Top 8 Training Myths Debunked by Studies
Discerning legit and reliable information on effective training is harder than it seems these days. It is already difficult enough to keep up with a workout regime. Yet the sheer number of misinformation from different sources is making things worse. Gyms, social media and internet “gurus” throw around fad theories which can get in the way of maximizing our workouts. These theories not only lack evidence, they also prevent us from making the most out of the little time we have.
On the other hand, fundamental truths often get lost in the pool of these myths. While some of these myths are harmless, others will make your gains suffer. The worst case? You’re waiting for an injury to happen.
It’s time to call out these bro-science and bullshit once and for all. Here we will identify the top 8 training myths and using evidence, we will put them to rest.
Training myths can be detrimental to your training progress.
1. You can Turn Fat into Muscle.
This is one of the most common misconceptions on training. Unfortunately, you cannot turn fat into muscle, as in chemical terms, it does not make sense. Muscle tissue is made up of protein, water and glycogen, while fat is made up of triglycerides (fatty acids). Moreover, muscle and fats have completely different functions - one to power movement, while the other to store energy. Studies have also confirmed this. As you can see, muscle and fat do not actually have much in common.
However, you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, producing a change in body composition. Again, this is shown in this study.
Likewise, muscle will not be turned into fat even after months of inactivity. However, you can also lose muscle and gain fat at the same time.
2. Lift Heavy to Get Big & Lift Light to get Toned & Ripped.
Walk into a gym and in one corner you'll see huge weightlifters loading the barbell to its maximum capacity, while in another you’ll see women lifting tiny dumbbells with many repetitions. Do different loads achieve different outcomes for your muscles?
It seems like the common understanding is if you lift heavy, you will gain big and bulky muscles, while if you lift light, you will sculpt defined curves across your arms, back and legs.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is far from true.
Many studies have shown that any load can build the same amount of muscle, as long as all sets are taken close to failure. In fact, this meta-analysis of 21 studies confirmed no significant difference in muscle hypertrophy for low and high load training. Thus, doing heavy loads with low repetitions, or light loads with high repetitions will equate to very similar growth in muscle size. Being toned & ripped simply means having low body fat with muscle mass. This is done through a caloric deficit to shed fats, and lifting weights in any rep range to build muscle.
Lifting any load can produce the same amount of muscle gain, provided that the sets are taken close to failure.
3. To lose Belly Fat, do more Core Exercises.
If you understand how fat is burned, you will know that your body does not choose where your calories are burnt from. When in a caloric deficit, instead of burning fat off the specific body part you are working on, you will lose fat from all around your body. This is confirmed in various studies.
Does that mean that there is no point doing core exercises? No! Core exercises do build core muscles if done properly and frequently. Core exercises will also help burn some calories. However, with high body fat, your core muscles will be covered by a thick layer of abdominal fat. You should focus on losing that layer of fat first before your abs can be seen.
Although the studies above have disproved the effectiveness of spot reduction, a more recent study by Dr. Eric Helms in 2017 suggested that spot reduction may come into play when a specific body part exercise is followed by a low intensity cardio session. In his study, 1 group did upper body resistance exercise followed by cardio, while another group did lower body resistance exercise followed by cardio. The first group elicited greater reduction in fat for upper limbs compared to lower limbs. Conversely, fat loss in the lower limbs were more pronounced for the second group. However, even Dr. Helms himself said that this study is of low sample size and we need to be cautious about using these findings. Feel free to try it for spot reduction, but remember that the priority should still be sticking to the fundamentals, which is a caloric deficit with resistance training.
4. If you weren’t Sore after the Workout, it wasn’t a Good One.
If you have been through a tough workout, you’ve probably felt muscle soreness a day or two later. This is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Many wear DOMS with pride, assuming that DOMS = effective workout, and no DOMS = ineffective workout. But is it true?
DOMS is something that everyone will experience in their training lifetime. It happens mostly to novices, or lifters trying out a new exercise. If you have never felt DOMS in your lifetime, you’re probably not training correctly. DOMS can also be an indicator that you targeting the right muscle when it feels sore after.
However, as your body adapts to the exercise, you slowly stop feeling sore. This does not mean your muscles aren’t growing. This just means your body is able to dissipate the soreness quickly if you have sufficient rest, as seen in this study. Besides, some muscles rarely get sore (for example, shoulders). Therefore, DOMS is not a good indicator of muscle growth.
In fact, having too much DOMS may mean less muscle growth. When your muscles are too sore, you will not be able to lift as heavy as you usually do. Some may even miss training days as a result.
