Top 10 working out bloopers

Vrigo had the bright idea yesterday that I should do something more constructive with my blog... like write about something I know instead of meandering in the deep ravines of philosophy. This was one of the topics he suggested. He wanted me to write about 'gymming'. So here I am.

Even though I haven't worked out a lot (all of 1 year... almost), I used to be a vey active person. I've done loads of running, cycling, basketball, swimming and I have worked out at the gym. The sad things I've seen people say or do in each of these arenas are different and widespread. I'll go over the top 10 mistakes/myths about working out. I should point out beforehand that these are just guidelines. Please take the advice of your trainer in times where you have any questions or doubts.

1. Working out makes you all bulging. This is undoubtedly the reason why so many women don't visit gyms, or confine themselves to the cardiovascular section. This is also the the reason why many a man I've met has joined a gym and expected instant results. Weight training is for muscle development. Another phrase for weight training is resistance training. It means that you are going to work your muscles against resistance (usually offered by gravity, but also by spring, friction etc.). So in my opinion, all excercises, even free hand ones, are resistance training. How they are configured determines the results they'll have on your body. Muscle consists of muscle strands. The rule of thumb is that the more weight your muscles will become stronger by adding more strands, i.e. becoming bigger. If you maintain higher repetitions of each exercise, your individual strands become stronger. The result is the same in both cases. Your muscles become stronger.

2. If it pains, that means its working. This is the biggest single cause of sports injuries. All pains are the way your body uses to warn you that something's wrong. A good guideline is, the sharper or more pulsing the pain is, the worse it is. Even the pain in the first few days should not occur. Your workout should be designed for no pain. "No pain no gain" is for the action movies only. Distinguish between fatigue and pain. Fatigue means when you can't lift that dumbell one last time. There is no pain. There is just lack of strength. Cramps mean enough. That crick you felt while lifting the dumbell off the rack is serious. Pay heed to pain. That is the only way to avoid serious injury.
On a side line, I also advocate the use of restraints and belts where needed. Your warm up every day should include lower back exercises. As your lower back gets stronger, start doing it weights, dead lifts are very good for this when done properly. All upper body exercises strain the lower back. It should be your strongest upper body muscle.

3. There are two kinds of muscle: pushing and pulling. This myth leads to a lot of the wrong technique. This also leads to why a lot of people are not able to invent safe exercises. There is only one kind of muscle... pulling. All muscle works by contracting. There are no 'extending' muscles. You have to get this into your head. The triceps work by pulling your forearm away from your upper arm. Therefore there is no bicep development when you do shoulder exercises. There is however some tricep development. Understand this. There are only pulling muscles. The exercises however are both pushing and pulling. The pushing exercises are for the chest, triceps, shoulders, upper thighs, and calfs. The pulling exercises are for the biceps, upper back, wings, forearms, hamstrings, lower back and abs. Muscles are also different in their length. There are long and short muscles. Legs and upper arms have long muscles. The chest, shoulders, back, abdomen and forearms have short muscles. Pulling and pushing exercises can be planned the same day. Short and long muscles can be planned on the same day. This is why a likely 3 day cycle is chest-back, shoulders-biceps, and triceps-legs. Abs and forearms are too small to be fit in such a routine. They have to be worked out every day.

4. The more I work out, the better the results are. The body can take only so much punishment. Unless you're training competetively, your workout should not last longer than one hour, one hour ten minutes if you have a 20 min warm up and 5 min cool down. Similarly, it doesn't pay to exercise every day of the week. Mass gain exercises should be done only 6 days a week (maximum). Anything more than 3 days a week is god. Also if you intend to put on muscle weight, you should design your workout properly. Consider any muscle group. Biceps lets say. Initially (first 2-3 weeks) you can exercise them every day, let say 8 reps a set, 3 sets an exercise, 1-2 exercises a group. As you near the end of this period, you'll find that your strength is not increasing. You cannot lift more weight every day. When this happens you need to change your work out to exercise every muscle group 3 times a week instead of 6 times. You can increase the number of exercises that you do each session, instead of 1-2, 3-4. Continue the same until you reach your next stagnation ( around 3-4 months later). Then shift to twice a week (for around another 6 months). After that for continued in muscle mass, you have to shift to a 4 day training cycle involving arms, chest, shoulders, legs-and-back, one on each day.
You have to set a limit as well. At the time when you become comfortable with the way you look, stop increasing the weights you lift, and instead start doing more reps. Every time you hit around 25 reps a set, add 2.5 kilos.

