Excercise myths

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Post 'em here. Here are some I've noticed:

- You need to work every muscle from at least four angles

- Anything that isn't squats, deadlifts, bench press or pull ups is useless

- Chin ups are the poor man's pull ups

- Bench press is an overrated exercise and pushups are way better

- You get enough protein from a regular bread and butter diet

- Lifting weights heavier than 5 lbs will make a woman look like Chyna in her steroid days

- Isolation exercises are inherently useless

- Machines are safer than free weights

- You body can't make use of more than 30 grams of protein per meal

- Deadlifting is dangerous, squatting on a Swiss ball is perfectly safe

- Bosu balls help you develop "efficient" strength

-Very heavy dead-lifting doesn't hurt your back

-Very heavy leg-press doesn't hurt your knees

-The amount you can lift goes WAY down if you take 4-6 weeks off lifting.

-You need to keep eating high-protein meals constantly to make good gains.

-If you use steroids, then later quit using them you lose ALL the gains you've made from the steroids.

Squats are bad for your knees

You cannot get big, strong, or powerful using only bodyweight exercises/calisthenics

Size means strength and power

Women who lift with an olympic barbell and weights will look masculine and bulky

Must have a low carb diet to maintain low body fat and good health/must have a low fat diet to maintain low body fat and good health

Steroid usage makes you better without hard work/Steroids make your peepee small

Creatine is like steroids

Asthmatics take steroids. I still would not take them though.

Steroids do sound pretty "gross" in a way if you think about it.

There is a large difference between corticosteroids and anabolic steroids

It's just medicine. They're used legitimately medically for lots of reasons. They help people with AIDS live longer and not die of muscle wasting. You can use medicine like an idiot, or you can use it intelligently. Then again, the situation has gotten a bit out of hand with steroids and drugs in general. In the 1960s pro bodybuilders were contemplating whether or not to take one tab of Dianabol or two.

Last edited by 1000Knives on 03 Nov 2012, 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, steroids are just medicine. They help a lot of people in need who are not using for performance enhancement.

It seems like steroids would also affect the users heart since it's a muscle. That's one of the scarier sounding aspects of them. I'm mainly talking about anabolic-steroids by the way.

I knew what worked for me. I hated hearing people telling me what I was doing wrong and then displaying to me that they had even less of a clue. I practiced a lot on form and technique without the use of a personal trainer as well and I still know what good nutrition is. I have only ever asked for advice when stuck on something. Example, bench press was going nowhere, changed the form I had and it got easier to lift more.

Let's debunk some of these myths as well. I will not comment on steroids because I have never taken them.

- You need to work every muscle from at least four angles
Not in the same workout session. Not totally necessary either

- Anything that isn't squats, deadlifts, bench press or pull ups is useless
Whoever said that better not be a personal trainer. All exercises can be useful, you just got to know the right form.

- Chin ups are the poor man's pull ups
Chin ups work the biceps a little better than pullups will. At least that's what I found.

- Bench press is an overrated exercise and pushups are way better
Bench presses are effective for the chest and triceps. Pushups don't need weight, but engage the core better.

- You get enough protein from a regular bread and butter diet
Bread and butter? No thanks.

- Lifting weights heavier than 5 lbs will make a woman look like Chyna in her steroid days
WTF?

- Isolation exercises are inherently useless
Isolation allows you to balance out your strength and muscles a little. My left bicep was usually bigger than my right one by a little bit.

- Machines are safer than free weights
No, both are unsafe if you have no clue how to use them.

- You body can't make use of more than 30 grams of protein per meal
Everybody's body is different.

- Deadlifting is dangerous, squatting on a Swiss ball is perfectly safe
Why anyone would want to squat on a swiss ball is beyond me.

- Bosu balls help you develop "efficient" strength
I think they help with balance which is different from strength.

Squats are bad for your knees
Only bad form on squats are bad for your knees.

Size means strength and power
Size means hard work and patience.

Women who lift with an olympic barbell and weights will look masculine and bulky
Not sure if that is true.

Must have a low carb diet to maintain low body fat and good health/must have a low fat diet to maintain low body fat and good health
It is usually recommended (especially for weight training) to have a 2:1 ratio or higher of carbs to protien/fat carbs and protein are your three primary sources of energy and are essential for getting through your day. Laziness is what brings a person to poor health or overconsumption will as well.

Creatine is like steroids
Creatine will help with weight gain, but is largely useless for increasing strength. It seems to only act as a boost to your energy and adds water weight (my own personal experience)