Training Myths List

Training Bodybuilding
141

[quote]Professor X wrote:
mertdawg wrote:
tGunslinger wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
Pullovers after squatting to expand the ribcage.

I didn’t even know this was a myth. Who on Earth thought that you could increase the size of your skeletal structure?

Pullovers may expand the ribcage up until about the age of 21-22.

Why? Why would pull overs alone expand your rib cage? It is a lat movement. The serratus anteriors are worked as well as the abs to a large degree. There is no reason why that movement should permenantly distort your rib cage. That’s like saying reaching for cookies on the top shelf daily will make your arms longer up until the age of 22. It makes no sense and people simply latched onto it because Arnold said it.[/quote]

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough. it has absolutely nothing to do with altering the shape of the bones; it’s simply a matter of plying the ribs away from each other. certain yogic breathing exercises can have the same effect, usually with the intent of increasing lung capacity.

i did it when i was young, and i now have a lot of problems with my ribs and sternum because of it. it works, but it’s bad for you. i can’t remember how many times i’ve had to go to the chiropractor because my ribs popped in or out on my spine or misaligned with each other; in fact, my chiropractor is the one who told me how it was that i fucked myself up.

i also have to pop my sternum out every now and then after doing a set of heavy dips. in fact, he told me pullovers of any kind can do that kind of damage over a period of time.

things my chiropractor and several physical therapists told me not to do because they cause more problems than good:

  • pullovers

  • upright rows

  • standard deadlifts instead of stiff-leg deadlifts or good-mornings

  • properly performed squats that don’t go down for the stretch

  • squatting too heavy or too fast while going ass-to-grass

  • squatting with toes pointing in or straight forward, whether using a wide stance or a narrow stance with heels raised.

  • behind the neck presses

  • excluding direct shoulder work under the false notion that bench presses and lat exercises are enough

  • excluding direct ab work under the false notion that various compound exercises for other bodyparts are enough

  • excluding or limiting direct ab work under the pretense that an hourglass figure is a sign of health and vitality (whether women or men)

  • doing crunches exclusively; thinking that crunches are a necessary core abdominal exercise (they’re not; leg raises are).

although a person using “good” exercises can still get injuries due to overtraining or improper form, these are the most common causes of joint and connective tissue injuries, both short and longterm. although standard deadlifts are an integral part of the sport of powerlifting, they really don’t serve much purpose in a bodybuilding bulking program or general fitness program.

properly performed squats in combination with stiff leg dedlifts or good-mornings are sufficient for developing the posterior chain, and less likely to cause injury.

142

[quote]Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough. [/quote]

Prove it.

143

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
I raised a few questions on the previous page:

Still no takers?

No, I thought about it. You are right that if the cartilage were stretched-like the colored area in the figure, the rib would have to either bend, or change its angle with the vertebra. This would also have to happen whenever you take a breath though.

[/quote]

this is why i have problems, according to my chiropractor, who took x-rays. yes, i have an expanded ribcage from doing breathing pullovers. yes, yogins have expanded ribcages from doing special breathing/tension exercises to expand their ribcages and lung capacities.

yes, it’s bad for you because of the way it changes the angle at which your ribs attach to your spine, and because of how the ribs can separate or push together unnaturally due to loosened connective tissues. the expansion is greater than what one would expect from taking a normal deep breath, and it’s permanent.

it makes no difference when a person performs expansion exercises; it works, and regardless of how flexible the bones might be in one’s youth, it has negative effects on health. i did it in high school, but that didn’t make it safe.

144

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough.

Prove it.[/quote]

my chiropractor proved it to me with an x-ray. he even asked me if i did breathing pullovers at some point, then told me that’s why i had problems with my ribs and sternum.

145

I wonder where all of these people with pathologically distorted ribcages due to pullovers (which I do), yogic breathing exercises (which I do), swimming (which I have done in the past), etc. are hanging around.

And if it were that easy to create permanent changes of that magnitude, why is this the first time I and I guess most everyone else have heard of this danger? I’m sure that there would be studies on the issue. Where are they?

146

[quote]Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough.

Prove it.

my chiropractor proved it to me with an x-ray. he even asked me if i did breathing pullovers at some point, then told me that’s why i had problems with my ribs and sternum.[/quote]

I am not even going to get into what is thought of many chiropractors. We’ve been down that road before. I said PROVE IT. I could care less about some random guy on the internet stating he “saw results” when biology would scream otherwise.

If it were that easy to permanently distort cartilage, the entire human race would be in for serious trouble.

147

[quote]Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough.

