A healthy breakfast is key to fat loss. By eating a healthy breakfast, you’re less likely to eat something unhealthy the rest of the day. Eating breakfast will also make you less hungry which prevents cravings.

But what should you eat for breakfast? The most common fat loss mistake is to start your day with starchy carbs like cereals or muesli or oats. While you need carbs for energy, it’s easy to overdo them and get fat.

That’s why the 8 nutrition rules advise to avoid starchy carbs at breakfast. What should you eat then? Here are the 3 simplest & quickest breakfast recipes that don’t contain starchy carbs and that will help you lose fat.

1. Omelets. High in protein, low in carbs, high in veggies. You can remove the yolk if you don’t believe dietary cholesterol doesn’t influence blood cholesterol. But realize you’re throwing away all the vitamins and half the protein.

Avoid boredom by rotating the veggies. For even more variety, add meats or cheese and learn to use spices. Here are some ideas:

• Veggies. Baby spinach, mixed peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, …
• Meats. Ground round, minced beef, chicken ground/slices, tuna, bacon, …
• Cheese. Feta cheese, grated cheese like Pecorino or Parmesan, …
• Spices. Cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, sea salt, …

2. Cottage Cheese. High in protein, no carbs, zero preparation time. You might need time to get used to its taste. Quark cheese works too if you can find it. So does plain fat free yogurt although it’s lower in protein.

Avoid boredom by switching the fruits and/or nuts. And try cottage cheese with tuna so you can also add veggies like cucumber. Ideas:

• Nuts. Almonds, walnuts, cashew, peanut butter, …
• Fruit. Chopped banana, pineapple, apples, pears or berries.
• Tuna. Sounds gross, but tastes good: try tuna with cottage cheese.

3. Smoothies. Take zero time to prepare. Get a strong blender. Throw (frozen) veggies, fruits & whey in there. Mix it. Done. Some tips:

• Get cheap whey with little carbs like ON whey.
• Vary your fruits and veggies to avoid boredom.
• Check the smoothie/shake recipe thread in the forum.

What about portion size and calories? If you stick to the 8 nutrition rules for fat loss, you can eat your stomach full without ever having to worry about this and while losing fat. Check them out.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

To download your free copy today, click here now.

How NOT to Lose Fat This Holiday Season. The holiday season is one of the main causes for people getting fatter as they get older. Most people overdo it and gain several pounds of fat they never work at losing.

After a few years they realise they’re fat and so they start watching what they eat. Including during Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. Here are 2 common, but wrong, ways to avoid fat gains during holidays:

• Counting Calories.
• Avoiding Junk Food.

Counting calories is damage control. Junk food remains unhealthy whether you eat a lot of it or not. And avoiding junk food that you happen to like makes you feel guilty & miserable during the whole thing.

People who get into exercising & eating healthier tend to get too extreme: from doing no exercise at all and eating junk food all the time, to going to the gym 7x per week and being anal about every single gram of junk food.

I’m not saying you have to force yourself to eat junk food. I rarely eat any: most taste too sugary or fat. I’m also not that big on alcohol. But I’ve been doing this for a couple of years. My taste has adapted and I’ve dealt with cravings.

What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t get stressed during the holidays because your diet is less healthy. It won’t make a difference in the long run as long as you eat healthy 90% of the year and exercise +45 weeks per year.

The Holiday Fat Loss Blackbook. My friend and fat loss guru Joel Marion has a new report The Holiday Fat Loss Blackbook that explains how to lose (instead of gain) fat during the holiday season and why restricting calories doesn’t work.

To download this report for free, click here now.

You’ll have to enter your name and email to get your free copy. But don’t worry: your email is safe. I’ve reviewed Joel’s products before: you can trust him.

Today is the last day you can get Joel’s report. Make sure you get it.

To download your free copy now, click here.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

So how will you prevent gaining 10-15lbs weight like most people will do and without missing a holiday meal or party (or being guilty for indulging)?

My friend & fat loss guru Joel Marion has a new report Holiday Fat Loss Blackbook that explains why restricting calories doesn’t work and how to lose (instead of gain) fat during the holiday season. All while eating your favorite foods.

To download this report for free, click here now.

You’ll have to enter your name and email to get your copy. But don’t worry: your email is safe. I’ve reviewed Joel’s products before: you can trust him.

