Common Misconceptions about Gyms & Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding has been one of the most common activities of people all over the world since the earliest days of humanity. Many different things have been associated with bodybuilding by all sorts of individuals. Some of these things are positive, while many other are negative. Overall if we take a look at all these things, we will see that majority of these things are just myths. These myths have been stopping people from working out and getting a fitter and healthier body. All these myths have prevented people from living a better life. Many of these myths have forced people to do the wrong workouts which could damage their bodies.

We will be discussing some of these myths today so that you could build your muscles without any worries and a safer way. We will try to bust as many myths and misconceptions as possible so that you could understand bodybuilding and workouts correctly.

1. Only Crunches Can Give Flat Abs

Many people have been heard saying that they only need to do as many crunches as possible to get a flat tummy and visible abs. A huge majority of people have tried to achieve abs by doing regular crunches throughout the day. Many of these people continued their routine for weeks in hopes of getting abs, but very few of these people succeeded. Most of the other people either stopped midway either because they were frustrated by not seeing quick results or due to different pains that started occurring in their bodies. If you wish to get abs, you need to do a lot more than crunches.

Crunches just burn the fat in the tummy and the back. Along with that crunches put a lot of stress on the back and abs. One wrong move and you can damage your muscles. Many people have been known to suffer from severe muscle damage due to crunches. There are many exercises that you will need to do along with the crunches to get the abs. Plus you can always consult a professional gym trainer as they will surely tell you many exercises that will be easier than crunches and give better results in less time.

Other activities that can give better abs are abdominal hold, opposite arm and leg raise, squats, prone planks, ballet twists and last but not the least sit-ups. Try these along with crunches, and you will get better abs within no time.

2. Sweating Is Beneficial for Bodybuilding

This is one of the most common misconceptions. Almost everyone, even the professionals have been spotted saying that sweating is the best sign that you are burning excessive calories. Body fat is one of the most common problems that almost everyone has to deal with. This fat makes people look awkward, and before anyone could get a better muscular body, they need to burn away all this fat. The fat burning process could be quite hard and requires dedication from anyone no matter what their age is. For this people will usually run, jog or workout at the gym.

When these people are done with the exercise, they consider the amount of sweat they are drenched to show the number of fat they have burnt. People think that the body only sweat when the body burns fats. This is not true. Sweating is just meant to cool down the body. The amount of sweat that you get after a workout usually depends on climate around you and the amount of water in your body. The body sweats to cool itself, and it has nothing to do with the fat burning process. So it is always better to rely on other digital calculators to see the number of calories you have burnt rather than checking the wetness of your clothes.

3. Running Damages Your Knees

This was one of the most awkward things that I came across. One of my colleagues told me that he has stopped going out for a run every morning because his fiancée said that it is harmful to the knees. The argument he had was that while running the knee bones rub with each other and due to friction the cartilage that provides lubrication is damaged. He kept this claim for days until I brought him a solid proof in the form of a doctor’s advice that I especially took. Running can help you burn a lot of fats, but for proper running, it is necessary that you do other workouts to provide strength to other muscles that support the body.

Along with running men and women should try squats and other exercises which strengthen the leg and thigh muscles. This will make their running experience much better and at the same time allow them to run longer distances without getting tired. Another thing to remember is that you should avoid running on stairs and uneven surfaces as that can put you at risk of getting knee injuries. Overall running won’t be damaging your knees if you are careful and run on regular basis. Running will burn fat and increase your endurance.

4. Post Workout Stretching Boosts Recovery

Recovery is one of the most important things when it comes to muscle building. When a person works out, they put stress on their muscles. As a result of this, the tissues forming the muscles get a bit damaged. This minor damage to the muscle tissues is the reason behind their growth. When the body fixes these damaged muscles, it puts on a new layer of muscle tissues on the damaged tissues. This process is repeated by the body over and over again after every workout, and as a result, the muscles keep on growing. The speed of recovery is responsible for the rate growth of muscles.

It is a common misconception that stretching after a workout will boost the recovery process. Recent researches have shown that such stretching has no effect on the amounts of lactic acid levels in the body. Lactic acid is the chemical that shows that how fatigued your muscles are. The amount of this acid isn’t lowered by stretching. Although stretching doesn’t help with muscle growth, it can be beneficial for the joints as the body is warm after a workout and such stretching can provide flexibility to the joints and assist in cooling down the body.