Prove it.

my chiropractor proved it to me with an x-ray. he even asked me if i did breathing pullovers at some point, then told me that’s why i had problems with my ribs and sternum.[/quote]

Also, don’t you have a disease that contributes to distortion? You make all of these posts about your “results”, however, any time someone has called you on it before you then bring the disease back up. What disease do you have?

148

[quote]Professor X wrote:
<<< If it were that easy to permanently distort cartilage, the entire human race would be in for serious trouble. [/quote]

In more areas than just the ribcage too. People do things all the time that would cause this if something like pullovers did to any significant degree.

149

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough.

Prove it.

my chiropractor proved it to me with an x-ray. he even asked me if i did breathing pullovers at some point, then told me that’s why i had problems with my ribs and sternum.

Also, don’t you have a disease that contributes to distortion? You make all of these posts about your “results”, however, any time someone has called you on it before you then bring the disease back up. What disease do you have?[/quote]

i have porphyria, asshole. it fucks with my skin, nerves, muscles and internal organs, and it makes my hair grow twice as fast as yours, but it doesn’t fuck with the shape of my bones.

my chiropractor showed me the x-rays so he could explain what was wrong with me. he didn’t tell me anything that other medical professionals didn’t agree with.

what do you think this is, pick on whitey day? news flash, asshole; i’m part black. i’ll post a pic in my profile showing what i looked like before the porphyria fucked up my skin. check it in about half an hour if you’re reading this when it posts; you’ll see.

as for claims, you’ll see my 6 months results pics at the end of february. you’ll shut up good and proper when you do, schoolboy. i won’t be as big as you yet, but i’ll have proved my point.

150

Let’s think outside the box!

“Low-intensity cardio will turn you into a skinny marathon runner”

(This is as stupid as the famous myth: strength training will make you musclebound)

“Bodyweight training will build fonctionnal strength, weights will only create excessive mass”

“Flipping a tire and swininging a sledgehammer will turn you into a bad ass”

“To train your speed, you have to lift as fast as possible”

“A muscle never works in isolation, isolation exercises are useless if athletic performance is your concern”
(Have you ever noticed that you have to “curl” your opponent when escaping an armbar?)

151

[quote]Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:

actually, pullovers done with a dumbbell for the stretch and with deep breathing will stretch the cartilage and other connective tissues of any person who does them frequently enough.

Prove it.

my chiropractor proved it to me with an x-ray. he even asked me if i did breathing pullovers at some point, then told me that’s why i had problems with my ribs and sternum.

Also, don’t you have a disease that contributes to distortion? You make all of these posts about your “results”, however, any time someone has called you on it before you then bring the disease back up. What disease do you have?

i have porphyria, asshole. it fucks with my skin, nerves, muscles and internal organs, and it makes my hair grow twice as fast as yours, but it doesn’t fuck with the shape of my bones.

my chiropractor showed me the x-rays so he could explain what was wrong with me. he didn’t tell me anything that other medical professionals didn’t agree with.

what do you think this is, pick on whitey day? news flash, asshole; i’m part black. i’ll post a pic in my profile showing what i looked like before the porphyria fucked up my skin. check it in about half an hour if you’re reading this when it posts; you’ll see.

as for claims, you’ll see my 6 months results pics at the end of february. you’ll shut up good and proper when you do, schoolboy. i won’t be as big as you yet, but i’ll have proved my point.
[/quote]

What does your your skin color have to do with this? I don’t care what your ethnicity is. I do care that you have to deal with that because that sucks as far as being a daily problem. I greatly apologize for making it seem as if I don’t care about any problems you deal with.

However, I do disagree with you here and have no problem stating that to you whether your skin is every color of the rainbow mixed together into stripes and whirly dots.

You make some pretty wild claims on this board as far as your results. Does it really surprise you that anyone calls you on it?

I said PROVE IT. Prove that cartilage can be deformed that easily based on a few minutes of breathing with some weights in your hand. That would lead to many problems all over your body if your connective tissue was that easily manipulated. Why aren’t tendons easily lengthened through stretching?

It doesn’t make sense except to those who don’t understand what is involved.

152

Also, mykayl, erythropoietic porphyria can cause changes in cartilage and bone. It may be something to discuss with your doctor unless you already have.

153

[quote]michael2507 wrote:
When you stop training, the muscle gained will be converted to fat.[/quote]

I actually had a medical doctor (pulmonologist) tell me this last month!! He also said weightlifting did not work the heart because it was “isometric”.

He wanted me to lose weight because at 5’5" an 175-180 lbs, he thought I was overworking my heart/lungs. I did not have the heart to tell him I ran a 5k cold (no running in the previous 6-7 months). My time sucked and I got a shin splint, but I finished!!

