Uncovering The Myths About Muscle Building

Serious about muscle building? If you are, then congratulations! This is a fantastic way to keep yourself healthy and looking good. However, you need to be very careful of who you are taking advice from. Why do I say that? Losing weight, keeping fit as well as bodybuilding are multi million dollar industries that are growing every year due to an increasing number of people who wants to look great.

There seems to be more and more so called "experts" out there who have no idea what they are talking about and who seemed only interested to promote expensive pills and powders to everyone. You have to be careful or you may end up believing some lies that may be fatal to your efforts in building muscles.

Myth 1
If you want to build muscle, you have to get a "pump" during workout. More muscle is equivalent to achieving a greater pump during your workout.

For those of you have just started out, what we mean by a "pump" is the feeling that you get as your blood becomes trapped inside the muscle tissue during weight training.

As more and more blood flows into the muscles, your body will start to swell up and your body will get bigger, tighter, stronger and even more powerful. Although it sounds great, this pump has little impact on helping you grow your muscles.

You should only gauge your workout by the concept of progression. If you are able to lift more weight than last week, then there is progress. This is an indication that your workouts are bearing fruits for you!

Myth 2
You become slower and stiff when you build muscle.

This came from the thinking in the past where bodybuilders were regarded as just being muscle bound and bulky. Surprisingly, building more lean muscle mass can actually help speed you up!

Every movement that you make is only possible by using your muscles. Without muscles, you cannot jump, dance, wave, run or even stand. Thus if you need more force, you just have to build stronger muscles. Think about this, when you have stronger muscular legs, you probably will have increased foot speed. How about muscular shoulders? You will probably be able to throw farther.

So, having strong muscles is equivalent to having able muscles, not the other way around.

Myth 3
You must only use perfect form on all your exercises.

Using good form in the gym is important and encouraged, you should not be obsessing over perfect form. If you are constantly trying to perform every exercise using flawless form, there is a chance that you may hurt yourself. And you are also reducing the total amount of muscle stimulation you can achieve.

Remember, we are no robots... in fact, it is very important that you always move naturally when you exercise. When performing your bicep curls, you can add a very slight natural sway in your back. When you are performing your barbell rows, you can also use a tiny bit of body momentum to help. No need to be so tight up. Instead move your body naturally, as how it was supposed to move. Obsessing over perfect form will actually work against you rather than for you.

Myth 4
If you want your muscles to grow you must "feel the burn!"

Another major misconception in the gym... This "burning" refers to the feeling that you get when you are doing an intense weight training that causes lactic acid which is a metabolic waste product to be secreted inside your muscle tissue.

Increased levels of lactic acid have nothing to do with muscle growth and may actually slow down your gains rather than speed them up. To control and limit your lactic acid produced, try to limit the production by training lower reps. For example, try rep range of 5-7 instead.

If you want to build the body that you have always wanted, you have to stop listening to the "lies" and start training right. Download more information about proper and effective techniques to gain muscles quickly here.