Muscle-Building Myths Debunked

In most of the articles I write, I enjoy talking about “how to do…,” or, “5 ways to…” but this week I wanted to switch it up.

Other than how-tos and ways to improve your health and fitness, one of my favorite things to do is to call out b.s. and debunk common myths in the health and fitness space. I absolutely love shedding light on things that have lead people astray for far too long.

That is what I’m here for today. We are going to shed some light on some muscle-building myths in order to give you more insight on what you REALLY should be doing to improve your lean muscle mass.

MYTH #1 - YOU HAVE TO BE IN A CALORIE SURPLUS TO BUILD MUSCLE

Calories in and calories out seems to be the name of the game when it comes to building muscle and losing body fat.

And it should be. Well, most of the time.

When it comes to nutrition, the law of thermodynamics basically says that our body needs to be expending more calories than we are taking in to lose weight, and taking in more calories than we are expending in order to gain weight. So in theory, we would need to be taking in more calories than we are burning in the day in order to build lean muscle, a.k.a., calorie surplus.

This is true most of the time, but not all of the time. We also have this thing in the world of health and fitness that we like to call nutrient partitioning. All this means is that your body may send calories certain directions for certain results. The body may send calories that you are taking in for fat gain, or for muscle gain. It all just depends on the signal you are sending to your body.

If you are sending a signal to your body to get stronger and build muscle (a common signal you would send if you are weight lifting properly), the body may “partition” calories to build muscle. All it needs is calories.

We know that calories come from the food that we eat. But, we also have stored energy in our body. So in theory, it is possible for you body to use stored energy to benefit the muscle building signal that you are sending through your training program. In theory, you may not have to be in a calorie surplus at all.

Is this all talk, or is it really a thing?

It’s really a thing.

There is tons of evidence suggesting that the body can use stored calories for muscle building if it isn’t getting excess calories from food. I’ve seen it first hand in plenty of the clients that I’ve trained over the years. Their goal is fat loss, so we have them in a slight calorie deficit (burning more than they take in), yet the body builds muscle.

The body can take stored energy and use it to build muscle! Does this mean that your body turns fat into muscle? Well, not really. All it may be doing is using the stored calories as energy to benefit the muscle building response that the body is getting from lifting. Crazy.

I will say, though, that this is far more common in untrained and overweight individuals. Those that are intermediate, advanced, and/or lean lifters may very well need to be in a caloric surplus to build muscle.

MYTH #2 - DO 8-12 REPS TO BUILD MUSCLE

There are times when I am skeptical toward scientific studies, and this is one of them.

If you were to look at a collection of studies that look at what rep ranges build the most amount of muscle, you would come to a conclusion that most will tell you 8-12 reps is the sweet spot for muscle building.

This conclusion has lead many people to lift between 8-12 reps forever in order to build muscle. Yet, they find themselves getting stuck.

Something that is very hard to take into account during studies is the many individuals’ history with exercise, as well as how long the outcomes of the study affect the individuals. For example, a study may show that 8-12 reps was the best rep range to build muscle for the 6-week study. But what about after that?

If there is one thing that training hundreds of individuals has taught me, it’s that “it depends” is almost always the right answer to any question. Same goes for the best rep range to build muscle.

The best rep range to build muscle depends on what your body has been used to. We know that the body is an adaptation machine. Lift weights and it will get stronger. Do long distance running and it will be come more efficient. It’s pretty fascinating. The same applies for rep ranges and muscle-building. If you’ve been doing 8-12 reps for the past 6 months, it’s likely you haven’t been building muscle for quite some time. You may build more muscle doing 12-15 reps, or maybe even 4-8 reps. If you’ve been feeling like you’re spinning your wheels, it’s time to change it up.

People build muscle doing 4-6 reps. People build muscle doing 15-20 reps. It all just depends on what the body is used to, and what it hasn’t been exposed to.

MYTH #3 - SHOCK THE BODY BY CHANGING YOUR ROUTINE OFTEN

Shocking the body is something that got popular somehow someway with the stereotypical gym bros. The idea is that you always want to keep your body guessing that way it can never adapt and you will continually see progress.

