Posted on May 07, 2010 by admin

Fitness and Muscle Building Myths

Myth No. 1: You may be surprised to know that the fitness industry has no generally agreed upon definition of fitness. And many kinds of exercise have no positive impact on muscle mass. My definition of fitness, for the purpose of this article, is having optimum amounts of lean body mass and body fat. Ideally, any exercise program should reach these twin results, although most muscle building workouts fail to do so.

Myth No. 2: The standard strategy of alternating weightlifting workouts every other day for multiple muscle groups is the most effective way to build muscles. This is a myth. Indeed, new and old research shows that this is pretty much a stupid strategy, for several reasons. Fitness gurus who still advocate this standard strategy are either ignorant of this body of scientific research or they choose to ignore it.

Myth No. 3: You can look just like the folks on TV infomercials and other kinds of advertisements if you just buy whatever they are selling and do what they tell you to do. The truth for most people is that they are not predisposed to get those results. Only a select few can.

How to Get the Best Results Based on Good Scientific Research

The best research summary and workout advice that is available right now is presented in a new book (2009) by Dr. Doug McGuff and John Little, titled Body by Science. The subtitle is, A Research-Based Program for Strength Training, Body Building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week. The big surprise for me is that this claim is not a hyped up, empty marketing promise. It is a reality that McGuff and Little substantiate with impeccable science. Their website (bodybyscience.net) offers additional, extensive explanations on fitness that get right to the core of human exercise physiology.

My advice, therefore, is simply to get and read this book. You may find, like I did, that bookstores do not always have it in stock. If so, just order it online.

What You Can Expect

My example is myself. I am in my early sixties, recently lost 25 lbs and 8% body fat by resetting my hormone balance, completed a half-marathon last year and an Olympic distance triathlon not too long ago. Before that, no matter what I did, my body fat kept increasing and lean body mass kept decreasing. One of my mistakes, as I discovered in McGuff and Little’s book, is that my long-distance running and endurance training contributed to my diminishing fitness. Oh, what a surprise that was!

Read their book and see what I mean. Meanwhile, for the sake of brevity, here is a summary of my results from the exercise protocol in Body by Science. These results are based on the book’s Big 5 exercise machines for the following movements: 1) Seated Row, 2) Chest Press, 3) Leg Press, 4) Overhead Press, and 5) Pulldown.

Day 1, Workout 1

Reps and Starting Weights

1) 5 x 100 lbs; 2) 5 x 130 lbs; 3) 6 x 270 lbs; 4) 4 x 60 lbs; 5) 7 x 150 lbs.

Day 33, Workout 5

1) 6 x 130 lbs; 2) 4 x 160 lbs; 3) 8 x 300 lbs; 4) 3 x 80 lbs; 5) 6 x 180 lbs.

My total time under load (doing each movement) for all machines averages about 9 minutes per workout.

My results are straightforward and simple to follow. They are realistic for everyone, in spite of the fact that I did not adhere perfectly to the protocol. My goal was to keep it simple, and I got good results anyway. Note that these results came after only 5 workouts, with a total time under load of about 45 minutes, over 33 days. This is absolutely the best and easiest muscle building exercise program that I have ever done.

The good news is that I can expect continued improvement for at least another 7 workouts. I say this because the research generally encompasses a 12 week period. Who know how far I can go after that?

Missing Components

There is a lot to know about the Body by Science protocol: frequency, duration, intensity, recovery time, keeping track of progress, exercising different muscle types (not muscle groups), time under load, etc. Nevertheless, everyone can get good results with this protocol. No need to buy expensive DVD sets, fitness equipment, supplements, special food, or high-priced coaching. The only drawback is that, if enough people catch on to how good the Body by Science protocol is, we might see an economic downturn due to the lost sales of all that other stuff. Sorry about that.

Dr. Dennis Clark is a retired university professor and research scientist, specializing in natural products biochemistry and human health. He shares his expertise on fitness and health based on scientific research. Get his analysis of how to increase lean body mass through the Body by Science workout method and in his free report, How To Be Lean And Strong Without Exercise, at PersonalFitnessResearch.com.