154

[quote]Professor X wrote:
What does your your skin color have to do with this? I don’t care what your ethnicity is. I do care that you have to deal with that because that sucks as far as being a daily problem. I greatly apologize for making it seem as if I don’t care about any problems you deal with.

However, I do disagree with you here and have no problem stating that to you whether your skin is every color of the rainbow mixed together into stripes and whirly dots.

You make some pretty wild claims on this board as far as your results. Does it really surprise you that anyone calls you on it?

I said PROVE IT. Prove that cartilage can be deformed that easily based on a few minutes of breathing with some weights in your hand. That would lead to many problems all over your body if your connective tissue was that easily manipulated. Why aren’t tendons easily lengthened through stretching?

It doesn’t make sense except to those who don’t understand what is involved. [/quote]

thanks for clarifying to us that you’re not a racist.

any kind of stretching loosens connective tissues to a degree, and it’s a fact that excessive stretching over a long enough period of time can cause problems. breathing pullovers or even regular pullovers done for years can expand the ribcage. breathing pullovers just do it quicker; i did them for about a year when i was in high school, and i’m now paying for it.

ask any physiologist about what excessive stretching of any type can do, both to the connective tissues and the nerves. prove it to yourself, cuz that’s not my job. any moron can look this shit up on the internet. if an asthmatic or a yogi can expand their ribcage with excessive breathing over a long enough period of time–both of which have been medically documented–what makes you think someone doing breathing pullovers can’t do it in a year’s time? this ain’t no overnight thing we’re talking about.

as for chiropractors, i’d rather have someone relieve pressure on a pinched nerve by manipulating my spine than have to live with the debilitating effects, some of which include faintness, vertigo, difficulty breathing, an elevated heart rate, blacking out, passing out, etc. compared to the surgery alternative which does more harm than good, there’s nothing remotely “quack” about that. some of my issues have resolved on their own because i saw a chiropractor. if chiropractic medicine isn’t a legitimate science, they wouldn’t issue degrees and licenses, and it would be illegal to practice it. a doctor is a doctor, whether they’re an MD, a PhD or a DC.

as for my “wild claims”, you can’t have proof right now. shit doesn’t work that way. it takes 6 months to evaluate how a program will work in the long term; i’ve only been training on this program for 4 months. rushing me isn’t going to prove or disprove anything. even 6 months results pics won’t tell you how i’m going to look at the end of '07. this is a longterm challenge, so loosen up. there’s no point stressing over it, and it just makes you look like a fool to say it isn’t possible before you have all the facts.

155

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Also, mykayl, erythropoietic porphyria can cause changes in cartilage and bone. It may be something to discuss with your doctor unless you already have. [/quote]

i have variegate porphyria, which is hepatic, not erythropoietic. the only things that get deformed are my liver and my skin, and neither deformity caused my ribcage expansion.

i’m going to believe what my chiropractor told me because he’s a licensed doctor (a DC–Doctor of Chiropractic), not some fool in an internet discussion thread. i’ve been reading your arguments over ribcage expansion, and they’re rediculous. there’s plenty of medical documentation of people experiencing ribcage expansion from a number of causes, including bad exercise. it’s up to you to research that shit before you try to bark everyone else down.

156

Not trying to flame you, but I’d say it’s up to those making outlandish claims to back them up with some sort of proof.

Given the statements of a variety of authors on this site such as David Barr, Dr. Ryan and CT (see the Chest Roundtable link on page 2) and many other posters on this thread as well as the total lack of any evidence up to now, yes, I guess it is time to produce it. All the more as you claim that it is clear cut, abundant and easy to find - what prevents you from posting the evidence and ending the discussion once and for all?

157

[quote]Mykayl wrote:

thanks for clarifying to us that you’re not a racist.[/quote]

Why did that need clarification? Where the living hell did the accusation come from? You pulled that ridiculous rant out of your ass all by yourself.

[quote]

any kind of stretching loosens connective tissues to a degree, and it’s a fact that excessive stretching over a long enough period of time can cause problems. breathing pullovers or even regular pullovers done for years can expand the ribcage. breathing pullovers just do it quicker; i did them for about a year when i was in high school, and i’m now paying for it.[/quote]

A fact? A fact to whom? Excessive stretching can even cause muscle weakness, however, I have not seen too many patients who now have ridiculously long tendons because they just won’t stop stretching.

