Some Of The Most Common Weight Training Myths
Weight training is an area that also has a lot of conflicting areas of advice, mainly because there are so many different theories about the best way to put on muscle mass, especially as there are many different products on the market to help you achieve your goals from equipment to supplements. You can see examples of the different types of fitness equipment at the following site http://www.uk-shoppingonline.com/. However there are a number of weight gaining myths that continue to circulate but are not grounded in fact, some of which are mentioned below.
The first myth is that some exercises are good for shaping muscles while others are better for building mass. It’s true that some exercises will hit muscles in a different way, but in general most exercises can both shape and build mass, and it’s really the intensity that determines whether the muscle actually gets bigger. However by far the most important factor in the size and shape of your muscles are your genetics. So for example, some gym goers are focused on building a ‘peak’ in their biceps, and have heard that certain workout routines to build muscle in a particular part of the bicep will give them a peak. However it is mainly down to genetics, so if someone has a muscle predisposed to this peak, they will achieve it with almost any bicep exercise they perform, obviously dependent on intensity.
Another myth is that muscle turns into fat if you stop going to the gym. Muscle and fat are two distinct parts that make up the body, and therefore one can’t turn into the other. If you don’t use your muscles they will atrophy over time, and if at the same time you are eating more calories that what you are burning each day then you will increase your fat percentage. So therefore it may seem that muscle is turning into fat, but muscle gain/loss and fat gain/loss are two distinct processes.
One of the most popular myths is that doing abdominal exercises (particularly with a specific piece of equipment) will burn the fat around your waist, and give you a six pack. However you need to be doing some form of cardio to burn the fat off, and crunches to improve the strength and size of the abdominal muscles. Even if you were doing crunches in such a way as to be a cardio workout, you would also be burning fat from other parts of your body. There is no way that you can target fat burning to a very specific area. The best way to get a six pack is to combine a cardio workout to burn the fat around your midrift, with ab strengthening exercises to build up your ab muscles.