You’ll have to be quick though: the free report is only available until Thursday November 12th. After that, it’s gone.

To download your free report today, click here.

What I’ll Do During The Holidays. I won’t celebrate Thanksgiving because we don’t do that in Belgium. But I’ll celebrate Christmas & New Year. I’ll eat & drink whatever comes to the table, including junk food & alcohol, if I feel like it.

Training-wise, I might take a break from December 23rd until January 4th. Much depends on how I feel with all the partying that will go on.

This is what I’ve been doing during the past years and it always worked. Here’s why: it doesn’t matter what you do during the holidays. What matters is what you do the rest of the year, between New Year & Thanksgiving/Christmas.

What’s really ironic is that eating junk food can actually help fat loss. You can learn how in The Holiday Fat Loss Blackbook.

Click here to download your free report.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Here’s why this works: by hanging out with them, you’ll copy their behavior and way of thinking. This is key because whatever it is that you want to achieve, it’s how you think about things that matters most — Think & Grow Rich.

A common mistake is to try to convert your friends, family or partner to your new lifestyle. This never works from my experience. In order to change, people must want change first. Letting your results do the talking has more impact.

Better is to seek people who are already lifting weights and eating healthy and who know what they’re talking about. But most of your friends probably don’t lift weights and don’t eat healthy. You’re on your own.

So the question is: where can you find these people?

StrongLifts.com Forum. Many readers told me that while StrongLifts.com’s blog is full of helpful info they wish they had found years ago, it’s its Forum that was crucial to get them the results they wanted.

This is because most readers are in the same situation you are: they train alone — often at home — and don’t know people who train and eat the way I advise.

Becoming part of an online community of like-minded people is a quick and easy way to make virtual friends who are working towards the same goal. This is the Master Mind Napoleon Hill was talking about. And it has many more benefits:

• Free Advice. Members who have achieved your goal a long time ago can give you tips based on their experience. We’ve got many knowledgeable members, several who are much stronger than me.
• Technique Review. You can post videos of yourself doing exercises like Squats, Deadlift, Bench Press and Overhead Press. Other members can check them out and explain you what you’re doing wrong & why.
• Personal Accountability. You can keep a free training log. Members can follow your progress and advice. Getting an audience will increase your motivation and make you more accountable.
• Build Awareness. You can look back at your progress to discover what works and what doesn’t work for you. Members can point out things that you may overlook by looking at your past workouts.
• Get Motivated. You can read training logs of people with the same age, gender & body-weight as yours. This allows you to see what is possible and to learn from their mistakes & success.
• Discuss Blog Posts. If something in a blog post wasn’t clear or if you want to share your experience/perspective, there’s a category where you can discuss articles. I’m committed to answer questions.
• 100% Free. The forum is 100% free: registration is free, keeping a training log is free, asking questions is free, everything is free.

Forum Rules. Members will tell you that the atmosphere on the StrongLifts.com Forum is different than that of other forums in the same niche. That’s because we have a strong moderatorship with a zero-tolerance for B.S.

• We do not want judgemental people.
• We do not want wise-guys and armchair specialists.
• We do not want laughing at people’s questions, mistakes or stats.
• We do not want confusion, myths and arguing for the sake of arguing.

I’m cool with you disagreeing with what I advise. I believe it doesn’t prevent us to be friends. And I’m always interested in feedback and different perspectives.

But share your opinion in a civilized & mature way. Your freedom of speech ends when you disrespect people and spread confusion.

If I invite you to my party and you start to be annoying, I’ll show you the door. Same thing on the forum: it’s my party and you’re invited to have fun with us as long as you behave as a proper guest. Read the forum guidelines.

Join The Free StrongLifts.com Community Today. The StrongLifts.com Forum counts almost 7000 members, including me. If you’re not a member yet, I’d like you to join us today. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Click here to register for a free account (if you’re already registered but forgot your login data, make a new account with a different email).
2. Read the forum guidelines so you understand the forum’s philosophy.
3. Get inspired by the training logs ordered by age, gender & body-weight.
4. Check out the different strength competitions to see what’s possible.
5. Introduce yourself in the first time here category.
6. Read how to create a training log and start one.
7. Contribute to the different discussions.

Here’s What People Say About StrongLifts.com Forum. Read the threads “How did you find StrongLifts.com and why did you stay?” and “What I like about this site“. Here’s a quote from member Pagangoddess:

I really debated about starting a log. This journey gets very personal at times. It’s hard to announce to the world things you didn’t even want to admit to yourself.

