There’s a lot of BS being peddled to those of us who want to live a fitness lifestyle. I would like to address the 2 most prominent Myths and explain why they are BS. I’ve spent 26 years studying, training and experimenting to figure out what works, how it works and why it works. If you pay attention you might learn more than I intended to share.
Muscle Confusion Myth
Muscles don’t adapt to confusion. They adapt to stress/stimulus applied repetitively (Time Under Tension). You want your muscles to adapt, that is the purpose of resistance training. There are certain limits or tradeoffs when it comes to muscle development and strength enhancement. There is a specific spectrum with Function at one end and Structure at the other. Functional Development relates to skills of sport; coordination, agility, etc. Structural Development is the structure of the muscle, specifically strength, mass and energy storage. You can train for both to a limited degree. Exercises that are more complex are specific to Functional Training. The more complex (physically and mentally) an exercise is the more Functional it is and the less it is going to affect Structure.
The more simple and focused an exercise is the greater the affect is upon Structure. The set, resistance and rep range help to determine Function and/or Structure effect of the exercise. The program design is also a determinant of Functional and/or Structural training. A program which utilizes a high variety of exercises or combination of muscle groups, even if it is split to 2 workouts per day is going to do more for your Function than it will for Structure.
A Total body workout done every other day is highly Functional. A typical push/pull split is fairly equally balanced between Function and Structure but is leaning in the direction of function. You will not, cannot develop your maximum potential lean mass on either of these workouts for several reasons. I am not saying that you can’t gain some muscle on either of these programs because you certainly can, but it is limited.
One reason, it is too taxing upon your body as it utilizes more glucose to work more muscles and there ends up not being enough glucose to exhaust the muscles enough to stimulate a maximum Sarcoplasmic response. You only have so much gas in the tank and when it’s gone you’re done.
Secondly, there is a limit of neurological focus. If you’re doing an exercise that requires a functional response from multiple body parts the target muscle isn’t going to be as effected as it would if the movement only requires the response of the target muscle. This is why the Iso-lateral chest press is more effective at engaging the pectorals than a traditional barbell bench press. The barbell bench press requires the muscle of the entire body to be responding to a certain degree which leaves less neurological focus upon the target muscle and so less muscle recruitment within the target muscle. The Iso chest press removes the rest of the body from the equation essentially leaving more to be focused on the target muscle.
Another reason is the recovery capacity. If you FULLY deplete a muscle it is going to take more than a couple days to recover FULLY which you need it to if you’re going to get maximum TUT in your next workout for that muscle.
So the Total Body workouts of P90X can get you into shape and will scorch fat off your body because it requires a lot of energy and definitely stimulates muscle endurance as well as improves sport function, but you are NOT going to get BIG on this workout. The Muscle Confusion Myth has nothing to do with the program’s effectiveness. Anybody who gets up off the couch and gets to work is going to get results regardless of program. Muscle Confusion is a myth and nothing more than a Sales Gimmick. It is an easy sell because of the Myth that you need to switch things up to avoid and overcome Plateaus. The only thing you need to do to progress is to increase the resistance of the exercise and increase nutrient support. I am not telling you to limit the variety of your workouts! I am simply making the point that the only reasons for a training Plateau are either psychological, program or nutritional shortcomings.
Reaching your physiological adaptive limits is not a Plateau. The longer you train and the stronger you get the more difficult the gains are going to be because you’re pushing your physiological and genetic limits. Your body has limits and your limits can be quite different from someone else’s. My lean body mass currently is about 217 pounds. This is pretty much as big as I can get. My bench press PR is 502 pounds and my Squat PR is 662 pounds x2 reps. Not very impressive when you compare it to some of the world’s best bodybuilders, but fairly impressive when compared to the average gym rat. If I wanted to progress beyond this I would have to alter my physiology by introducing performance and nutrient enhancing substances; Steroids, HGH/RGH, Insulin. Doing that has problems and I don’t recommend it, but we all have to make our own choices in life. if you're in your teens or 20s then I would definitely advise against it and tell yo that you have a limited natural window with which you can change your physiology and even your genetics and grow if you simply train and eat right for what you're trying to achieve.