5. If I'm very thin and want to put on muscle, I should eat more fat. Wrong. The body needs some basic level of fat for its upkeep. That is all you should have. 4 lightly buttered slices of toast a day give more than enough fat for your needs. Muscle is all protien and water. It contains no fat. Infact, to increase muscle weight, your diet should consist mainly of protiens (for the content of muscle), carbohydrates (for the energy needed in a workout) and fibre (to have a healthy digestive system). Fat is not what makes muscle, protien does.

6. Cardiovascular is for sissies. Cardiovascular exercises like jogging, running, swimming, cycling and aerobics are very good for muscle definition and endurance. Without these, you will quickly lose steam halfway through your workout. Plan for at least 15 minutes of cycling in your daily workout.

7. To lose weight you just need to hit the treadmill. Wrong again. An important part of losing weight is gaining strength. Just hitting the treadmill will do good and absolutely no harm, but combining cardiovascular exercises like the treadmill or the stepper with weight training will allow you to increase your strength so that you can run faster on the treadmill, and thus start burning more calories earlier.

8. You shouldn't eat after/during a workout. Again this depends on what you intend to achieve from your workout. If what you want is to gain muscle weight, then there's nothing better than a high protien milkshake or soya drink right after your cool down. Also, on your way home from the gym, grab that chicken sandwich. It'll do you more good than harm. The reason is that immediately after your workout, your muscles start healing. While they are doing this, they need extra protien. Giving it to them will give you faster results. And don't worry about your stomach. As long as you're not going on a binge, your stomach will do just fine. That favorite energy bar halfway through the workout does wonders in reducing fatigue.
On the other hand, if you're trying to lose weight, replenishing salt and water is important, so you should be drinking a few sips of water every 5 mins. Also, after your workout, try to catch a glass of fresh fruit juice. It doesn't contain enough calories to prevent weight loss, and on the other hand, it will help in preventing that drained out feeling.

9. If you quit the gym you'll grow fat. Okay, I should say yes to this so that you guys stay in gym, but I can't. A lot of people I know berate weight training saying that you'll grow fat when you leave it. This is simply not true. Remember, fat and protiens cannot be converted into each other. So fat doesn't convert to muscle when you work out, and conversely, muscle doesn't convert to fat when you stop going to the gym. What really happens is that working out gives a person a very healthy appetite. This is a good thing while working out. But once you stop working out, you have to cut down on the food. All those excess calories make you fat (that includes the beer). If you cut the diet, you'll keep your sexy shape for at least 3-4 months.

10. Supplements are bad. Yes most of them are. But some protien supplements like Spirulina (R) are very good. They are an excellent alternative to you veggies out there. Soya and spirulina are your two best friends. Mix 30% soya flour in your atta for making chapatis. You cannot get all your protiens from milk and pulses. A couple of capsules of spirulina, one in the morning and one after the workout, can do wonders (even for the non veggies). But, know that excessive protien can cause kidney damage. So don't overdo it. Make protien a part of your daily diet. Creatine is also not bad if taken properly. All excess is excreted anyways so you're wasting your money if you take more than a tablespoon a day. Steroids are a big nono. They cause excessive hormonal problems, and are known to cause cancer in extreme cases.


So there. I'm done. Thanks Vrigo, I enjoyed writing this. Hope you people enjoy reading it.

G'night.