But that’s why I did it. It needed to be right in front of me so I could deal with it head on. And I needed support to get through it.

Who would have thought I’d find that here of all places. But I did. These guys have been a great help and encouragement through some tough times for me and they probably don’t even realize it. – pagangoddess

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Unfortunately, the site which was hosting all information on Madcow 5×5 went offline last week. Everything would have been lost if it wasn’t for forum member Mutt who knew this was coming and performed a backup.

Nobody knows where Madcow is. The contact info on the site no longer works, and he hasn’t been active on the forums he used to visit since mid 2007.

To avoid this information to get lost in the future and since Madcow seems to have disappeared, I’ve decided to host everything on StrongLifts.com’s server, direct link: http://stronglifts.com/madcow/

Madcow’s site wasn’t updated since +3 years. I fixed all the broken links, added a sitemap and got rid of the top banner. In the future, everything should move to another platform to increase readability/usability.

I wish I could involve Madcow into this project, but I have no idea of where he is. So here are the full guides. Credits go to Madcow for this. Enjoy!

Table of Contents

• Intro – A few points
• Recent Additions – Site Updates
• Part I – 5×5 Programs
• Part II – Training Theory
• Part III – Exercise Descriptions
• Part IV – Some General Pieces
• PART V – A Few Other Programs
• PART VI – Sources for Knowledge, Interviews, Articles

Basic Training Primer

• Training and Size vs. Strength
• The Nervous System, Overtraining, Fiber Recruitment
• Program Organization for Experience Level and Goal
• The Myth of the Golden Program
• Workload and TUT (Time Under Tension)
• Types of Hypertrophy

Training Programs

• INTERMEDIATE – Bill Starr 5×5 Linear Progression
• ADVANCED – Bill Starr/Glenn Pendlay 5×5 Periodized
• Program Comparison and Selection Advice

Topics

• Diet: Caloric Excess – The Big 90% Block
• Microloading Solutions
• Good Sources of Knowledge – Books and Links

Share Madcow 5×5. If you like Madcow’s 5×5 training program, share it using your favorite social media network.

• Tweet This!
• Bookmark on del.icio.us
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• Share on Facebook
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Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Fitness Coaching Update. There are 5 still spots available. Only apply if you’re serious about getting this part of your life handled for good.

• Click here for more info about my fitness coaching program.
• Click here for the application form.

Blog Posts October 2009.

• 01: Minimalist StrongLifts 5×5: Strength Training with Minimal Equipment
• 07: How to Gain Weight Without Gaining Fat: The Slow Method
• 09: 5 Reasons Why You Should Train Your Legs
• 12: Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: Are You Sure You’re Losing Fat?
• 15: Why You Should NEVER Do The Atkins Diet for Fat Loss
• 19: The 12 Most Popular Weight Lifting Myths Debunked
• 22: How to Build Bigger Chest Muscles
• 27: Muscle Gaining Secrets: Here’s How to Gain Weight Fast
• 29: Muscle Gaining Secrets: Last Chance to Lose Your Skinny Look

Best of Forum. StrongLifts.com also has a forum with +6700 members and +155k posts. Here are my favorite discussions this month:

• What Intermediate Lifters Can Learn from Beginners
• How to Assess Your Progress & Strength Levels
• Jim Wendler’s Seminar: Some Interesting Points
• Problems with my StrongLifts 5×5 Routine?
• What do you do while resting?
• So What’s The Deal With Steroids?
• What’s Your Favorite Lift?
• How much do you spend per week on groceries?
• Reviews of Strength Training Programs

You can keep a training log for free in the forum. Record the weights you lifted and how you felt. Get advice from other members and compete with them. The training logs are great motivators. I highly recommend you to start one.

You can discuss blog posts in the article section. I’m committed to answer your questions, even if they’re controversial. I’m open minded and don’t pretend to know everything. Please join the convo with the same mindset.

Support StrongLifts.com. If the free articles, ebook, videos & forum are helping you, consider supporting StrongLifts.com.

• Spread The Word. Share articles on facebook, twitter, stumbleupon or mail them to friends using the buttons at the bottom of each post.
• Get a T-shirt. Get a t-shirt, tanktop or hoodie branded StrongLifts.com. I get 2 to 5$ per sale and you help spreading the word at the gym.
• Make a Donation. Keeps the content free. I appreciate any amount. The most common donation I receive is 20$.

