat is the King of Exercises. 

[Ghostbird]

yeah, from what i can tell there's a hot debate whether or not Deadlift or the Squat is the King of Exercises. 

Lunges X_x

 

My glutes are still aching from doing too many >.<;

[Missmouse]

Some guy at the gym the other day told me to look up when squatting. And he actually meant straight up - as in, looking directly at the ceiling.

He does his 1/4 squats this way, and it's painful to watch. It's like his neck is wrapped completely around the bar.

[Buff Brogan]

Lunges X_x

 

My glutes are still aching from doing too many >.<;

lunges are fantastic as well! i think i'm just partial to the big 3, bench, deadlift, and squat.

 

Some guy at the gym the other day told me to look up when squatting. And he actually meant straight up - as in, looking directly at the ceiling.

He does his 1/4 squats this way, and it's painful to watch. It's like his neck is wrapped completely around the bar.

missmouse(feel odd saying that as i have a dear friend i call mouse, and ms. mouse all the time) i see a lot of guys doing squats that way. i'm no master squatter, and i'm sure i make my fair share of mistakes, but i can't imagine loading the bar with heavy weight while looking at the sky without some pain being involved

[I-Jo]

The whole starvation mode concept.  The little shred of truth to it that allows it to live on applies to <0.000001% of the people worried about starvation mode.

 

Overtraining.  Again the little shred of truth to it that allows it to live on applies to <0.000001% of the people worried about overtraining.

 

Turning fat into muscle.  This is downright nonsensical.

 

Recomping and all other assorted zero fat (or even fat loss) attempts at muscle gain.  Waste of time that scared noobs are overly herded toward.

 

Eating clean.  Vaguely defined arbitrary rules to define good/bad and right/wrong which is little more than the obfuscation of reality.

 

But I don't want to turn into a bodybuilder, Arnold, or get too bulky.  Lots of noobs say this and believe this, but it is downright insulting to people trying to get leaner and bigger due to how believing the phrase requires a gross miscalculation of difficulty.

all this.

 

"don't lose to much more" you're good where you are

 

don't keep going- you don;t want to get to big.

 

to which I say: bitch step off- you don't know what I want. 

[FruityGun]

People that say you should never eat fruit because it contains carbs, sugar, and too many calories... Thin people have never told me not to eat too much fruit... And I know fruit isn't causing people to get fat. The media never says, geez fat people... stop eating so much fruit. Yeah... Fruit must be the problem. 

[Ghostbird]

People that say you should never eat fruit because it contains carbs, sugar, and too many calories... Thin people have never told me not to eat too much fruit... And I know fruit isn't causing people to get fat. The media never says, geez fat people... stop eating so much fruit. Yeah... Fruit must be the problem. 

Apple a day! I adore apples, and bananas. x]

[elenaa]

I was telling my friends mum she looks really good (she started eating clean - cutting out refined carbs and whatnot). And she went crazy.

 

Her: Yeah I go gym now too. I joined up for the classes and everything. AND I dont even go every day! Twice or so a week

Me: That's great! Yeah my brother learnt the hard way not to overwork his muscles. He use to go every day when he just started and- (I was gonna tell her how he literally worked ALL his muscles EVERYDAY. Plus he's a tiler too so he'd spend the day lifting tiles and heavy bags of cement. Ended up injuring himself.)

Her: Oh that's cause he's a guy.

Me: Yeah but...he still shouldnt work all his muscles every day. He needs to rest his muscle grou-

Her: No, they want to build muscle. Thats what they have to do they have to train every day.

Me: But-

Her: We're girls. We can lift weights, but not heavy ones, so we can tone. Boys have to lift heavy EVERY. DAY.

Me: ...but..

Her: So yeah [goes off about her gym and how it's new and convenient]

 

I don't know what the worst part was. 

 

 

Oh and then there was my brother. Who tried to convince me that Maccas (Edit: McDonald's) and Pizza Hut is good for you because fat is good for you and I just.

[Ghostbird]

 

Her: We're girls. We can lift weights, but not heavy ones, so we can tone. Boys have to lift heavy EVERY. DAY.

Whaaaat? I dun lift every day and I still see results, granted I do pushups and other bodyweight stuffs, but I enjoy doing those the most. =]

 

From what I heard, Staci lifts heavy, and she's amazing! Dun be afraid to lift heavy at the end of every week/month and test your limits!

[IronGlider]

One which I here a LOT is how intermittent fasting is not sustainable lifestyle and that your body enters into 'starvation mode' when your feeling hungry for longer than an hour. WTF?!?! Where do they get this info from? On what basis does one always know that they are genuinely hungry (and that it ain't placebo or routine)???

 

You enter starvation mode after 30+ hours of fasting lol!