4 Common Bodybuilding Mistakes / Myths You Must Avoid

If you are committed to a serious workout regime, you need to be wary of many so-called experts. The reality is that fitness and weight loss is a multibillion industry, and there are many people out there who have launched websites that promise quick results.

Such websites promise to reveal untold secrets just to lure people. The underlying motive is usually to just push a weight loss product, pill, or program. Some of these products can undo all that you may have achieved after days of hard work, while others are downright harmful to the body.

The problem is that there are so many myths attached to muscle building that people often get cheated. Here are some of the common bodybuilding mistakes that you should be aware of:

• The more the muscle mass, the slower and inflexible you become? 

This is actually one of the oldest bodybuilding myths that refuse to go away. The reality is that the more lean mass you have, the more active you become. It is actually excessive body fat that slows you down.

Your muscles are responsible for every movement you make, from running to jogging to jumping. When you develop lean muscle, it basically means strong muscle, which translates into faster and stronger movements.

• For muscle build-up, a greater 'pump' during a workout means a greater build? 

Pump in this context refers to the feeling that one gets when blood is trapped in the muscle tissue during weight training. The muscle swells and leaves your body feeling tighter, bigger, and stronger. It is indeed a wonderful feeling, but has nothing to do with stimulating muscle growth.

It is basically the result of increased blood flow, but not an indication of a successful workout. The only indication of a successful workout is when you are able to perform more repetitions and able to lift more weight than before.

• It is necessary to perform exercises in perfect textbook style? 

It is necessary to take care of your body posture and other necessary elements of every exercise. However, you need to remember that yours is a human body and not a machine.

Obsessing about copybook perfection may actually lead to an injury. It is more important to maintain the natural motion of your body, even if it amounts to a slight deviation from what is supposed to be perfect.

• It is important to get that burning sensation if you want to build muscle? 

This is absolutely false. The burning sensation is caused by secretion of lactic acid in muscle tissue.  During intense weight training, the metabolic rate increases and leads to the production of excessive lactic acid- a natural by-product of the process of metabolism.

It has nothing to do with stimulating muscle growth. The reality is that it may actually decrease the gains that you may have accomplished thus far. You can reduce the production of lactic acid by lowering the number of reps from the traditional 10.