Next update: Thursday. Remember you can get that article and all the next ones delivered for free in your mailbox by subscribing for free.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

As I wrote in my review of Muscle Gaining Secrets, one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a hardgainer is to train like pro bodybuilders do. Example:

• Training 5-6x/week
• Doing body-part splits
• Using isolation exercises

Training like a pro bodybuilder is a recipe for failure. It’s not efficient for bulk nor size, your muscles never get a chance to recover and you’ll overtrain. So you’ll never gain weight unless you use steroids like many pro bodybuilders do.

But here comes the really funny part:

• The world’s best bodybuilders used different methods to get big.
• The articles in muscle magazines are usually ghost-written.
• Major muscle magazines own supplement companies.

Could muscle magazines publish ineffective routines on purpose? To you get frustrated so you feel the need to buy their supplements? I’ll let you decide.

How Pro Bodybuilders Really Get Big. Arnold Schwarzenegger won Mr Olympia 7x back when participants still had physiques you could strive for. And although he admitted using steroids, his achievements remain inspiring.

If you read Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding you’ll find high volume split routines with mostly isolation exercises. That book was my training bible for years until I realized its advice was flawed.

Arnold was a competitive powerlifter before getting into bodybuilding. His all time bests: 200kg Bench Press, 215kg Squat, 310kg Deadlift.

Looking at his stats, you understand why Arnold’s chest & back were so freaky big. Especially compared to his legs. Arnold could bench almost what he could Squat. And for the record: a 200kg Bench is really impressive.

Just so you see I’m not inventing this stuff, here’s a picture of Arnold deadlifting what looks like 700lbs back in the 60s (he won his first Mr Olympia in 1970).

Strength is The Key to Gaining Weight. Arnold is not an exception. Many top bodybuilders built their physique by training for strength. Then they used that strength when switching to bodybuilding.

• Franco Columbo. Arnold’s training partner. Could deadlift 750lbs, Squat 650lbs, Bench 520lbs, Olympic Press 325lbs.
• Reg Park. First guy in Europe to Bench 500lbs. Could also Squat 600lbs and Deadlift 700lbs. 3x Mr Universe.
• Johnnie O Jackson. Competitive bodybuilder. Stats: 500lbs Bench, 800lbs Squat and 800lbs Deadlift.

Muscle Gaining Secrets: Last Chance. Muscle Gaining Secrets is an ebook by ex-hardgainer Jason Ferrugia that gives you the exact steps to gain weight. It also uses strength training for weight gain.

I arranged a special deal with Jason. Order Muscle Gaining Secrets today and you’ll get these 4 bonuses on top of it for free:

• Secrets of Super Strength. Q&A with Jim Wendler – a 275lbs powerlifter with a 2375lbs total also known for his 5/3/1 program. He shares how to increase your Bench, Squat & Deadlift and how to improve technique.
• Advanced Mass Building Guide. How to keep your muscle gains going past the beginner’s level by cycling your training intensity and by using set extension techniques. Training program and sheets included.
• Armed & Dangerous. How to add 2 inches to your arms in 8 weeks. This is a 2 phase biceps & triceps training program with sheets included.
• Renegade Cardio. Which kind of cardio you should do to gain maximum muscle mass without gaining fat. You get different cardio approaches based on your body type, goals and training experience.

The total value of this deluxe package is +600$. You’d normally pay 107$. But if you order today you’ll only pay 77$ and save 30$ (almost 30%).

Click here to download Muscle Gaining Secrets now.

Muscle Gaining Secrets comes with an 8-week no-risk money back guarantee. If you don’t gain muscle mass after 8 weeks, contact Jason and he’ll send you a full refund. No questions asked.

Click here now to order Muscle Gaining Secrets today.

This special offer expires on Friday October 30th 2009.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Worse: the lack of results makes you lose motivation to go the gym. Maybe they are right after all: you can’t gain weight because of your bad genetics and fast metabolism. That’s why you must keep training harder. A lot harder.

Right?

Wrong!

