Top Five Strength Training Myths Exposed As Nonsense

Many people have questions when it comes to their strength training and muscle building workouts.

Typically, these questions stem from disinformation they have been offered over the years and it’s important that we address them.

Because of this, you should check out a few of the biggest misconceptions associated with strength training.

[Related:] What Is Strength Training?

Top 5 Strength Training Myths:

Myth 1. I Heard I Should Only Workout in the Morning

While working out in the morning can help to rev up your metabolism and jumpstart your day, it isn’t the only time to consider working out.

Depending on your schedule, you should find the best time for YOU to fit in an effective routine and stick with that.

If it isn’t possible for you to do your routine in the morning, try the middle of the day.

As a long held observation, more people workout at the end of the day, so expect longer wait times for certain pieces of exercise equipment.

I personally enjoy working out at night after the I either work out first thing in the morning around 7 am or at 7pm after a long day. 

That said, I am exponentially more productive during days that I workout in the morning [1,2,3]. 

[Related]: Seven Unconventional Tips & Techniques From Home.

Myth 2. Working Out Everyday Is The Best Way To Build Muscle, Right?

Wrong.

One of the biggest misconceptions that will often come up is:

“Doing a strength training workout seven days a week will build more muscle.”

The truth of the matter is that you need to give yourself at least two days each week to rest in between workouts in order to maximize your results and avoid overtraining.

These days can be spaced out, so be sure to keep that in mind [4,5,6].

By the way, here are 4 Simple Approaches To Build Muscle Without Weights.

Myth 3. How Many Sets and Reps Should I Be Doing?

Ok, I guess this really isn’t a myth.

But walking up to someone and asking how many reps and sets of any exercise really isn’t going to get you a good answer.

The necessary sets and reps per individual are going to depend on your fitness level.

For reps, you need to ensure that you can comfortably handle the weight and use it to fatigue.

The goal is to choose a weight you aren’t moving with ease on your last reps, while avoiding options that are too light to give you any real benefit.

Sets should be done based on your experience level, rather than a fixed number.

When you are first starting out, have your strength training workout focus on understanding the exercises, the routines and their respective movements & muscle engagement. You can build on sets later.

The goal is to push yourself and improve, which is something you cannot do if you don’t understand the exercises or your body.

I never have my clients that are green (new to working out) go for fast, higher reps.

They are instructed to focus on slow controlled movements in order to avoid injury and truly maximize results [7,8,9].

These are the Top 10 Most Effective Muscle Building Workouts.

Myth 4. Workouts Are Only Good If They End in Pain

This is a tricky one.

While some pain is good, it can also be very bad.

A little pain when you’re first starting to workout should be expected. Typically this will feel more like soreness, rather than the intense pain of an injury.

If there is more than a dull pain, you need to take a step back and listen to your body. Chances are moderate to severe pain is anything but the result of an intense workout.

Above all, understand your strength training workout should be combined with a healthy and balanced diet.

This is going to help you improve your health, while helping you grow and maintain lean muscle mass [10,11,12].

Here are my Top 10 Easy to Make Muscle Growth Foods.

Myth 5. Low + Heavier Reps for Mass & High + Lighter Reps for Cutting

What in the world?!

I know that nearly every bro-scientist & bodybuilding magazine will tell you that this statement is in fact, fact.

It is not.

Training one muscle fiber type exclusively over another is dumb.

You’re setting yourself up for imbalances and for potential injury.

Slow and heavy reps target Type II B & likely Type II A (fast twitch) muscle fibers while higher reps with lighter weights focus on type 1 (slow twitch) muscle fibers.

In order to perform at your highest level you need to incorporate a balanced mix of both heavy sets with lower reps & lighter sets with higher reps [13,14,15].

Check out How To Build Muscle – Beginner’s Guide To Earning Advanced Results.

Alright, I’m going to make a protein shake and get it in.

Watch out for more muscle building recipes, training articles and natural health tips.

Health by choice, not by chance.

David “Strength Training Workout” Aston