The obsession with shocking the body got out of control, and those wanting to build serious muscle started changing their workouts up far too often.

As we know, more isn’t always better.

Changing your routine is good, but it should only be done every 3-6 weeks. You see, it is good to shock the body and make sure it isn’t getting too used to what it’s doing. But we still want to give it the opportunity to reap the most benefit from the exercise we are giving it. If we change things up too often, our body won’t have a chance to adapt and change for the better.

Our body has to be exposed to a certain routine and stimulus for a period of time for it to improve. Think of it like a skill in a sport. If you want to improve your ability to swing a bat, you wouldn’t want to practice swinging a bat one day and then swinging a tennis racket for another. You would want to get plenty of reps in with the bat. It’s a similar concept with your training. If you want your legs to become stronger, you need to allow them to become as strong as they can with certain exercises, sets, and reps. As soon as progress begins to slow down, that’s the time to switch it up. This window is about 3-6 weeks depending on the individual.

Remember, there is no right answer 100% of the time. It depends on you, so take note of how your body responds, and change things up when it’s time.

THE TAKEAWAYS

If you’re wanting to build muscle, keep the following in mind.

You do not always have to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle. If your body has the right training protocol and stored energy to use, it may be able to build muscle at calorie maintenance or even deficit.

The best rep range for you is the one that you haven’t been doing. You can build muscle in low and high rep ranges.

Don’t spend too much or too little time in a routine. Change things up every 3-6 weeks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

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HOW TO MANAGE YOUR DIET ON VACATION

Vacations are wonderful. 

They give us an opportunity to let go of all the things that tear us down during our every day lives. They give us time to reflect. They give us a chance to simply let go and just be. 

Vacations are a joy, but they can also be a real downer if you’re worried about gaining body fat or losing all the progress you’ve made up to that point. I don’t know about you but I don’t want my vacations to be full of thoughts like “Gosh, I don’t think I should have the glass of wine, I may get fat”, or “I should probably skip the dessert on all the dinners that way I can keep my figure.”

F*&$ that. 

The thing is, all of this is easier said than done. It’s easier to say that you’ll not stress on vacation that actually not stressing on vacations. There almost always seems to be that little voice in the back of our minds telling us “eh, you probably shouldn’t eat that.”

So what do we do? How can we truly enjoy vacations without worrying about derailing everything we’ve worked so hard for?

I believe we can free ourselves by working on some practices both at home, and at the resort. 

MAKE A HABIT OF EXERCISING AT HOME

As you know, exercise should be a part of your daily life if you want to live a long, healthy, and happy life. But, did you know that there is one form of exercise that you should be doing that will create more freedom for you at home as well as on vacation?

It’s resistance training. Weight training. Lifting weights. Whatever you want to call it. 

The reason we’re get our panties in a bunch on vacation is because we tend to move a lot less, and eat a LOT more. Eating more and moving less could potentially lead to weight gain. 

In order for us to gain weight, we need to be taking in more calories than we are burning in the day. In order for us to lose weight, we need to be burning more calories than we are taking in during the day. 

After hearing that statement, you may be thinking “wow, sounds like I need to start running my ass off and eating a lot less.” 

You could, but I would advise against that. 

You see, there are many different factors that come into play when it comes to the amount of calories you burn in the day. One of the biggest factors that contributes to calories burned is our metabolism. In fact, we burn about 60-80% of our total calories through our metabolism. The remainder of the calories are burned through exercise, digestion, and more. 

So it’s safe to say that it would be wise to invest some time and energy into speeding up our metabolisms, given that it burns the large majority of our total calories. 

Lifting weights can do that. Lifting weights can literally increase the amount of calories you burn in the day. In fact, lifting weights delivers the best of both worlds. It allows you to burning calories while lifting weights, as well as increase your body’s ability to burn calories throughout the day, even when you’re not exercising. 

Let’s take a step back and bring this together.