Your body will adapt to the stimulus you give it as long as you feed it what it needs to adapt. If you don’t feed it then it will not grow and your strength will not increase and your body may actually bite back at you. Your body doesn’t know you’re trying to grow big muscles or develop super strength. It thinks you’re out trying to get a meal and when you fail to get the body what it needs as a result of the work it has done then your body sees that stimulus as a bad investment and it has to sacrifice something to make up for the loss. You cannot grow if your nutrient support doesn’t progress with you.
I know not everybody wants to get BIG, but a lot of you do. A lot of you are trying to get BIG but you are using the wrong exercises and workout structures to maximize your potential. I see a lot of you trying to do too much too fast. The most effective Mass Building routine is a 6 day body part split for several reasons.
The first reason is it allows you to fully deplete the target muscle thus inducing maximum Sarcoplasmic response.
Secondly it allows maximum neurological focus upon the target muscle improving/increasing fiber recruitment.
Another reason is it allows you to fully recover the target muscle as it has a whole week to recover pretty much so you can actually push the target muscle to an extent you couldn’t afford to within a combination workout as well as the reduction in time needed on a daily basis to get your workout done.
Also taking advantage of Lateral Isolation where you work one side at a time gives you the opportunity to be your own spotter for forced reps and negatives. While these moves could be included in a traditional combination workout your time and sets are going to be limited in those program structures and so is the stimulus. When you go into the gym with your mind focused on one muscle group such as pectorals you’re wide open to multiple possibilities. You can spend your 20 sets on one muscle group instead of spreading the work on over multiple targets. You can giant set the whole workout to get your HIIT circuit work by varying the exercises you use or you could even focus on one exercise. The younger guys in their teens will benefit most this workout structure as it takes advantage of the pubescent growth phase where Hyperplasia is possible. Hyperplasia is growth as it results in new structure being built and hypertrophy is not truly growth but rather expansion or enhancement of the structure which is already there. True growth can only occur naturally en utero and during the pubescent growth phase when growth hormones are at the highest levels. True growth can be achieved post-pubescent only through the introduction of physiological enhancement in the form of HGH/RGH or through a pituitary disease.
A few years ago some in the fitness industry tried to make the point that isolation exercises don’t work for building muscle. This is nothing more than another sales gimmick because the new product they want to sell is functional training which has been labeled as Cross Fit. The fact is if you want to achieve your physiological/genetic mass limit you will have to focus on one muscle at a time.
I understand the point those who developed it were trying to make about the importance of Function over Structure. Of course it was truly born on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan when our troops needed a way to stay in shape. We should all endeavor to be more Functional and athletic but a few of us have been there and we wanted more strength and more mass and it serves our Function. I do functional exercises all the time but I call it work. Like going out to cut wood, going hunting, raking the yard, etc.
Most of you are flopping around from one exercise to another and not really building focus on anything. Bruce Lee said he wasn’t afraid of the man who practiced 10,000 kicks ONE time, but he was fearful of the man who had practiced ONE kick 10,000 times. The premise applies to bodybuilding as well. You have to concentrate your focus if you want to get big. That means less variety and maximizing Time Under Tension and neurological input on each muscle individually.
Max Interval Training Myth
Another SALES GIMMICK fabricated to part fools from their money. Can you get in shape with it? Of course you can. Can you build muscle with it? Absolutely NOT!!!
First of all you cannot extend the interval of training without sacrificing intensity and any interval which utilizes maximum intensity can only be sustained for about 40 seconds by the best athletes. This power window is a physiological limitation which cannot be changed by much at all.
So extending the interval of a cardio exercise changes it from a High Intensity exercise to a Steady state Cardio exercise. You can integrate High Intensity periods intermittently within a steady state cardio session but again it is only going to last for a short duration. Yes you can get muscle stimulation but you’re not going to achieve much if any Hypertrophy as a result of this workout and at the end of the day it’s still a steady state cardio workout which if done to excess will induce a myostatin response especially when coupled with a caloric deficit, which means you’re going to be torching your muscle mass right along with your fat. The High Intensity Intervals which actually engage fast twitch fibers helps to preserve tone but your muscles are shriveling no doubt. Think about it. Sub 4 minute mile runners achieve these phenomenal times by using High Intensity Intervals. They sprint with every bit of strength they have on the straights and then they dial it back on the curves to allow their fats twitch muscles to recover for the next straight. If the proponents of Max Interval were correct then these runners should be able to run a mile in about 2m 40 seconds. If a runner ever comes in under 3 minutes I’ll buy it and eat my words!
