Bulls are enraged by the colour red; don’t go outside with a wet head or you’ll get sick; high cholesterol causes heart disease. Many of us view these statements as dogma. The fact is, not one of these statements has ever been proven and there is very little anecdotal evidence to support any of them. Don’t always believe what you read. Be discerning, do your research, then take what you like and leave the rest. When it comes to strength training, there is more misinformation out there than you can shake a stick at. I don’t have all the answers, but I have a pretty good idea about what works and what doesn’t. Below is a list of myths that really need to be cleared up. If you subscribe to any of these, I can guarantee they are holding you back.

“You need to train for at least an hour to get an effective workout.” The fact is, if you are training for longer than an hour, you are not working hard enough. Peak testosterone levels are reached by the 30 minute mark of a training session and they drop dramatically from there. Some of the best sessions I have had lasted less than half an hour, when I was strapped for time. Unless you are training with heavy loads (1 to 5 rep range) that require 3 minutes of rest between sets in order to recover, keep your rest periods brief (30 to 60 seconds). Always focus on quality over quantity.

“Machines are safer than free weights.” Machines may be easier, but I am not sure about safer. If I have a knee injury, the idea of getting locked into a fixed range of motion on a leg extension doesn’t sound like a very good idea to me. I am better off performing a goblet squat and using a dumbbell for added resistance. It allows me to control the path so my joints can move freely.

“If you want to get big and strong you need to be in the gym every day.” No you don’t.  You need to rest and recover. Muscles don’t grow in the gym, they grow when you are not in the gym. Focus on getting 3 to 5 training sessions in a week depending on how much discretionary time you have. On off-days you can go for a walk, swim or practice yoga. These are referred to as active recovery days and I highly recommend them.

“You don’t need to train with heavy weights to build muscle.” Yes you do. Heavy weights is a relative term. For a female who is a novice trainee, pressing 20 lb dumbbells over her head for 6 to 12 repetitions constitutes “heavy weights”. If you want to put a significant amount of muscle on your frame you need to get strong in these rep ranges with compound multi-joint movements. Light weight isolation exercises (single joint movements) will not activate anywhere near enough muscle fibres to get the job done.

“Make sure you train to get a pump.” A pump is built up by the blood in your muscles and will usually occur after you repeat set after set, which results in a burning sensation known as lactic acid. Lactic acid forms in the absence of oxygen. Lactic acid is a waste product and it does nothing to build muscle. if you are lifting heavy weights and getting a pump, this is an indication that you are making the muscle fibres work. I would only use the pump as an indicator to reveal how well you are activating the working muscle, but not as a sign of success.