We need to be burning more calories in the day than we are taking in to lose weight. The immediate thought is to move and exercise like a maniac, and starve yourself. 

But when we thing about what lifting weights does to our metabolism, we realize that taking time to speed up our metabolism is the better option. When we have a faster metabolism, we can enjoy more food on vacation. We can stress less about having to get a workout in. 

Now I want to be clear. Two different people can lift weights and only one may end up with a faster metabolism. It’s all about how you lift those weights. Begin weight lifting with the goal of getting stronger. Lift heavier, rest a little bit longer, push your limits, find out what you’re truly capable of. 

Oh, and download this ebook for free for a detailed step-by-step guide on how to speed up your metabolism. 

DON’T EAT LIKE AN ASSHOLE

Too many people eat like assholes when they’re on vacation. They treat vacation like a kid treats halloween night. We’re all adults. We need to act like adults when it comes to our food. 

There are some practices that I have my clients implement when they are on vacation. It helps them enjoy it without acting like a child that is going coo-coo for coco puffs.

#1 SLOW DOWN

When you are eating your food, slow the freaking heck down. Eating too fast is a surefire way to binge eat and leave your vacation with an extra pound or two of body fat. 

When we eat too fast, we don’t give our body the opportunity it needs to tell us it is satisfied. When we don’t know when we’re satisfied, we keep going and end up being too stuffed. 

There are several ways you can slow down. A few ways I like to slow down is by chewing at least 30 times per bite, putting my utensil down in between bites, and using my opposite hand to eat. Try one or a combo of those and notice how much you slow down. 

#2 BE PRESENT

Being present is a part of slowing down. When you slow down, you don’t have a choice but to be present with the people around you and the food you are eating. When you’re present, you appreciate things more. You learn how to truly enjoy the taste for what it is, rather than eating it like you’ll never get food again. 

The idea is to enjoy your food, not cram it down your throat. Let’s face the reality here. You can binge eat any time you want to at home. The point of vacation is to have foods that you normally wouldn’t, to experience things you normally wouldn’t. So don’t eat like you’ve been deprived your whole entire life and you’ll never get a chance to eat again. Eat like you are eating with the purpose of enjoying the taste, texture and experience. You don’t need 10 pieces of cake to enjoy the taste, texture, and experience when all that comes in the first piece you ordered. 

#3 HAVE AN INTERNAL DIALOGUE

As you slow down, tell yourself what you’re enjoying about the food. Talk to yourself (in your head) or maybe even tell the people what you’re enjoying. 

“Wow, the cake is so soft, nothing like I’ve experienced before.”

“I love how refreshing the sorbet is. It’s so good!”

Don’t eat with an empty head. Eat mindfully. Be present. 

MOVE YOUR BODY 

Listen, no one is expecting you to get after in the gym while you’re on vacation. If you’re like me and you enjoy it and want to get a lift in almost every day, do it! But if the thought of exercising on vacation doesn’t appeal to you, THAT’S OK. 

You can still move. 

Go on walks in between meals, stretch, take a yoga class, walk up and down the beach, play some volleyball, or throw the frisbee around. 

Walking may not be the exact same as formal exercise, but getting your steps in can make a BIG difference. 

Relax and enjoy your time away, but move a little. Don’t be a blob that lays on the chair for 10 hours each day. 

CHILL OUT

I understand that the part of the brain that handles emotion will almost always overcome the logic side of the brain, but I still want to take you through some numbers anyway. 

A pound of body fat is roughly 3500 calories. To gain an extra pound of body fat in a week, you would need to eat an extra 700 calories per day while on vacation. If you listen to your body’s natural hunger and satiety signals, eating an extra 700 calories per day won’t be as effortless as you may think.

Speaking of effortless, I know how effortless it can be to get 1,000 more steps in each day. If you’re doing absolutely nothing but laying on your back and eating all day long, you will gain some body fat. If you’re moving, and implementing the above practices, you’ll probably be ok. 

And if you gain a pound of body fat on your vacation, WHO CARES!?