Therefore, although DOMS is inevitable for novices or lifters trying out a new exercise, do not use DOMS as an indicator of muscle growth. Do not chase soreness. Instead, aim to progress over time instead.
Muscle soreness is a poor indicator of muscle growth. Use strength gains as an indicator instead!
5. You can out-train a bad diet
"Exercise hard now to eat more later" - I'm sure this thought has crossed your mind before. While exercising does burn calories which can partially make up for the calories you consume, using it as a reason to binge after is recipe for disaster.
Often people do not realize that the amount of calories you burn during exercise cannot justify for amount of calories you consume when you binge after the workout.
For example, an average person burns about 400 to 800 calories/hour depending on intensity of the workout (note that fitness trackers usually overestimates your calories burnt, to make you feel good about yourself), whereas eating a whole pizza can add up to more than 1000 calories.
Simply put, it is much easier to over-consume calories than to burn it off. The bottom line? Healthy eating and exercise are complementary, not substitionary to weight loss.
6. You need to do Cardio to Lose Weight
Many think that cardio (or aerobic exercises) is necessary for fat loss, and prioritize it over more important factors like resistance training and proper nutrition. However, from the above point, we can see that proper nutrition is a much better way to lose weight than cardio.
Cardio also negatively affects training performance. There are studies that show that the group that did cardio together with strength training gained less strength compared to the group that did strength training alone. This is because endurance exercises will lead to Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. This fatigue reduces the muscle’s ability to produce force, resulting in less activation of the muscle and therefore less strength and muscle growth.
Nevertheless, cardio is still important for heart health. Therefore, if your goal is to maximize muscle growth, my recommendation is to do cardio 1-2 times a week on non-training days for a maximum of 30 minutes. This will help with cardiovascular health, while reducing CNS fatigue for maximum muscle growth.
Excessive cardio will indirectly affect your muscle gains. Prioritize lifting weights if your goal is to gain muscle.
7. You need to Stretch before your Workout
You've probably been asked by your school sports teacher to stretch in a warm up session before. This was based on the idea that stretching reduces risk of injury through better blood flow, range of motion (ROM), and decreased muscle stiffness.
Because of that, stretching before exercising has been so widely accepted as standard practice. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, much more research has been done to scrutinize the evidence. The result?
Shier (1999), McHugh et al. (2010) and Witvrouw et al. (2004) all concluded that stretching before exercising does not affect the incidences of injuries. In some studies, it was shown that stretching could actually make you more susceptible to injury, especially if performed incorrectly
What about improving your strength and performance? Similar to the first myth, it is claimed that stretching does help strength and performance through better blood flow, ROM and the feeling of 'looseness'.
Well, let's look at the research.
Nelson et al. (2005) showed a 5.7% and 3.6% drop in one-repetition maximum (1-RM) scores for quadriceps and hamstrings, respectively. Marek et al. (2005) demonstrated decreases in maximal force following static stretching. Behm et al. (2001) showed a 12.2% decrease in isometric strength of the quadriceps. Conclusion? Static stretching reduces muscle strength.
So how should you warm up instead? It is recommended to do active warm ups such as running or skipping, or a lighter version of the exercise first (e.g. body-weight squats before barbell squats)
Stretching will not improve strength nor reduce injury risk. Instead, it may lead to increased risk of injury!
8. You need to Vary your Workout to ‘Shock’ your Muscles
You’ve probably heard that switching up exercises regularly can “confuse” your muscles, which will prevent your muscles from getting used to the exercise. In this way, your muscles can grow faster as it experiences new stimulus. In actual fact, the opposite is true. Switching up the exercise too regularly can hinder hypertrophy. But why?
Firstly, lifting is a skill and your body needs time to learn the movement. Swapping the exercise too quickly means that you wouldn’t have mastered the exercise enough to make significant muscle gains.
Secondly, the initial strength gains on new exercises are primarily due to neuromuscular adaptations, not muscle growth. This is confirmed by this study.
Only after you have mastered the exercise and when your neuromuscular system has been adapted to the loads, will you then start inducing hypertrophy.
Does that mean you should never switch out an exercise? No! Studies have shown varying the exercise has a positive effect on enhancing motivation to train This will help with adherence, which is the most important part of training. Furthermore, varying an exercise in terms of increasing loads and reps must be done to ensure muscle growth.
My recommendation is that if you would like to change the exercise, do it only after at least 6-8 weeks of consistent training. But if you can stick to the same exercise without getting bored of it, feel free to do so.
Master the movement before switching up the exercise, if not you’ll be leaving gains behind!
P.S. - need more training tips to maximize muscle growth? Drop me a message!