Top 3 Mistakes Hardgainers Make. You’ve been lied to. You don’t have a fast metabolism or bad genetics. And you don’t need to train harder. You need to train smarter. Stop making these mistakes:

• Eating Like a Pigeon. The reason you can eat anything without gaining weight is because you don’t eat a lot. I know you think you do, but you don’t. Otherwise you wouldn’t be skinny. Track calories for proof.
• Training Like a Pro Bodybuilder. Isolation exercises 6x per week don’t build muscle mass & bulk. And unless you use steroids, you’ll overtrain by going to the gym so many times per week.
• Wasting Money on Supplements. Most don’t do what they promise and they’re always useless without a solid diet & training program.

Here’s How to Gain Weight Fast. It doesn’t matter how skinny you are or how long you’ve been struggling with this. You can gain weight. You simply need to use the right methods. These are:

• Eat Like a Horse. If you’re a hardgainer you’ll only gain weight once you start eating at least 5000kcal/day – consistently. Milk, pasta, nuts, eggs and tuna should be your new friends.
• Train for Strength. Did you know Schwarzenegger could Bench 440lbs & Deadlift 660lbs? That’s how he built his physique: heavy and free weight compound exercises. Body part splits came much later.
• Take Rest Days. Muscles grow when you rest, not when you train them. If you go the gym 6x/week and train to failure all the time, your muscles will never get a chance to recover and grow.
• Be Consistent. You won’t gain weight if you eat 5000kcal today but only 2000kcal the rest of the week. You also won’t gain weight if you go the gym 1x/week and skip your 2 other workouts. Consistency is crucial.

Muscle magazines try to tell you supplements are key to gaining muscle mass. Truth is that each major muscle magazine owns a supplement company. Their routines are ineffective on purpose: to get you hooked on supplements.

Muscle Gaining Secrets. The only eBook that I know of that gives you the exact methods to gain weight naturally is Jason Ferrugia’s Muscle Gaining Secrets.

Jason is an ex-hardgainer who struggled with his skinny look for years. When he finally gained 100lbs drug-free muscle, he decided to do something about all the bad advice. He published his methods in an eBook: Muscle Gaining Secrets.

What are Jason’s Muscle Gaining Secrets? His methods are inline with what I’ve been stressing on this site: eat more, get stronger, no supplements. That’s why I joined his affiliate program and get a commission for each sale.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn inside Muscle Gaining Secrets:

• 7 critical factors your training program must address if you want to gain muscle mass naturally – without supplements or steroids.
• Mass building nutrition: must-eat carb & protein sources to gain weight and 10 nutrition rules you must follow to lose your skinny look forever.
• How to gain muscle mass without gaining fat: how to use carb cycling to build muscle while maintain or even decrease your body fat.
• Muscle building meal plans: example weight gain diets of up to 6000kcal per day, including weight gain diets for vegetarians.
• Top muscle building exercises: detailed descriptions & pictures of more than 100 exercises that will make you gain weight.

Muscle Gaining Secrets is a downloadable eBook that counts 147 pages. You get 7 free bonuses on top of it, including a composition tracker, a 60min audio course, lifetime private membership access and lifetime eBook updates.

Special Offer for StrongLifts.com Readers. I reached out to Jason and told him I wanted to review Muscle Gaining Secrets on this site. As always: I asked him if he could come up with some special offer.

Jason agreed. If you order Muscle Gaining Secrets before Friday October 30th 2009, you’ll get these 4 bonuses on top of it for free:

• Secrets of Super Strength. Q&A with Jim Wendler – a 275lbs powerlifter with a 2375lbs total also known for his 5/3/1 program. He shares how to increase your Bench, Squat & Deadlift and how to improve technique.
• Renegade Cardio. Which kind of cardio you should do to gain maximum muscle mass without gaining fat. You get different cardio approaches based on your body type, goals and training experience.
• Advanced Mass Building Guide. How to keep your muscle gains going past the beginner’s level by cycling your training intensity and by using set extension techniques. Training program and sheets included.
• Armed & Dangerous. How to add 2 inches to your arms in 8 weeks. This is a 2 phase biceps & triceps training program with sheets included.

The total value of this deluxe package is +600$. You’d normally pay 107$. But if you order today you’ll only pay 77$ and save 30$ (almost 30%).

Click here to download Muscle Gaining Secrets now.

Muscle Gaining Secrets comes with an 8-week no-risk money back guarantee. If you don’t gain muscle mass after 8 weeks, contact Jason and he’ll send you a full refund. No questions asked.