As always I encourage you to seek strength 1 rep at a time! #1REP
Muscle Confusion Myth
Muscles don’t adapt to confusion. They adapt to stress/stimulus applied repetitively (Time Under Tension). You want your muscles to adapt, that is the purpose of resistance training. There are certain limits or tradeoffs when it comes to muscle development and strength enhancement. There is a specific spectrum with Function at one end and Structure at the other. Functional Development relates to skills of sport; coordination, agility, etc. Structural Development is the structure of the muscle, specifically strength, mass and energy storage. You can train for both to a limited degree. Exercises that are more complex are specific to Functional Training. The more complex (physically and mentally) an exercise is the more Functional it is and the less it is going to affect Structure.
The more simple and focused an exercise is the greater the affect is upon Structure. The set, resistance and rep range help to determine Function and/or Structure effect of the exercise. The program design is also a determinant of Functional and/or Structural training. A program which utilizes a high variety of exercises or combination of muscle groups, even if it is split to 2 workouts per day is going to do more for your Function than it will for Structure.
A Total body workout done every other day is highly Functional. A typical push/pull split is fairly equally balanced between Function and Structure but is leaning in the direction of function. You will not, cannot develop your maximum potential lean mass on either of these workouts for several reasons. I am not saying that you can’t gain some muscle on either of these programs because you certainly can, but it is limited.
One reason, it is too taxing upon your body as it utilizes more glucose to work more muscles and there ends up not being enough glucose to exhaust the muscles enough to stimulate a maximum Sarcoplasmic response. You only have so much gas in the tank and when it’s gone you’re done.
Secondly, there is a limit of neurological focus. If you’re doing an exercise that requires a functional response from multiple body parts the target muscle isn’t going to be as effected as it would if the movement only requires the response of the target muscle. This is why the Iso-lateral chest press is more effective at engaging the pectorals than a traditional barbell bench press. The barbell bench press requires the muscle of the entire body to be responding to a certain degree which leaves less neurological focus upon the target muscle and so less muscle recruitment within the target muscle. The Iso chest press removes the rest of the body from the equation essentially leaving more to be focused on the target muscle.
Another reason is the recovery capacity. If you FULLY deplete a muscle it is going to take more than a couple days to recover FULLY which you need it to if you’re going to get maximum TUT in your next workout for that muscle.
So the Total Body workouts of P90X can get you into shape and will scorch fat off your body because it requires a lot of energy and definitely stimulates muscle endurance as well as improves sport function, but you are NOT going to get BIG on this workout. The Muscle Confusion Myth has nothing to do with the program’s effectiveness. Anybody who gets up off the couch and gets to work is going to get results regardless of program. Muscle Confusion is a myth and nothing more than a Sales Gimmick. It is an easy sell because of the Myth that you need to switch things up to avoid and overcome Plateaus. The only thing you need to do to progress is to increase the resistance of the exercise and increase nutrient support. I am not telling you to limit the variety of your workouts! I am simply making the point that the only reasons for a training Plateau are either psychological, program or nutritional shortcomings.
Reaching your physiological adaptive limits is not a Plateau. The longer you train and the stronger you get the more difficult the gains are going to be because you’re pushing your physiological and genetic limits. Your body has limits and your limits can be quite different from someone else’s. My lean body mass currently is about 217 pounds. This is pretty much as big as I can get. My bench press PR is 502 pounds and my Squat PR is 662 pounds x2 reps. Not very impressive when you compare it to some of the world’s best bodybuilders, but fairly impressive when compared to the average gym rat. If I wanted to progress beyond this I would have to alter my physiology by introducing performance and nutrient enhancing substances; Steroids, HGH/RGH, Insulin. Doing that has problems and I don’t recommend it, but we all have to make our own choices in life. if you're in your teens or 20s then I would definitely advise against it and tell yo that you have a limited natural window with which you can change your physiology and even your genetics and grow if you simply train and eat right for what you're trying to achieve.
Your body will adapt to the stimulus you give it as long as you feed it what it needs to adapt. If you don’t feed it then it will not grow and your strength will not increase and your body may actually bite back at you. Your body doesn’t know you’re trying to grow big muscles or develop super strength. It thinks you’re out trying to get a meal and when you fail to get the body what it needs as a result of the work it has done then your body sees that stimulus as a bad investment and it has to sacrifice something to make up for the loss. You cannot grow if your nutrient support doesn’t progress with you.
