20 Myths About Getting Ripped

1. If you want to get shredded, eat only chicken, egg whites, rice and rice cakes.

No! Your body needs micro nutrients and vitamins, which you can get from a more varied diet.

2. Fats make you fat.

Fats are essential for countless important body processes (not least your sexual health). All fats, other than trans fats, can be consumed in a proper ratio. If you have a heart condition, then generally fats which are solid at room temperature are not your friend, but if you are heart-healthy, then a good mixture of fats and oils will allow your libido and test levels to skyrocket. Just a thought...

3. You have to lift heavy to grow.

You have to lift properly and maximize tension to grow. Focus on form before adding extra weight to your lifts.

4. All calories are created equal.

Even when trying to get as big as possible, the worst thing you can do is to eat indiscriminately. This will set you up for insulin resistance and less muscle growth. You can get 3000 calories from six Big Macs, but better to get them from a good protein source and slow-digesting carbs.

Pop Tarts are not going to help you grow muscle!

5. I'm trying to work my "tie-ins."

A muscle is a muscle, and its structure is what it is. Where two muscles tie together is just where two muscles tie together. You can't train that. You can train the entire length of a muscle, but not the space in between two muscles.

6. I'm training to stretch my fascia.

It is a proven fact that fascia has the tensile strength of steel! It may expand, much as muscle does when it gets warm, and become more pliable, but as soon as it cools it's right back where it started. Fascia grows in much the same way as muscle does. You may break fascial adhesions (usually through massage), which gives the illusion of expansion or greater range, which is a good thing, but the fascia is not stretching to allow for muscle growth. Volumize your muscle through training and fascia will respond and expand or grow.

7. Narrow grip T-bar rows work my inner back.

Sorry, no. This exercise simply forces you to use greater internal rotation of the shoulder joint (it works your rotator muscles).

8. I don't want to overtrain.

An hour, five days a week, is not overtraining, unless you don't eat, or sleep, but then overtraining will not be your main concern.

9. Low-intensity cardio is best for fat burning.

This does in fact burn more calories while you are actually doing the exercise, but does nothing for your calorie burning for the rest of the day.

10. Fasted cardio burns more fat.

There has never been any proof of this. In fact, more calories are burned if you eat before cardio exercise.

11. Preacher curls work my lower bicep.

No exercise can do this. Preacher curls may make you stronger in the lower part of the range of motion, giving you the impression that you are lengthening your bicep. In reality, you are just getting overall thickness to your bicep (which is fine!).

12. Close-grip bench presses work my inner chest.

To improve the development of your inner chest, it is simply necessary to fully shorten your pec muscles. Much the same way in which a bicep curl forces the muscle to grow upwards to a peak. The same principle works for the inner chest.

13. I must touch the floor on stiff leg deadlift for a full range and maximum stretch in my hamstrings.

This may mean that you are achieving a greater range by putting your spine in a compromised position. Go only as far as your hamstring flexibility will allow.

14. When you stop working out, all that muscle turns to fat.

Fat and muscle are two completely different things. Stop training and the muscle simply disappears. Of course, if you develop a taste for donuts and potato chips washed down with jugs of beer, you may add some fat instead...

15. Saturated fat is bad.

Saturated fats in moderation are essential for hormone production. But if you combine them with sugars they can be bad for you. Some medical experts believe that atheriosclerosis (plaque build-up in your arteries) is caused by irritation of the artery walls from exposure to sugars and chemicals in convenience foods, which allows the plaque to stick to the artery walls.

16. Taking glutamine and whey protein together is bad because they compete.

They work well together. Glutamine improves immune function, and immune function is an indicator of strength. Weak immune system = weak muscles.

17. I'm going to diet and lose body fat before I start weight training.

This is not a common issue, but let's just remember that weight training is the best way to lose body fat and change body composition. Weight training and a healthy diet can get you in great shape.

18. Can I get a lift off?

If you can't lift on your own, you have no business lifting that weight, unless you are doing some weird exercise that requires you to start by reaching behind your head to grab the bar. See #3 above -- form, form, form.

19. Creatine causes cramping and muscle tears.

Pure sensational media stuff, with absolutely no evidence.

20. I just can't build my triceps (substitute your own lagging body part here).

Of course you can -- you just need to learn how to do things properly. You can bring any lagging body part to match the rest of your body with knowledge of proper execution.