You can get rid of that body fat when you get home and get back to your routine. It’s not stuck with you forever unless you choose to let it be your buddy. 

ENJOY YOUR VACATION

In order to truly enjoy your vacation without the stress of derailing your health and fitness, do what your body wants you to do. 

Begin lifting weights regularly for a faster metabolism. Get some movement in during your trip. Slow down and be present when you eat. 

Relax, and let go. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

WANT MORE FREE CONTENT?

Download any of our ebooks or guides for FREE in the “free” tab at the top of the page.

3 Ways to Get Past a Weight Loss Plateau

Every Sunday I post a question box on my instagram story. I collect health, fitness, and nutrition questions from you all and create content (podcast episodes, articles, etc.) on them. Yes, I’m going to start this article off with a shameless plug. Follow me on instagram (adam_poehlmannfit) to get answers to all of your health and fitness questions.

Ok, shameless plug is over.

The topic of this article comes from a question submitted on my instagram story. The question is:

“What do you do when you hit a weight loss plateau and can’t lose the last 10-15 pounds?”

This is a question that is difficult to answer in a brief instagram story post, but I thoroughly enjoy getting into the details in long form whether it’s on the podcast or here in an article. So, the details are what we shall dive into.

Typically, when someone is in the middle of a plateau, there are a few things that can be contributing. The three solutions that I will offer below should help you get past that sticking point, no matter what your goal is.

TIP #1: GET A BIRDS-EYE-VIEW

Note that this tip will address the issue for almost anyone in any situation.

In the beginning stages of a fitness journey, most of us start somewhere relatively simple, focusing on behavior and choices more than anything else. This is exactly where one should start, as positive changes in behavior and choices will yield quite a significant change. However, as you probably know, the more you progress, the harder it gets to see results at the same rate as you did once before. For example, it is much easier for someone to go from 35% body fat to 30% body fat than it is for someone to get from 10% body fat to 5% body fat.

As you get further and further in your progress, your method may need to become more meticulous in order to identify the thing that needs to be addressed whether it’s your activity, nutrition, sleep, etc. You see, when you have a problem, and you fully understand the problem, it is far easier to both figure out and execute the solution. Let’s put this into financial terms. Let’s say that you have no clue where your money is going, but you know that you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck. Yet, you’re just not sure how that’s possible, given that you make a comfortable salary and don’t feel you are much of a spender. In order to figure out what’s going on, you begin looking at your bank statements, and track your spending. After a couple weeks, you realize that eating out is costing you $200/week because you are not only eating out frequently, but you are choosing places that require a tip, spending an additional 15-20% each meal. Woah. That will add up.

The same thing applies to you and your fitness, especially in your nutrition.

Over the many years I have been training and coaching people towards their goals, I’ve learned many things. One of those things is that we (including myself) are horrible at accurately describing what we consume on a daily basis. We either grossly overestimate our intake, or grossly underestimate our intake. We are never accurate when describing our intake without tracking it beforehand. Even after years of tracking food, whenever I take a break from tracking and jump back into it, I am at least 500 calories off from what I originally guessed. And that’s after years of tracking!

Since calories in vs. calories out is ultimately what determines fat loss, it is extremely important to understand exactly what, and how much of it we are eating. I recommend that you track your intake for 7-14 days, eating as you normally would. I have all of my coaching clients do this, and it is one of the many reasons they have so much success. Using a tool/app like MyFitnessPal or FatSecret, eat as you normally would, and accurately track what you eat. This means that you are not eyeballing, but rather measuring with accuracy. Since you don’t have specific calorie and nutrient targets to hit at the moment, it will be fairly easy. You can still graze, grabbing a handful of nuts here and there, but after you grab the food, you need to measure/weigh it. If your diet is relatively consistent this will be a breeze. If your eating is sporadic, this will be more challenging.

