One of the biggest myths on how to gain weight
and build muscle that has been around for decades is that "a stronger muscle means a bigger muscle".
This is where the whole "lift big to get big" philosophy comes from.
Most have us have been fooled to associate the lifting of heavy weights with the building and stimulating of large muscles.
But is that the case in the "real world"....as I like to call it?
The simple answer......NO.
There are many, many reasons for this.
In this article I'll discuss the first reason why not:
1) Lifting heavier and heavier weight is not the main factor in stimulating muscle weight gain and growth
I know, this seems to go against what everyone and their mama seem to think.
But, let's take a look at what goes on in the real world.
How many individuals do you know (and perhaps you're one of them) that
can bench press a ton, yet when they take their shirt off don't have
that much of a chest to show off?
How many weight lifters do you know that can squat a car, yet when you
take a look at their thighs / quads it leaves much to be desired?
How many bodybuilders have you seen that are as strong as an ox, yet if
it wasn't that you've seen them lifting weights at the gym or know them
personally you would have never
guessed that they even work out?
Again, yes, they may lift progressively heavier weights every week, and
yes, they may be getting stronger and stronger consistently......but
that doesn't mean that they are growing in size and muscular weight!
Every article and workout program recommends to "progressively overload the muscle"....which is absolutely correct.
However, the type of "progressive overload" that is recommended in 99%
of these workout routines is to lift heavier and heavier
weight.......focusing on the strength building aspect of the
equation......instead of the size building aspect.
Lifting heavier weights is not the main stimulus for building and developing muscle mass.
(In future articles I'll get into the other factors that trigger muscular growth).
Think about it, if lifting heavier and heavier weight on a progressive
basis was the way to gain muscle mass then powerlifters and Olympic
lifters would have the largest and most developed muscles, not
bodybuilders.
All you have to do is take a quick look at the pec development of a
bodybuilder and compare it to the pec development of a powerlifter /
Olympic lifter.
Sure, the powerlifter / Olympic trainer can probably bench press
literally hundreds of pounds more than the bodybuilder, but the
bodybuilder will always have a physically larger and more developed
chest.
That's because powerlifters / Olympic trainers are focused on the
lifting of heavier weight, regardless of how the muscle feels, while
the bodybuilder could care less about how much weight he / she can
lift, but instead is focusing on the feel of the muscle, the tension
that's placed on it.
Sure, a powerlifter may weigh 100 pounds more than a bodybuilder, but
we all know that half of a powerlifter's body weight is fat.
Also, many of the most well developed physiques are of individuals who
hardly ever increase the amount of weight they lift, at least not on a
regular basis.
Yet, they built and gained some serious muscle mass and weight.
That's because they knew that there are other more important factors in
stimulating muscular development than lifting progressively heavier
weights.
...Wait until you read what I write in my next article about this bodybuilding myth...
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