A lot of people enter the gym because they want to get toned or build muscle but have a few misconceptions on what it’s going to take to achieve those goals. With the internet at our finger tips and literally limitless information, it’s hard sometimes to decipher through the muck to find the real gems of truth.
As someone who thought many of these lies in my earlier days of training, rest assured, I have gone through my own scientific method of trial and observation to confirm the truths that mirror these myths.
Quickly, you may be thinking, “I just want to get toned, this doesn’t apply to me.” To which I’d like to say hold your horses! Not included on this list, but as it probably ranks above the others, I’d like to address the myth that “building muscles will make me bulky” once and for all.
Put simply, the “tone” you’re looking for is the visible presence of a muscle.
If you want to see the muscle, you must have muscle.
Yes everyone has muscle, but if you want to see it better, you have to combine lower body fat and increase size of the muscle. The bigger the muscle + the less fat = the more tone you will see.
The muscle tone that 99% of the world is after can be found simply by following a progressively more difficult training program coupled with proper nutrition to fuel their body without additional calories.
Lifting weights won’t make you bulky unless you’re taking additional supplements that are most likely illegal (steroids), so stop being afraid of getting strong and start lifting those weights. You get tone by getting strong, you get strong by lifting weights (resistance training).
Now that that’s out of the way and you’re ready to dive into building muscle to showcase a strong, toned, lean, sexy physique, let’s dive in and start busting muscle building myths!
Myth: Variety is the spice of life. Each workout should be completely different.
Truth: Boring breeds results. It’s often though that, like everything else in our life, we need variety and change every time we enter the gym. The workout has to be different. Different exercises; different reps/sets; different rest; different is good! But then how to do you know you’re ACTUALLY getting bigger or better? If you create a workout program that has you bouncing all over the place each week, how can you tangibly track that you’re continually progressing?
As I said at the outset, boring is good.
If you want to build muscles, get toned, or see progress in any manner, the best answer is to find a routine that is simple and repeatable. Repeating the same workout at least for a period of 4-6 weeks will allow you to progress and get bigger and stronger.
Myth: Don’t miss the anabolic window – you MUST eat within 30 mins of training!
Truth: When weight training, you are creating microtears in your muscles during the strenuous activity. We know food helps fuel the body and protein is the best source of food to help rebuild your muscles. The misconception lies in the thought that you have to refeed your muscles within 30 minutes of training to ensure that your body doesn’t go into catabolism, which is a state of breaking down the muscle. The truth is that it would only start to breakdown if you went an overly prolonged period without refuel or decided to start training the same muscle area before giving it a full chance to recover. It is recommended that you eat (a protein rich meal) within 1-3 hours of your training session, and you’ll be perfectly fine. So don’t feel the need to pound an extra protein shake immediately unless you don’t think you’ll be able to eat a regular meal within a reasonable time frame.
Myth: Train 7 days a week for 2 hrs at a time – NO CARDIO; ALL WEIGHTS! #NoDaysOff
Truth: Your body needs rest. Rest is when recovery happens. If you recall from earlier in the post, during a resistance training session, you create microtears in the muscle as you exercise. During the days you’re resting, that is when your body works at recovering and re-building – bigger and stronger – muscles to get ready for the next training session.
You can still train 5-6 days per week, but if you’re doing so, each training session should be more highly specialized to a specific muscle group with at least 1-2 days of rest before targeting that same body part again. Training other areas will be fine as the muscles you are resting won’t be used under strenuous loads.
Also, you don’t need to spend your entire life at the gym. Being efficient, intense, and consistent with workouts anywhere from 30-60 minutes can be enough and even more beneficial than marathon training sessions. Keep the intensity up; keep the workout plan simple; and just get it done!
Myth: You must buy the latest stack of supplements to ensure proper growth!
Truth: Just straight up false. Supplements are designed to aid whatever it is you’re doing. Most of them are pointless and the supplement industry in the USA is unregulated, so the amounts and contents of whatever they put in those bottles is very questionable – some of it can be extremely harmful. If you’re focused on proper hydration; whole foods and high protein nutrition; getting adequate sleep and stress management; then you should be all set to reap the rewards of your training sessions. If for some reason you feel you NEED supplements to help you reach your goals, I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, the only supplements with proven results are: Caffeine, Creatine, Protein, and Multi-Vitamins. They are not necessary but:
Caffeine can help provide energy and focus
Creatine aids in building muscle and is safe for men and women. We naturally produce it, but additional supplementation does not have negative side effects and is recommended regardless of training programming.
Protein as mentioned before aids in the recovery and rebuilding of muscle as well as playing an important role in many other areas of the body.
Multi-vitamins can help provide the vitamins we may lack in foods to keep us healthy.
All in all, following a consistent and progressive training program; eating regularly scheduled meals after training; resting properly; and understanding supplements are fine, but largely unnecessary can help you not only get toned and build muscle, but are great building blocks for nearly any fitness goal or journey you may be embarking on.
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If you’ve been knocking these out but still having trouble reaching your muscle building or toning goals, then we need to talk! Head over and fill out my quick questionnaire and let’s discuss how my online training program is going to get you built and toned like never before!
The Cap City Half Marathon is an annual trek about the Greater Downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods of Columbus, OH. As the race season kicks off in the spring, nestled at the end of April, thousands of people converge on the downtown area of the capital city for a fun filled 13 mile run.