5. More time in Gym Means More Muscles

This is another misconception. People have been seen spending more than half of their days in the gym. They have been told that more time they will give to the gym more their muscles will develop. Apart from this, many people who are willing to lose some extra pounds are also seen working out at the gym for hours. In all these cases these people are harming their bodies. The human body has some limits, and when you work out above this threshold, your body will suffer. You will suffer from weakness for sure, dehydration and damage to muscle are also among possibilities.

So try to manage your time at the gym. You can get help from a trainer, and they will tell you the ideal time that you should be spending at the gym. To get maximum benefit, you need to give your body some time to recover. Instead of working 3-4 hours straight once daily you should work out twice. Once in the morning and once in the evening. The time in-between these workouts will allow your body to recover. Such workouts are more beneficial than single longer workout every day.

6. Sleeping After Workout Causes Weight Gain

Well, this is a surprising one. As per all the research papers that I have gone through, it is a known fact that sleep deprivation can trigger weight gain. Many bodybuilders and gym goers have been trying to avoid sleep at nights. They have been seen sleeping late at night and waking up early in the morning. These people workout at the gym at night and then go for jogs early in the morning before starting their day. This is a bad habit as sleep deprivation can trigger weight gain instead of the sleeping.

While you are asleep, your body is busy working on the development of muscles by recovering from fatigue caused by the workout. So you should try to take at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night so that your body can relax. Another thing that is worth mentioning is that lack of sleep can also cause stress and anxiety. So take proper sleep, and you will feel healthier and fresh every morning.

7. Yoga Is Helps In Muscle Building

Even I had this misconception for an extended period. I had always seen people doing yoga and thought that they were doing it to lose their weight. Yoga is an ancient form of workout, and it is a great workout for both the mind and the body. It can no doubt help in relaxing the mind and helps it grow. Along with that it also helps you get flexible muscles and bones. Yoga can make your body great in certain ways, but it won’t be making you any smarter or give you bigger stronger muscles.

You can do yoga along with the gym workout as it will help in calming your muscles after all the stress they have to bear during workouts. Just make sure that you don’t spend too much money or time on yoga. Half an hour of yoga is more than enough, and this holds only if you have a lot of extra time to spend. So you should do yoga but don’t expect a lot from yoga.

8. Lifting Weights Helps In Bulking Up

So you are planning to get bigger stronger muscles? You will inevitably pan to lift as many weights as possible once you are at the gym. You will lift the weight on all the possible machines and take your body to extremes. This is the practice that damages muscles of most of the people. You should avoid such practice and only workout under the supervision of a trainer. Apart from this lifting weights alone won’t give you bigger stronger muscles. Many other things are required by the body to build muscles.

Your body needs to have an appropriate amount of proteins, estrogens, and testosterone to produce muscles. For this, you will need to take a proper diet along with your foods that can fulfill all your needs. Most of the people are advised to increase their intake of meats, eggs, and other such protein filled things. Even after eating all this protein needs of some people won’t be fulfilled. So they might need to take certain proteins in different forms so that their muscles can get all the required proteins and develop. Some people also prefer using steroids, but that is truly a bad idea.

9. Big Muscles Are Only Built With Steroids

Building bulky muscles is a hard task, and you surely have heard that these muscles can only be built with steroids. This is a huge misconception and due to this misconception people have been damaging their bodies quite often. Many people have used all sorts of different steroids to build muscles. They were no doubt able to build bigger and stronger muscles with steroids pretty quick, but these muscles came with many problems. The first thing is that these muscles don’t last long and you will lose them as soon as you stop taking steroids. Secondly, side effects of steroids are well-known, and they are more than enough to make any man or women’s life miserable. So avoid them and go for something safer.

There are many different natural diet plans that you can benefit from. All the diet plans have foods that contain everything that your muscles and body need for proper development. This could be a great way to build muscles in the safest possible way. Eating natural will also keep your mind and body fresh. So before you hook yourself on steroids try the natural things and who knows you might benefit from these diet plans more than steroids.

10. Legal Steroid Don’t Exist

Almost everyone thinks that all steroids are illegal. Yes, it is true that steroids are illegal. Most of the steroids have been categorized as Schedule IV substances in USA, UK, Canada and many other countries. In such cases, most of the people purchase many different illegal steroids from the black market and use them. These steroids are usually of low quality and can cause serious problems quite easily. So if you are using such steroids, then you need to stop. Because researchers have now created steroids that are safer and legal. These steroids can easily be found if you are looking for them.

