January 27, 2017

4 myths that many exercisers actually believe

4 Mythen, an die viele Trainierende tatsächlich glauben

Common misconceptions about abs, cardio and more

Almost anything works in theory, but some training methods simply don't produce enough results to justify the effort. Other beliefs are just plain wrong. Here are the worst of them. Dispelling these will give you some insight into what you can do instead.

Myth 1 - It is not necessary to train the abdominal muscles directly

This is a popular concept in the field of strength training. The reasoning is this: if you are doing the big basic exercises such as squats, deadlifts, the Olympic weightlifting exercises, standing shoulder presses with momentum from the legs (push press), etc., which require a lot of core strength, then you don't need to train the abs directly as these exercises rely heavily on core strength. Yes, abdominal strength is a key factor in these exercises, but this fact can be interpreted in two different ways:

I don't need to train my abs because they are already heavily involved in the big basic exercises.
OR
I need to train my abs hard because they are heavily involved in the big basic exercises.

Do you see the problem? Most smart strength athletes do a lot of abdominal training because they know that strengthening their abs can help them improve their performance on the basic exercises. Why else do athletes who perform these exercises in competition (powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters) do a lot of abdominal training as part of their training program? And if most elite powerlifters need to train their abs, why do you think you're so strong that you don't need to train these muscles directly?

And there's another problem here. In theory, it's true that the big basic exercises will strengthen your core. But that's only true if your core is functional, if you can use it correctly and if it's not a weak point in the chain to begin with. But if you can't use your abs correctly, then they won't get much stimulation from the big basic exercises either.

But abs are made in the kitchen, right?

That's true to a certain extent. You probably won't see visible results from performing 45 minutes of ab workouts a day if your body fat percentage is 18%. You can do all the ab workouts in the world - if you're carrying around too much fat, you won't see your abs.

Some people are genetically blessed in the sense that when they get lean, they have good (visible) abs without having to train them directly. But by training your abs hard, you will make your abs thicker, which will help to make your abs more defined. Why? Because the sinewy separations that mark the six-pack will not hypertrophy or grow very minimally. So as you increase the thickness of the muscles, the separation between each part of your six-pack will appear more pronounced.

Years ago, a friend of mine competed in the American National Bodybuilding Championships. He came in third or fourth place with very solid body development, excellent conditioning, but with almost zero ab separation.

He told me that he had never trained his abs except for the last few weeks before the competition. "Well, it's too late now then," I told him. To have good abs separation, you need to build muscle. And that happens during the off-season, not when you're in a calorie deficit and fighting hard to lose muscle (let alone gain muscle). The next year, he stuck to my recommendation and emerged with a very good core.

Regardless of their goals, most people should do some ab work as part of their training. If you want to get stronger, be a better athlete, or just look better, then ab workouts should be a part of your workouts. However, there are exceptions. Just as some people don't need to train their biceps directly to get them to grow, some people don't need to train their abs. There are some who have a naturally very well developed core and will not benefit from abdominal training. But these are exceptions and your training should not be based on exceptions.

Myth 2 - Perform cardio in the morning in a fasted state for fat loss

People believe that training without eating anything means less available energy, which will lead to the depletion of energy reserves (fat or glycogen) to provide energy for the training session. In theory, this would lead to greater fat loss. In fact, some studies have found that you mobilize more stored fat when you exercise in a fasted state. But that's not the whole story.

Fat loss is not about what happens during the exercise session, but what happens during the day in response to the exercise session. What happens to your energy expenditure at rest for the next 24 hours after the training session? What hormonal environment is created by the training session? And what will be the effects on your muscle mass?

What happens during the training session?

Advocates of fasted training will claim that you will have more training energy due to the increase in adrenaline/noradrenaline levels during fasted training. However, the reality is that your work capacity, as well as your mental tolerance to physical work, will decrease in a fasted state (especially if you have been in this state for some time). This will result in less effective training sessions.

What happens to your energy expenditure at rest?

A study by Paoli et al (2011) compared the performance of 36 minutes of cardio exercise at 65% of maximum heart rate in the fasted state and not in the fasted state. During the training session, analysis of the respiratory exchange ratio (PER) showed that more fat was used as an energy source in the fasting state, BUT the opposite occurred after the training session. In fact, fat utilization was significantly higher in the non-fasting group for up to 24 hours after exercise!

When exercising in the fasted state, the subjects burned a little more fat during the 36 minutes of exercise, but they burned less during the following 24 hours. The end result was that more fat was used over a 24-hour period when cardio training was not performed in a fasted state. This was confirmed by the fact that oxygen consumption remained higher over a 24-hour period in the group that did not exercise in a fasted state (higher oxygen consumption means that more fat is burned, as oxygen is used for the aerobic energy pathway, which relies on fat).

Here is the conclusion of the study: "When moderate endurance activity is performed to lose fat, fasting before exercise does not increase lipid utilization. Instead, physical activity after a light meal is recommended."

Of course, you can continue to cite the many studies that show that cardio exercise in a fasted state burns more fat during the exercise session itself, as this is true. However, the point is that cardio in a fasted state results in lower energy expenditure at rest (fewer calories are burned at rest), as well as lower fat utilization over 24 hours.

What about the hormonal response?

Strength athletes know cortisol for its catabolic effects on muscle tissue. We fear it because it breaks down muscle so that it can be used to fuel the body, making it harder to build muscle when cortisol levels are high. But cortisol also has a useful function during exercise: it mobilizes stored energy.

