Common Myths

Shock the Muscle

You cannot “shock the muscle.” Your muscle does not have a brain, it only responds to tension. It does not know the amount of weight used or exercise performed.

Continuously changing your exercise selection to “shock the muscle” will only hinder your progress since you will not be able to tell if you are progressively overloading. The longer you stick with a movement, the better you will execute it and become stronger with it, resulting in more gains.

You Can Turn Fat Into Muscle

You cannot turn fat into muscle since they are different types of tissue. Fat contains no nitrogen, making it impossible to remold into muscle.

Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

If I place one pound of fat and one pound of muscle on a scale, they are going to weigh the same because they are both one pound. However, muscle is more dense than fat, so a 200-pound person with low body fat will look different than a 200-pound person with higher body fat.

Lifting Weights Stunts Growth

There is no research or scientific evidence to support that lifting weights stunts growth. In fact, lifting weights with proper form can promote growth because it increases growth hormone (GH) and testosterone.

Small Muscles Require Higher Volume Because They Recover Faster

Doing additional sets will only slow you down and prevent you from getting the results you want since smaller muscles do not require as much volume to provide an adequate amount of stimulation.

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12457419/

https://www.bones.nih.gov/health-info/bone/bone-health/juvenile#:.