There are a couple of reasons I recommend everyone tracks their normal intake. The most important thing is that it is going to tell you exactly what is going on nutritionally. For example, if you’re at a plateau and you discover you’re eating 2,600 calories, you will be able to figure out if that’s too much for you, your lifestyle, and your goals, and make an adjustment to break the plateau. Another reason I recommend that people track their food is because it can be a piece of the puzzle, or a clue so to speak. Let’s say you do make that caloric adjustment, and you discover that the fix hasn’t gotten you past your plateau. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing because you now know that your nutrition is on the right track, and something else may be going on. It’s a process of elimination, slowly and accurately making your way closer and closer to identifying the underlying issue that is keeping you from the results you’re working so hard for.

When that happens, you can look at things like your activity level, sleep, stress, and more. Your activity level is another major determinant of progress as it allows you to burn calories. Not only do most individuals neglect to track their food intake, but they also have no clue how little they are moving in the day. The first thing that I recommend for people in regards to activity is simply getting a wearable that allows you to track your steps. NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis is a big contributor to calorie burn and fat loss. Studies show that moving often, spread out throughout the day, contributes to greater improvements in calorie burn. There are many forms of movement that contribute to NEAT like walking, fidgeting, folding laundry, cleaning, and more. Basically, any form of movement that is not exercise is a form of NEAT. As I type on my keyboard, I am working on my NEAT. One of the best ways to increase your NEAT is by simply increasing your steps. I remember when I first started training, I used to scoff at people that thought walking did anything impactful for their health and weight loss. Turns out I was wrong, and here I am several years later telling you how important it is to walk.

The takeaway here is getting a wearable to track your steps, and gradually increase them every so often. I recommend people add steps after the previous goal has become a habit. Let’s say you get a wearable and track your steps. You average 5,000 steps per day. Work on making 5,500 a habit, and then jump to 6,000, then 7,000 and so forth. Track your movement to identify the problem so you can find the solution.

For those of you that move plenty, are very healthy, and workout often, tracking your movement is still important, especially in the gym. A large majority of the people I know do not track their workouts. By no means am I saying that you always have to track your workouts. I believe it’s great to just go in the gym and have fun. If you’re trying to reach a goal and break past a plateau, however, it’s important that you track your workouts to see what can be improved. As muscle is one of the main contributors of automatic (at rest) calorie burn, it’s important to prioritize continual strength and muscle gains in the gym regardless of your goal. Volume is one of the ways we can measure strength and muscle improvements over time. Your training volume is made of weights x sets x reps. When your training volume increases, your strength and muscle, improves, therefore aiding your metabolism. I recommend that individuals work to increase volume each week, while progressing sets and reps every 3-4 weeks. Simply put, have a new phase with different set and rep ranges every 3-4 weeks to keep your body progressing. A simple phasing that I usually prescribe consists of a strength focus (2-5 reps) in month one, a strength and muscle growth focus (6-8 reps) in month two, and a muscle and definition focus (10-15 reps) in month three.

The takeaway here is simply logging the weights you lift given your current prescribed sets and reps. You can do this in a journal, on your phone, or in a spreadsheet.

I could keep going for days and days about getting a birds-eye-view, but I’m guessing that you’re getting the gist. Once you’ve taken a look at your food and activity, begin paying attention to your sleep, stress, and more. You can even go get some bloodwork done to learn a lot more about yourself!

TIP 2: TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE GAS

More is not always better, especially when it comes to breaking through a plateau. Don’t get me wrong, there are most certainly times where more work and/or dedication is required. But in my experience, more than half of the individuals I work with that are struggling with a weight plateau are working far too hard. Most of them are training at least 5 days per week, eating clean, and are moving plenty throughout the day. If they’re doing so much and eating well, how could they be stuck?

There are many mechanisms in the body that determine how our body handles, utilizes, and stores nutrients. Some of the most important things that drive a sound and healthy body are hormones. Hormones regulate so many systems in our bodies, especially how we utilize nutrients. Unfortunately, there are things that we do in our every day lives that can negatively impact the way our hormones function, like going all out with the pedal to the meal.

