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Resting for Muscle Growth

June 29, 2009


Rest is often an underestimated aspect of bodybuilding. Resting is perceived to be laziness by many people. This perception leads them to train a body part even up to three times a week, often injuring themselves in the process. Many people confuse fat loss methods that need persistence and a dailies methodology, to bodybuilding. The fact is muscles need time to grow, and only time can grow muscles!

The common myths of bodybuilding are the following:

- The more you workout, the more the pump, the more the stretch, the more the……..and so on.

Pump is a result of blood flow to the muscles during exercise. It is not growth. Growth happens only during resting. So the common perception is that pump is growth, and everybody tries to get that ‘pump’ at least three times a week!

- You should rest only for 15 seconds between sets

This is like a statement that has done the rounds of the gyms of the world more than 200 million times! You can try the short-break routine if you are doing warm up exercises, but when you are doing heavy weights it is important to have a 2-3 minute rest between sets.

- Exercising a muscle group two to three times a week makes it strong

The fact is that exercising a muscle group more than once in 7 days, is like a man digging for a pot of gold in his farm when the treasure is in a nearby well. In other words it’s sheer waste of time. Exercising a muscle group more than once in 7 to 10 days will actually delay or even inhibit muscle growth.

- Keep flexing your muscles for growth

Now this looks like more an act of narcissism, than muscle building. Posing in front of the mirror and flexing muscles in different poses is great for muscle tone and shape, but it’s still unsure if it does stimulate growth. Sometimes over flexing might cause muscle tear. So beware when flexing. Do it right.


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