Part 3: BIG LIES 7 through 10

If you haven’t already, please start with Part 1 of this series.

Is your training working, and building muscle?

If it isn’t, it’s time to find out why, and then make changes.

Start by understanding the BIG LIES of bodybuilding.

The BIG LIES are described in the context of drug-free, genetically normal bodybuilders, who are the target audience for this four-part series of articles.

But some of the BIG LIES are truths in the context of bodybuilders who are drug-assisted or genetically highly gifted. Especially so for bodybuilders who are drug-assisted AND genetically highly gifted.
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BIG LIE #7: To build big muscles, it’s not essential to be strong

Even bodybuilders who have a similar amount of muscle can vary greatly in their strength levels. The explanation may include differences in leverages, muscle belly lengths, efficiency of the nervous system, and variations in the ratios of the different types of muscle fibers.

A smaller bodybuilder who is better put together for strength may be stronger than a larger bodybuilder.

Let’s say, for instance, that you can currently just squeeze out six reps in the bench press with150 pounds, and in a year’s time you still can’t bench press more than 150 pounds for six reps. In such a case, you would be highly unlikely to have bigger pecs, delts and triceps.

But if in a year’s time you can bench press 200 pounds for six reps with the same technique as before, you’ll have somewhat bigger pecs, delts and triceps.

Then if, 18 months later, you can bench press 265 pounds for six reps with the same technique as before, you’ll have substantially bigger pecs, delts and triceps.

The “get stronger to get bigger” maxim is misinterpreted or abused when bodybuilders focus on adding poundage at the expense of exercise form. Don’t be guilty of that.

Exercise form must be correct, consistently. You must not get injured.
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BIG LIE #8: You can’t build muscle if you train just twice a week

If you train properly at each workout — which includes training hard enough on just a small number of the best exercises — you shouldn’t be capable of training more often than three times a week.

But working out just twice a week is better for most hardgainers, because they need lots of recovery time between workouts. (Training just twice-weekly is also more practical for most people than more frequent workouts. And having just two sessions per week can really boost your zest for working out, and your training intensity.)

Of course, if you never push any set to your limit, and you stick mostly to isolation exercises, you’ll be able to train four or more times each week without becoming exhausted. But those workouts won’t stimulate muscle growth.

The primary main aim of bodybuilding is to build muscle, and to do that you need hard workouts, and when you train hard you can’t train very often.

Genetically gifted bodybuilders, especially if they are drug-assisted, have far better recuperative abilities than the rest of us, and they can make good progress on a greater training frequency, but that’s another matter.

A split program that alternates two different but very short routines, while training three times a week, can be effective for some drug-free bodybuilders if properly designed. I sometimes recommend that when I want to wean bodybuilders off programs of four or more workouts per week.

But generally speaking, just two properly designed and performed workouts a week is ideal for hardgainers.
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BIG LIE #9: To build muscle, women should train differently to men

Muscle is muscle regardless of whether it’s on a man or a woman. But men and women have very different levels of some hormones. That’s what primarily accounts for the big difference in the quantity of muscle that can be built by the two sexes, even when similar training methods and levels of dedication are applied.

But men and women usually have different goals. Few women want to build big muscles.

For a woman to build muscle most effectively, she should train using the same methods that a hardgaining man should. Going through the motions on a long list of isolation exercises is just as ineffective for building muscle on a woman as it is on a man.

Hard, serious training is required for both sexes to build muscle, but the potential for muscle growth is way less for most women than it is for most men.
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BIG LIE #10: The powerlifts will make your physique look blocky

If you’re naturally stocky (with short limbs and a broad torso), the three powerlifts (properly done) will make you a larger-muscled stocky person.

If you’re naturally lanky (with long limbs and a narrow torso), the three powerlifts (properly done) will make you a larger-muscled lanky person.

And if you’re neither stocky nor lanky, the three powerlifts (properly done) will make you a larger-muscled neither stocky nor lanky person.

To build muscle, the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift are outstanding exercises when performed properly.

Stocky bodybuilders are usually especially suited to the squat and the bench press. Lanky bodybuilders are usually especially suited to the deadlift, and often have trouble barbell squatting with correct technique for an adequate range of motion. Lanky bodybuilders may be better off with the parallel grip deadlift rather than the barbell squat, and the parallel bar dip rather than the bench press.

For information on Stuart’s work, please visit hardgainer.com