When we push ourselves too hard, our bodies become desensitized, so to speak. Cortisol is our stress hormone that is actually very vital to sound health. You may have heard the term “adrenal fatigue” lately, describing what happens to our body when we are called to release cortisol too much and and too often. Although “adrenal fatigue” isn’t quite scientifically accurate, the holistic docs that coined that term were on the right track. The HPA (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal) axis in our body is essentially our stress response system. Through this axis, cortisol is released in response to stress. Although cortisol is good and beneficial for our well-being, negative effects come to play when we chronically expose ourselves to stressors. When cortisol is constantly elevated and has a hard time coming back down, we expose ourselves to several negative side-effects such as weight gain, and/or difficulty managing weight. This is a very common issue for professionals, busy parents, or those exposed to a stressful life. This is also very common for those that are working out far too hard, far too often.

No matter where you’re at, the takeaway is to reduce stress, eat a well-balanced diet full of healthy fats, and to get 7-9 hours of high quality, restful sleep every single night. I’ve also found that cycling off caffeine intake will help as well. If you’re an individual that is doing high intensity exercise 5 days per week, take your training down to 3 days per week, primarily focusing on moderate-intensity strength training sessions as you take longer rest periods, slowly begin to eat more and more nutritious food, while managing/decreasing your stress, and capping it off with a deep sleep every single night.

TIP #3: CHANGE YOUR FOCUS

For some of you out there, this tip may seem a little woo woo, and that’s ok. Go into this section with an open mind and heart. And I will tell you that I have seen first hand the extreme reality of the power of the mind in relation to our external health and fitness goals.

Most of us that are stuck at a weight loss plateau are extremely focused on numbers. Whether it’s the scale weight or our body fat percentage, we are looking at numbers and numbers and numbers. Our workouts serve to improve those numbers, our food serves to improve those numbers, heck, everything we do in our day is set up to improve those numbers. Although using numbers as a tool to measure progress is something I am a big fan of, I do understand very clearly that it can lead to a very unhealthy obsession that breeds negativity and stress.

I recently posted about this the other day, but here is the short: it is far too easy to notice and dwell on the negative things in life. Unfortunately it takes a surprising amount of effort to acknowledge and soak up all of the good in our lives. Somehow they just slip by without us even noticing their existence. This is not good, especially if you are trying to reach a health and fitness goal.

All goals are reached because the individual decided they were going to make a positive behavior change. Without a doubt, all goals come from this. In fact, I am sure to give every single one of my coaching clients at least one behavior goal that they can focus on. What this does is it takes the focus off of the numbers and onto the positive behavior. No longer is Sally upset that she still weighs 200 pounds. She squatted 150 pounds today! No longer is John upset that he hasn’t gained any muscle in the past 30 days. He has deadlifted more weight than ever before. You see, focusing on something behavioral or performance-based takes all of the focus off of the potential negatives that come with obsession over weight like unnecessary stress, and shifts positive energy to be usefully utilized for the things that actually contribute to the number-based goal the person was after in the first place.

After working with a sports psychologist while going through a very difficult stint in my baseball career, I quickly realized that we are who we believe we are, and we become who we’ve taught ourselves to become. Here’s the takeaway. When you focus on the fact that you’re “stuck”, tons of negative energy is transferred to yourself that causes stress, and a lack of confidence in who you are and what you’re capable of. This energy ends up keeping you from what you want to be. Take your mind off the numbers and the negativity, and celebrate the behaviors and performance your body is capable of achieving.

THE TAKEAWAYS

There are several ways to get past a weight-loss plateau, but in my experience as a trainer and coach, I’ve found that these three tips address the most common reasons for a plateau and offer effective solutions. Begin with getting a birds-eye-view on everything that is going on from your food to your stress. Track it, track it, and track it some more. That should help you tremendously. Then, spread it all out in front of you to identify potential problems. If you realize that you’re going 24/7 and your life is full of stress, take things a step or two backwards. Train less, focusing on your strength, eat more nutritious food to fuel your body and your brain, and eliminate all stressors. While doing all of the above, consistently keep track of wins that are occurring outside of your weight-based goal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.