In gyms all over the world a lot of people trying to build muscle basically stay afloat week after week which is a shame because it’s not their fault it’s because they get terrible advice from so called experts who don’t have a clue what who are talking, or have a secret agenda when it comes to doling out advice.
Regardless of what any trainer tells you about building muscle, always ask yourself if what they tell you will work for you; the only thing that matters is if it works for you.
If there is a high turnover of members in your gym, it may be because people are giving up out of frustration. This is simply because what they are doing is not working.
One piece of misguided advice that is constantly being given concerns training frequency – think about it for a second. They want you in their gym as often as possible for business reasons;
If you have to pay a fee every time you go to the gym, the more money they make the more times you go, then they tell you that you need four workouts a week, sometimes more.
You need three workouts a week, tops; in fact, I’d say two is better. If you train more days than you rest, you will never build muscle, muscle grows at rest.
Even if you don’t have to pay every time you visit the gym, the fact that you’re there more often gives them more opportunities to sell you drinks, supplements or whatever.
Encouraging yourself to do four or more workouts a week makes the gym look more crowded, which will encourage new members to join as well. If a potential new member sees a full gym, then he/she assumes that the gym is a success.
Another type of misguided advice has to do with the exercises you are encouraged to do;
On the one hand, you have instructors in commercial gyms who promote shaping and toning movements like the lateral raise, pushup, triceps kick, etc.
This could be because they don’t know any better, or they may have been told by gym management to promote a certain exercise because it involves some fancy new equipment.
But here’s a more serious reason why some exercises are promoted over other exercises.
It’s a fact that the best bodybuilding programs are designed around major compound exercises like the squat and deadlift, yet many commercial gyms don’t promote these movements.
The reason could be that in these exercises you can manage to handle a large amount of weight. Then security becomes an issue.
If you do a bit of a shaping and toning exercise like the lateral raise with poor form, it won’t make much of a difference. But if you deadlift heavy with poor form, there’s a real chance of serious injury, and the commercial gym doesn’t want the headache of that possibility.
For starters, they may not know how to do the exercise the right way anyway, or they may not want the hassle of having to be so hands-on while their clients are training.
That’s why you need to understand the right exercises to do and the right way to train them – you can’t afford to trust the so-called experts at your gym.
Then you have instructors who promote exercises that are simply dangerous because they are bad for the joints, for example, pressing movements behind the neck or bent over rowing. These exercises can cause permanent damage, but are often touted as safe.