3 Exercise Myths

Myth #1: Single-Joint Exercises are better for muscular development. No, for most people single-joint exercises (e.g. bicep curls, leg extensions, chest flys, etc.) are a complete waste of time. They do not burn a lot of calories and do not activate many muscle fibers, and you cannot use as heavy of loads. Instead, you should be using multi-joint exercises (e.g. squats, deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups, rows, etc.) that will burn tons of calories, activate many muscle fibers, and allow you to use heavy loads. Single-joint exercises are only best used for extremely deconditioned individuals, individuals working are injuries, or to rehab injuries.

Myth #2: Using a Body Part Split to get stronger. This is how body builders used to and some still do train. These workouts have you targeting a different muscle group each day. Usually these workouts will leave you overtrained with muscle imbalances, injuries, and limited gains. Your body functions as one unit and therefore should be trained as one unit. By training your entire body each day using movement patterns you will be able to develop greater strength, burn more calories, increase metabolism, and spend less time working out. I mean do you really think you need to spend an entire day devoted to arms? No, you don't even need to do any specific arm work. Your arms get worked with every upper body and most lower body exercises that you do. Usually the people using body part split routines over work their bodies and hinder there gains by doing to much. When you train your entire body with one exercise for each movement pattern (Squating, Horizontal Pushing, Horizontal Pulling, Deadlifting, Vertical Pushing, and Vertical Pulling) you will keep everything in balance and avoid overuse. However, this type of training is not to be done everyday like the body part split routines. Instead, it is only to be done 3-4 days per week with 3-4 days of rest.

Myth #3: You must do cardio training to lose weight. Again, not entirely true. While some people have great success using the treadmill, elliptical, bike, or running/walking outside it is not necessary for weight loss. If you enjoy it great and by all means continue with it. But, if you don't enjoy it why suffer through. A cardio replacement I like to use is Anaerobic Cardio. With Anaerobic Cardio you perform high intensity exercises (sometimes running) one after the other for short periods of time followed by a period of rest. And then repeat. You can also incorporate weight training exercises into this as well. You can perform these 2x per week as a complete workout or at the end of your regular workout. I use both. These workouts are usually extremely fatiguing and leave you pretty winded. But, I find them much more enjoyable than regular cardio.

There you go 3 Myths Busted! Try out those tips and let me know what you think.

Josh