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Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

mennohenselmans.com

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Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't eat carbs for the pump. It's right there in the paragraph -- you eat carbs to have glycogen, so you can lift more. Then you stop eating carbs to get shredded. Your own quote just says it is an effect, not that it's the purpose.

And he's saying the article is wrong. People love hate bro science but most bodybuilders go through a lot of trial and error to find the right diet. And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR). The article basically thinks that bodybuilders don't actually know what they are doing when most actually do. Maybe not all understand the exact science (although some certainly do) but they do kn…

The article is wrong about what? They said You don't eat carbs for the pump but no one made that claim.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#72
post #36

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I'm planning out a home/garage gym now. Is there any equipment you recommend? Or ones that people should stay away from?

Sorinex is who I went with.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And he's saying the article is wrong. People love hate bro science but most bodybuilders go through a lot of trial and error to find the right diet. And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR). The article basically thinks that bodybuilders don't actually know what they are doing when most actually do. Maybe not all understand the exact science (although some certainly do) but they do kn…

semantic pedantry here: "bodybuilder" refers to a sport/discipline where they literally do lift for looks or aesthetics; not performance.

>someone who regularly does special exercises to make their muscles bigger[0]

[0]https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bodyb...

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#74
post #28

They seem to be talking about bodybuilding a lot, but then (at least some) of the discussions move to muscle growth among random groups of people. The two are not the same. Bodybuilders are trying to put on muscle, sometimes in specific places, long after they have stalled in workouts most people would do. >Going on a higher carb diet increases intramuscular glycogen stores, which attracts a lot of water into the mus…

You don't eat carbs for the pump. It's right there in the paragraph -- you eat carbs to have glycogen, so you can lift more. Then you stop eating carbs to get shredded. Your own quote just says it is an effect, not that it's the purpose.

"It’s not uncommon for a guy to gain 4 pounds of what looks like muscle when they go from a low to a high carb diet. This is probably the main reason high carb diets are so popular among bodybuilders" from the article.

The main reason for high carb diets is the energy to lift more. It is not for a brief pump. (among bodybuilders)

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#75
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A long time ago I remember reading, probably on misc.fitness.weights or something like that, that the lay crowds misunderstood “to failure”, and that it was intended to mean “until you can’t maintain perfect form”. No idea if there was ever a shred of scientific method behind that statement but it struck me as good common sense wisdom anyways.

> A long time ago I remember reading, probably on misc.fitness.weights or something like that, that the lay crowds misunderstood “to failure”, and that it was intended to mean “until you can’t maintain perfect form”. That seems funny to me. While someone's form breaking down leads to inefficiencies in specific muscle targeting and / or an increased chance of injury I think that approach would end up leading to people…

> end up leading to people bailing when things start to get hard

Funny you should say that as I remember it coming up in the counterarguments at the time. Both in terms of neuromuscular control and also general personal motivation type angles.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#76
post #36

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I'm planning out a home/garage gym now. Is there any equipment you recommend? Or ones that people should stay away from?

My living space is limited, so I bought a pair of adjustable box dumbbells (5-75lbs) and a skookum collapsible bench. The stowed combo occupies less space than a chair and they give me serious workout mileage: bench press, flies, rows, sit ups, skull crushers, military press, curls, lunges, deadlifts, etc. It's a great starter gym for us mere not-power-lifter mortals. I WFH and can do sets during breaks and boring meetings.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And he's saying the article is wrong. People love hate bro science but most bodybuilders go through a lot of trial and error to find the right diet. And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR). The article basically thinks that bodybuilders don't actually know what they are doing when most actually do. Maybe not all understand the exact science (although some certainly do) but they do kn…

The article is wrong about what? They said You don't eat carbs for the pump but no one made that claim.

"guy to gain 4 pounds of what looks like muscle when they go from a low to a high carb diet. This is probably the main reason high carb diets are so popular among bodybuilders"

They didn't make that claim? Second sentence.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're gonna have to cite something other than the exact fallacy the article talks about

I thank thee, I suppose, for not engaging with a downvote like the 4 others in quick succession, and instead doing it with a reply. It seems I bristled the conventional perspective of HN with my anecdotal experience. Of course, anyone could buy some bit of coconut oil and try once, and it'd explain it better than a citation. Call it reproducing study results, I could offer many medical citations, it is true, even wes…

I'd be interested in the citations, I thought your post was a joke (although I didn't downvote).

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And he's saying the article is wrong. People love hate bro science but most bodybuilders go through a lot of trial and error to find the right diet. And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR). The article basically thinks that bodybuilders don't actually know what they are doing when most actually do. Maybe not all understand the exact science (although some certainly do) but they do kn…

The article is wrong about what? They said You don't eat carbs for the pump but no one made that claim.

>It’s not uncommon for a guy to gain 4 pounds of what looks like muscle when they go from a low to a high carb diet. This is probably the main reason high carb diets are so popular among bodybuilders and it makes it incredibly hard to see if you’re looking bigger because of your training or because of your higher carb intake.

Specifically:

>This is probably the main reason high carb diets are so popular among bodybuilders

"This" meaning the pump, ie. the muscle size being inflated such that it isn't representative of true stength. Strictly speaking "pump" may not be the best word here (as opposed to size) but if you're making such a pedantic point at least say it directly.

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