When you exercise, cortisol is responsible for making energy available. The more you have to rely on stored energy (muscle glycogen or fat) for energy, the more cortisol is released. The more cortisol is released, the longer it takes for cortisol levels to return to normal after exercise. And as long as your cortisol levels are elevated, your body is in a catabolic state. So if you produce too much cortisol during your training session - which will almost certainly be the case if you do cardio in a fasted state - then the risk of losing muscle mass is much greater and building muscle mass will obviously be much harder.

Then there's also the fact that fasted cardio will increase AMPK more than non-fasting cardio. When AMPK is high, this has negative effects on protein synthesis. So by doing cardio in a fasted state, you make it harder for yourself to build muscle.

So why do competitive bodybuilders do it?

I hate to play the chemical comparison game because it doesn't explain everything, but in this case it does. Today, pretty much every competitive bodybuilder worthy of the name uses chemical assistance. Heck, even amateur bikini girls use stuff.

Using chemical support helps people bypass the problems caused by cardio in a fasted state. Who cares about elevated cortisol levels when you're swallowing or injecting anabolic steroids that rev up anabolism throughout the day and reduce the effects of cortisol? Who cares about an increase in AMPK levels when he is in a constant state of anabolism? And who cares if his metabolic rate drops over a 24 hour period if he's using stimulants like thyroid hormones?

I'm not saying that bodybuilders who use chemical support have it easy and don't work hard. I'm just saying that in some cases - like this one - the limitations that apply to steroid-free exercisers don't apply to these athletes.

Myth 3 - Get stronger by training on an unstable surface

What we're talking about here is placing your bodyweight on an unstable surface while performing an exercise with weights: Squats on a BOSU ball, lunges on an inflatable disk, bench press on a Swiss ball, etc. These exercises have very little value. And it has been proven that strength production is lower when strength exercises are performed on an unstable surface.

Here are the facts:

A lot of trainers rely on seemingly fashionable unstable exercises because they simply aren't good at making anyone stronger or more muscular. You need to find a way to make yourself appear more competent.
If you are performing an exercise to build strength and muscle mass, then training on an unstable surface is a stupid idea as it not only reduces strength production but also costs more nerve energy.
Performing an exercise on an unstable surface to work on posture, stability or motor unit recruitment issues can be effective. But don't mix things up. Focus on either correcting these issues or building muscle and strength, but not both at once with the same exercise.
Exercises performed on an unstable surface can be used as a warm-up in preparation for the main exercise of the day.
Adding slight instability to the bar (hanging kettlebells, bands or chains) could be very effective for improving joint stabilization and unlike training on an unstable surface, this will not reduce your capacity for force production.

To reiterate, exercises on an unstable surface are perfectly fine when used to improve stability. There are also unstable resistance exercises where the source of resistance - not the surface you are standing on - is unstable. These exercises also have their value.

The current trend in powerlifting performance is to maximize the solidity of your "foundation" - lifting the upper back and tensing the abs to be good at bench presses and anchoring the feet firmly to the floor and generating as much tension as possible in the torso and latissimus during squats and deadlifts. The more solid the foundation, the stronger you can be. So why do people still use strength exercises on an unstable surface that robs them of much needed stability?

Myth 4 - Train less often to build more muscle

The logic behind training less frequently (three or fewer workouts per week) is that muscles grow while you recover. Advocates of less frequent training claim that only users of performance-enhancing drugs can train more frequently and recover from their training. They say that a steroid-free exerciser needs a lot of rest days to grow through their efforts.

Here are the reasons why this is wrong

First of all, physical activity and more training can speed up the recovery process by releasing cytokines. As long as intensity and volume are properly adjusted, more frequent exercise will facilitate recovery after exercise.

And the more often you push your body to perform and recover from physical labor, the better it will become at recovering after such workouts. The body is designed to adapt, which means that the more often you perform a certain type of exertion, the easier it will be for your body to cope with it. If you train less frequently, you actually prevent your body from being able to recover efficiently from training.

The frequency of training represents how often you train per week. By less frequent training, I don't mean that you train each muscle infrequently (once a week). You could train every day and still only train each muscle once a week. This would still be a high training frequency.

Exercise has systemic effects on the nervous system, the hormonal system and the immune system. Not to mention that there is always some overlap in training. The latissimus, for example, is a supporting muscle involved in bench presses, deadlifts and squats. Even if you don't train your back, the latissimus can still be involved.

But what if it leads to better recovery?

Let's assume that a lot of rest days per week would actually help you recover. The benefit of less frequent training would be to allow you to do more physical work on the days you train. For this reason, less frequent training with a high volume might actually work for some people. Completely destroy yourself during each training session, but give yourself plenty of recovery time.

A low volume of work done less frequently will not challenge your body's recovery capabilities, so positive adaptations (muscle growth, strength gains) will be small to non-existent. There would also be no need for 4 to 5 recovery days per week.

If you are someone who does not tolerate high volume well, then you should use a lower daily volume. But the overall training frequency per week will need to be higher to maximize results and get your body to become better at recovering from physical stimulation.

Less frequent training and low volume training would only be the best solution for those who work hard physically. The demands of their job mean that they don't have as much energy left over to invest in their training. But also, the physical aspect of their job will initiate the cytokine response that helps with muscle recovery and since these people are physically working every day, they will reap the benefits of frequent training in terms of capacity to recover from physical labor.

Ironically, those who could make good gains from less frequent/low volume training are also at the same time those who are genetically blessed to build muscle as they don't need much stimulation to grow.

References:

Paoli A, Marcolin G, Zonin F, Neri M, Sivieri A, Pacelli QF. Exercising fasting or fed to enhance fat loss? Influence of food intake on respiratory ratio and excess postexercise oxygen consumption after a bout of endurance training. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2011 Feb;21(1):48-54.

By Christian Thibaudeau | 04/25/16

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/4-myths-many-lifters-actually-believe