Click here now to order Muscle Gaining Secrets today.

This special deal is only valid for 3 days, until Friday October 30th 2009.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

If you train in a big commercial gym, you’ve probably noticed Monday is National Bench Day. Everyone seems to be training their chest. Tuesday is often National Bench Day part 2 with more of the same.

But how do you train your chest efficiently for maximum growth? In this post I’ll explain you which mistakes you must avoid to build a bigger chest and the right method to increase your chest size.

Top 3 Chest Building Mistakes. Training your chest muscles 4x/week using pro bodybuilders routines is wasting your time. Especially if you’re skinny.

• Isolation Exercises. You can’t stress your chest with heavy weights using exercises like dumbbell flies. So you won’t trigger the release of Testosterone & Growth Hormone as much as with compounds.
• Eating Like a Pigeon. You’ll never get a big chest if you’re 120lbs at 6′. Training your chest 3x/week won’t get it bigger unless you eat more.
• Isolating Your Chest. Although your chest has to 2 main heads, it’s 1 muscle and contracts as a whole. You can’t isolate your upper or lower chest. You can only emphasize it.

Here’s How to Build a Bigger Chest. The key to increasing the size of your chest muscles is to eat more and get stronger. Build a foundation before you even think of adding isolation exercises.

• Eat More. Your chest will never be big if you’re underweight. Check the minimum weights for your height. To gain weight: eat every 3 hours and focus on calorie dense foods. Read the weight gain & GOMAD guides.
• Do Heavy Compounds. Free weight compound exercises like the Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press and Overhead Press are the fastest way to build overall strength & bulk. Do them often & heavy.
• Train Your Legs. Squats & Deadlifts help chest growth by increasing the release of muscle building hormones like Testosterone and Growth Hormone. Get stronger at them. Read 5 reasons to train your legs.
• Rest. Your muscles grow when they rest, not when you train them. Train your chest maximum 2x/week. Eat your calories so your chest gets the nutrients it needs to recover and grow bigger.
• Lift Fast. Lifting fast recruits more muscle fibers and lets you use more weight, which stimulates chest growth. Lift as fast as you can on the way up with good technique. Way down under control but not slow.
• Use Proper Technique. A partial bench press doesn’t work your chest through a full range of motion. Touch your shirt on the way down, lock your elbows at the top. Lower the weight if you have to.
• Set Realistic Goals. Even if you train and eat exactly like your idol, you’ll never get the same muscle shape. Developing your muscles is training and diet. But the shape of your muscles is genetics.
• Be Patient. Especially if you’re still a teen. Your body is still developing. You won’t get the chest development of a 30y old if you’re only 15. Build the foundation and be patient. Your chest will change as you get older.

Top 4 Chest Building Exercises. Don’t do things like Bench Pressing to your neck or with your elbows out. Both are potentially dangerous and will injure your shoulders. Use exercises where you can go heavy safely.

• Bench Press. Allows you to stress your body with heavy weights. Forget about getting a bigger chest if you can’t at least bench your body-weight for 5×5 (so at least 160lbs for 5×5 if you weigh 160lbs).
• Push-ups. Closed-chain exercise. Useless done for reps without added resistance. Do Push-ups against a resistance band or weighted.
• Weighted Dips. If your shoulders can take them: dips between parallel bars while wearing a belt with weight will build your chest muscles.
• Dumbbell Press. Increase chest growth by stretching your pecs on the way down. But you can’t use as much weight as with barbells.

Check StrongLifts 5×5 for a strength training that includes many of the above concepts and that which help you gain weight and increase the size of your chest. Read the success stories and start a training log.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

If you’ve spent some time in a gym or if you told people you were into weight lifting, you’ve most likely received plenty of unsolicited advice on what you should do and not do for maximum results & safety.

But how much truth is there behind all those things they tell you? Science or broscience? Here are the top 12 weight lifting myths — debunked.

Myth #1: Weight Lifting is Dangerous. Machines have the reputation to be safer than free weights. But studies tell a different story.

• Weight lifting does not produce more injuries compared to machines.
• Weight lifting injury rates are lower than in any other sport.

Weight lifting is used for (p)rehabilitation because it can prevent and fix injuries. The only way you can injure yourself, is if you use bad technique or don’t control your ego. Use your head and you’ll be safe.