I know not everybody wants to get BIG, but a lot of you do. A lot of you are trying to get BIG but you are using the wrong exercises and workout structures to maximize your potential. I see a lot of you trying to do too much too fast. The most effective Mass Building routine is a 6 day body part split for several reasons.
The first reason is it allows you to fully deplete the target muscle thus inducing maximum Sarcoplasmic response.
Secondly it allows maximum neurological focus upon the target muscle improving/increasing fiber recruitment.
Another reason is it allows you to fully recover the target muscle as it has a whole week to recover pretty much so you can actually push the target muscle to an extent you couldn’t afford to within a combination workout as well as the reduction in time needed on a daily basis to get your workout done.
Also taking advantage of Lateral Isolation where you work one side at a time gives you the opportunity to be your own spotter for forced reps and negatives. While these moves could be included in a traditional combination workout your time and sets are going to be limited in those program structures and so is the stimulus. When you go into the gym with your mind focused on one muscle group such as pectorals you’re wide open to multiple possibilities. You can spend your 20 sets on one muscle group instead of spreading the work on over multiple targets. You can giant set the whole workout to get your HIIT circuit work by varying the exercises you use or you could even focus on one exercise. The younger guys in their teens will benefit most this workout structure as it takes advantage of the pubescent growth phase where Hyperplasia is possible. Hyperplasia is growth as it results in new structure being built and hypertrophy is not truly growth but rather expansion or enhancement of the structure which is already there. True growth can only occur naturally en utero and during the pubescent growth phase when growth hormones are at the highest levels. True growth can be achieved post-pubescent only through the introduction of physiological enhancement in the form of HGH/RGH or through a pituitary disease.
A few years ago some in the fitness industry tried to make the point that isolation exercises don’t work for building muscle. This is nothing more than another sales gimmick because the new product they want to sell is functional training which has been labeled as Cross Fit. The fact is if you want to achieve your physiological/genetic mass limit you will have to focus on one muscle at a time.
I understand the point those who developed it were trying to make about the importance of Function over Structure. Of course it was truly born on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan when our troops needed a way to stay in shape. We should all endeavor to be more Functional and athletic but a few of us have been there and we wanted more strength and more mass and it serves our Function. I do functional exercises all the time but I call it work. Like going out to cut wood, going hunting, raking the yard, etc.
Most of you are flopping around from one exercise to another and not really building focus on anything. Bruce Lee said he wasn’t afraid of the man who practiced 10,000 kicks ONE time, but he was fearful of the man who had practiced ONE kick 10,000 times. The premise applies to bodybuilding as well. You have to concentrate your focus if you want to get big. That means less variety and maximizing Time Under Tension and neurological input on each muscle individually.
Max Interval Training Myth
Another SALES GIMMICK fabricated to part fools from their money. Can you get in shape with it? Of course you can. Can you build muscle with it? Absolutely NOT!!!
First of all you cannot extend the interval of training without sacrificing intensity and any interval which utilizes maximum intensity can only be sustained for about 40 seconds by the best athletes. This power window is a physiological limitation which cannot be changed by much at all.
So extending the interval of a cardio exercise changes it from a High Intensity exercise to a Steady state Cardio exercise. You can integrate High Intensity periods intermittently within a steady state cardio session but again it is only going to last for a short duration. Yes you can get muscle stimulation but you’re not going to achieve much if any Hypertrophy as a result of this workout and at the end of the day it’s still a steady state cardio workout which if done to excess will induce a myostatin response especially when coupled with a caloric deficit, which means you’re going to be torching your muscle mass right along with your fat. The High Intensity Intervals which actually engage fast twitch fibers helps to preserve tone but your muscles are shriveling no doubt. Think about it. Sub 4 minute mile runners achieve these phenomenal times by using High Intensity Intervals. They sprint with every bit of strength they have on the straights and then they dial it back on the curves to allow their fats twitch muscles to recover for the next straight. If the proponents of Max Interval were correct then these runners should be able to run a mile in about 2m 40 seconds. If a runner ever comes in under 3 minutes I’ll buy it and eat my words!
As always I encourage you to seek strength 1 rep at a time! #1REP