Dispelling Myths of Fitness (Part 1)

This is part 1 of...well...who the hell knows how many parts, dispelling myths pertaining to fitness, nutrition, and whatever else I feel like talking about. It's hard for the general public to know what to do when they get in the gym, or what to eat when they are at home or on the road due to all the content that the mass media spews on a day-to-day basis. If you train on a BOSU ball you increase your bodies kinestetic awareness, if you want to improve body composition you should run for miles at a time, and when dieting you should stay away from fats because they make you fat. We've heard it all. What's true? What's not? Who's who? Who's hot? (those last two questions were purely for two reasons...1)show off my poetic flowetry 2) show a picture of a hot chick in hopes of getting more people on my site)

I don't watch Heroes, but I'll be your hero any day Hayden (think she would dig that)?

Myth #1: Women should not lift heavy like men. They will become "bulky."


Ehhhhhhh nope. False. Look at the facts. Women have a smaller muscle CSA (cross-sectional area) than men (aka their muscles are smaller), men produce as much as ten times more testosterone than women which has a HUGE influence on muscle hypertrophy, and women have a lower composition of fast-twitch IIx muscle fibers (the one's that have the greatest growth potential).

Myth #2: You shouldn't hold your breath (valsalva manuever) when lifting.



By all means if you want to snap your spine in two on your max effort squat day, then don't implement the valasalva maneuver. This is a protection mechanism in that it activates the Transverse Abdominis (TVA) which will protect the lumbar spine. Fill that belly with air!!! (This can be difficult for most. As apart of a warm up, practice some diaphragmatic breathing by placing your hand on your abdominals and inhaling deeply using your diaphragm. Try pushing your hand out as far as you can.)

Myth #3: You can isolate muscles.

He isn't isolating anything, except for my thoughts. I'm thinking that he's a pansy and needs to get rid of that 1995 haircut.

This common myth has been popularized by bodybuilding magazines. It is impossible to isolate a muscle. For instance, during the incline bench press you are not training your "upper chest." In fact, there is no such thing as "upper chest." Your pec major is diveded into two portions, clavicular and sternal. And to further elaborate on this point technically you are using way more than your "upper chest." Your anterior delts, triceps, lats, external obliques, among others are recruited for the incline bench press.