Myth #2:Weight Lifting is Bad For Your Joints. Weight lifting is less stressful on your joints than running: it involves controlled, non-impact movements.

Weight lifting – and especially strength training – will increase the health of your joints by strengthening the muscles & ligaments that hold them together.

• Squatters have healthier knees than non Squatters. Studies performed on top Powerlifters confirm that their knees are in better health than those of the general population.
• Several StrongLifts.com readers recovering from ACL injuries or who had persistent knee problems for years, reported that their knee pain went away forever after 2-3 months of doing Squats.

Myth #3: Weight Lifting Causes High Blood Pressure. Your blood pressure increases when you lift heavy weights. But it returns to normal after finishing your set. That’s how lifting improves your cardiovascular fitness.

People who lift weights with the focus on strength training have lower blood pressures than people who don’t exercise. Studies show that regular weight lifting lowers your systolic & diastolic blood pressure.

Myth #4: Weight Lifting Makes You Bulky. Muscle is denser than fat. You’ll look slimmer at the same body-weight if you increase your muscle mass. The huge guys in muscle magazines are usually supplementing.

Many skinny guys train 6x/week but struggle to gain weight. Why? Because they aren’t eating enough. Getting bulky means gaining weight. And to gain weight, you must eat more. Training hard only won’t do the job.

Myth #5: Weight Lifting Makes Women Bulky. Those muscular women you can find in muscle magazines had to use steroids to get to that point.

As a woman you can build muscle, get stronger and improve your physique. But you’ll never build as much muscle mass as men can because you have lower testosterone levels. You’ll always stay feminine unless you use steroids.

Myth #6: Weight Lifting Stunts Growth. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Dave Draper, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Michael Vick, etc. They all started lifting weights in their early teens and are +6′ /1m82 tall.

The only way weight lifting can stunt your growth is if you damage your growth plate by letting the bar fall on you. But if you use proper technique, you’ll be safer than with Rugby or Soccer where collisions are common.

Supervise youth lifting weights. Enforce proper technique and discourage ego. Note that some believe weight lifting can actually stimulate growth because it increases bone mineralization.

Myth #7: Weight Lifting Decreases Flexibility. One of the realizations people who get into weight lifting have is how inflexible they are. Years of sedentary lifestyle may have tighten your hips, preventing you to Squat correctly.

Weight lifting will make you regain your flexibility and maintain it. Especially the Squat will give your hip muscles a full stretch. But increasing your muscle mass or strength won’t reduce your flexibility at all.

Myth #8: Weight Lifting Makes You Slow. Strong muscles contract faster and generate more power. That’s why professional athletes like Shaquille O’Neil or Tiger Woods do weight lifting: strength training makes you faster.

Myth #9: Weight Lifting Causes Hemorrhoids. The right way to breathe during a lift is to hold your breath and push it against your closed glottis. This keeps your lower back safe by increasing pressure in your abdomen.

If you hold your breath and push it towards your anus you can get hemorrhoids. Avoid by breathing correctly: use the valsalva maneuver. Drink lots of water and eat green veggies, fruits & fiber for optimal digestion.

Myth #10: Muscle Turns to Fat If You Stop Weight Lifting. Muscle never turns to fat. They’re different tissues. If you stop weight lifting, you also have to eat less than before otherwise you’ll get fat.

Some believe that if you train long enough your muscles will never come back to their pre-trained state. This is probably linked to muscle memory: it’s easier to regain muscle than to build it from scratch.

Myth #11: Weight Lifting Increases Waist Size. This myth comes from looking at some Power Lifters in the heaviest classes. Their waist is big because they’re fat. And they’re fat is because they only care about getting stronger.

Check Power Lifters in the lighter classes: they all have a small waist. Squats & Deadlifts work your abs hard. Everyone who does these exercises for a couple of weeks reports losing several inches waist size.

Myth #12: Weight Lifting is Boring. It is if you go the gym without a plan, don’t pay attention to what you do when lifting and don’t get results. But it won’t if you have a plan, get results and focus on how your body moves during a lift.

Weight lifting is a technical & intellectual sport. You shouldn’t have time to get bored since you have so many things to pay attention to during the lift. And the constant challenge to add weight is anything but boring.

The real fun though is when you start getting results. Hard work paying off is what will get you addicted. Check StrongLifts 5×5 for a routine that will get you results. It only takes 3×45mins/week. Read the success stories.

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