[quote]

ask any physiologist about what excessive stretching of any type can do, both to the connective tissues and the nerves. prove it to yourself, cuz that’s not my job. any moron can look this shit up on the internet. if an asthmatic or a yogi can expand their ribcage with excessive breathing over a long enough period of time–both of which have been medically documented–what makes you think someone doing breathing pullovers can’t do it in a year’s time? this ain’t no overnight thing we’re talking about.[/quote]

Guy, I am one of those “physiologists”. Even though most of my diagnosis is centered around the jaw and head, we did have to have a full understanding of the entire human body before they gave us that title in school. Where are all of these documented cases of STRETCHED rib cages? Someone with an obstructive lung disorder who loses lung elasticity does not have a “barrel chest” because of a stretched rib cage. They have one because their lungs are like trying to blow air into balloons made of cardboard.

[quote]
as for chiropractors, i’d rather have someone relieve pressure on a pinched nerve by manipulating my spine than have to live with the debilitating effects, some of which include faintness, vertigo, difficulty breathing, an elevated heart rate, blacking out, passing out, etc. compared to the surgery alternative which does more harm than good, there’s nothing remotely “quack” about that. some of my issues have resolved on their own because i saw a chiropractor. if chiropractic medicine isn’t a legitimate science, they wouldn’t issue degrees and licenses, and it would be illegal to practice it. a doctor is a doctor, whether they’re an MD, a PhD or a DC.[/quote]

…or DMD. That doesn’t erase the opinion of some of them by many in medical fields. I believe there can be good ones. I also believe that practice leaves room for borderline acupuncturists and the patient often wouldn’t know the difference.

Dude, I honestly don’t CARE what you look like or about your progress in six months. I avoid many of your posts for that very reason. We aren’t discussing what we would LIKE to have happen in the world. We are discussing what actually DOES happen. Where are cases of RIB CAGE STRETCHING?

158

[quote]Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Also, mykayl, erythropoietic porphyria can cause changes in cartilage and bone. It may be something to discuss with your doctor unless you already have.

i have variegate porphyria, which is hepatic, not erythropoietic. the only things that get deformed are my liver and my skin, and neither deformity caused my ribcage expansion.

i’m going to believe what my chiropractor told me because he’s a licensed doctor (a DC–Doctor of Chiropractic), not some fool in an internet discussion thread. i’ve been reading your arguments over ribcage expansion, and they’re rediculous. there’s plenty of medical documentation of people experiencing ribcage expansion from a number of causes, including bad exercise. it’s up to you to research that shit before you try to bark everyone else down. [/quote]

If there was so much documentation, it would be very easy to present. You can’t present it for one very solid reason.

159

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Mykayl wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Also, mykayl, erythropoietic porphyria can cause changes in cartilage and bone. It may be something to discuss with your doctor unless you already have.

i have variegate porphyria, which is hepatic, not erythropoietic. the only things that get deformed are my liver and my skin, and neither deformity caused my ribcage expansion.

i’m going to believe what my chiropractor told me because he’s a licensed doctor (a DC–Doctor of Chiropractic), not some fool in an internet discussion thread. i’ve been reading your arguments over ribcage expansion, and they’re rediculous. there’s plenty of medical documentation of people experiencing ribcage expansion from a number of causes, including bad exercise. it’s up to you to research that shit before you try to bark everyone else down.

If there was so much documentation, it would be very easy to present. You can’t present it for one very solid reason. [/quote]

you’re the one claiming to be a doctor; if anyone has access to that stuff, it would be you. it’s not my job to educate you on such matters, but it’s yours to keep current on them. if my doctor says it’s real, then maybe you should go back to school.

160

[quote]Professor X wrote:
a bunch of crap
[/quote]

as for the racial thing, you condescend me in all your responses just like all the people who’ve given me shit for looking white, so i figured it was coming from the same place. excuse the fuck out of me for calling you on it, professor “X”.

well, i give you props for being an educated professional. that still doesn’t explain why my chiropractor told me what he did, and why he seemed to know so much about it. i still have a problem that you’re trying to tell me isn’t real because you haven’t read enough about it.

and how the fuck did you get the notion that my type of porphyria was erythropoietic after reading my profile? i thought you were a physiologist? even my brother, who’s an RN, knows the difference between erythropoietic and hepatic porphyrias.

if you didn’t care about my claims to a more efficient way of doing things, you wouldn’t be putting so much effort into trying to make me look bad. if it’s not important to you, then why the fuck did you even bother to bring it up in a non-related conversation?

i said i would provide results pics at an appropriate time (every 6 months of training); you should be happy with that and shut the fuck up. you can speculate all you want when you see the pics, but until then, you should keep it to yourself, cuz you still don’t have all the facts.

this shit ain’t over yet.

^…^