One single search on google will show you dozens of legal steroids that you can buy. The best thing is that these legal steroids have the same capabilities as most of the illegal steroids. The only difference in these legal steroids is that they are safer and they won’t be causing any side effects. If you have been using steroids for a long time and need a more secure alternative than it is possible now. You can get D-BAL in place of Dianabol, Winsol in place of Winstrol, Anvarol in place of Anavar and so many other steroids. All you need to do is search online.

11. Cardio Is Necessary Before Weight Lifting

The first thing that most of the people do after entering a gym is getting on a treadmill and run for half an hour. They think that this will boost their body’s energy before they hit the weights. Due to this common misconception people will usually drain their bodies of energy by doing cardio before weight lifting. It is recommended that you should do a minute or two of cardio and then get to weight training. This is more than enough to get your body going. It will get your heart pumping blood in higher quantities, and your body will automatically catch up once you start lifting.

Here it is necessary to mention that cardio if done after lifting could be beneficial. Once your body is filled with testosterone from the weight lifting, your body will be able to cardio in a much better manner. In such condition, your muscles will develop, and you will also lose more fats from your body. So next time doesn’t get in the line straight away for your turn at the treadmill once you enter the gym. Workout and then hit the treadmills.

12. Free Weights Aren’t As Safe As Machines

You might have this misconception if you watch plenty of TV. There are dozens of commercials of gym machines running all day long on different channels. All these commercials have the same motto; they are just telling people that the best way to get better bodies is to train on machines. They are looking forward to selling their machines by spreading fears in people. They will usually tell all sorts of drawbacks of lifting free weights. One thing that I noticed that many of these drawbacks were just false and made up.

These machines as advertised by the manufacturers can target certain muscles in the body. Well, that is true, but this could also be done with free weights. The benefit of free weights is that your body doesn’t have to stay and workout in the same posture. You can change your posture to adjust accordingly. This will allow you to develop your muscles in a uniform manner. Most of the people who have been using machines tend to get uneven muscles in the body. So try free weights and for a week or two instead of hitting the machines straight away.

13. Home Gyms Are Useless

Many people have built big gyms at their homes. Almost all big houses all over the world have a gym in some corner. You can easily find a gym in many basements in homes all over the US. The point is that these gyms could be beneficial for people who are dedicated towards the workout. They are useless if you are not dedicated. These gyms can come in handy as they will be saving you a lot of time that you would be spending to go to a gym. These gyms are perfect for women as they can have short sessions working out at the gym along with their daily chores.

Home gyms can be a bit costly, and you will need to work on your own. So it is necessary that you should have proper knowledge about what you are doing. If you don’t workout properly, you can damage your muscles. So before training at your home gym try to understand what you will be doing. Along with that, it is always a good idea to consult a trainer while you are working at your gym. A coach can help you in all possible ways.

14. Bodybuilding Causes Neurological Disorders

Bodybuilding puts immense stress on the muscles, but it doesn’t put any pressure on the neurological system of the body. It has been found in some research papers that bodybuilding helps your body get rid of many dangerous toxins and hormones that could influence the neurological system. So if you are having a hard time mentally than you should workout. Plus they say that working out often will make your brain stronger and give you more solid memory.

Some conditions imply to all the things that are said above. Bodybuilding can cause neurological disorders if you use unhealthy and cheap steroids. These steroids can alter the hormone production in the body which can be a huge problem. People have suffered from strokes, panic attacks, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), lack of sexual interest and other such problems. Treatment for some of these problems such as ADHD Treatment is almost impossible in most of the cases. So try to avoid illegal steroids under any circumstances.

Bottom Line on The Myth Busting

There have been a lot of myths attached with bodybuilding over the last few decades that an average person is unable to understand bodybuilding. People have been made afraid of bodybuilding because there are so many complicated things attached to it. In reality, all these things are just useless and straightforward bodybuilding is pretty simple. You can easily step into a gym and start working out. Instead of listening to others, you should always consult with a professional trainer.

Coaches can guide you in the best possible way and help you in determining all the things that are beneficial and harmful to you. Here you should remember that it is not necessary to pay hefty fees of trainers the entire time you are going to the gym. One month is more than enough, and after that, you can work all on your own and save some bucks.