Myths

Bodybuilding Stunts Growth




Bodybuilding wont stunt your growth but there are three things that might will - steroids, some supplements, and poor nutrition. Lets talk about poor nutrition first. The body needs proper nutrition to develop to its full height. Its proven that malnutrition can seriously stunt growth. Now, nobody can tell you for sure how much poor nutrition may stunt your growth, maybe not even an inch, maybe 3 inches, but why take a chance? Eat healthy food! Stay away from chips, fried foods, and donuts and eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean meats instead.

We have all heard that steroids stunt your growth but how? First we need to look at how bones grow. You have bones and cartilage holding them together. To grow, the body turns this cartilage into bone so the cartilage that was on the end turns into bone and moves into the middle of the bone as additional length is added to the end of the bone. So why don't you keep growing forever? Well at in puberty the body starts pumping out hormones and these hormones stops the conversion of cartilage into bone - and the growth stops.


So what happens if a young teen takes steroids to build muscle? Well, when they artificially raise the hormone levels with steroids the bones get confused. They see the hormone flood and think that this is a full grown body and the converting cartilage into bone process stops!So how much height can you lose? Well basically when a teen is on steroids, there is no growth. It is unclear if the growth will restart once the teen goes off steroids. There is no question, steroids will stunt your growth. The question is - by how much?.

Now lets talk about the third way you can stunt your growth and that's with those pro-hormone supplements available at the local health food store. People make the mistaken assumption that just because something is legal and available over the counter that its safe for everyone. These pro-hormone supplements are converted into testosterone in the body which encourages the muscles to grow but these artificially high hormone levels tell the bones to stop growing just like steroids can. Until you have reached your full height, you should avoid supplements.




Masturbation




There has never been a study which even hinted that masturbation might reduce testosterone levels. Lets take the second one "Masturbation depletes you protein reserves so you cant build muscle". OK, this is just stupid. Think about the amount of protein that leaves the body during masturbation, maybe 5g, and compare that to the daily protein intake of a bodybuilder which is approx 200g. Another way to think about this, if this were true it would mean that no elite athletes would ever be allowed to have sex. With all the money in pro sports, you can be sure that if there were any truth at all to this that coaches across the country would demand total abstinence from all their team members.

The grain of truth that probably got these myths started comes from the fact that typically after release, the person is very relaxed/tired. I have also heard people say that various other trace elements, like zinc for example, are expelled from the body during release which just does not make sense. Why would evolution favor a someone who routinely got rid of essential trace elements and make himself weak doing it? High testosterone levels correspond with high fertility and increased sexual activity, it makes no evolutionary sense whatsoever that this sexual activity would weaken the body because the evolutionary goal is to produce as many strong offspring as possible.

Now what about this myth, "Masturbation will cause one arm to disproportionately large and muscular". We all know how difficult it is to build muscle. If it were that easy to build arm muscles then everybody who wanted big Popeye-like arms would have them. If your arms are different sizes, masturbation is not the reason. Very few people are symmetrical and it natural for their dominant arm to be larger, nothing you do for a few minutes a day will have any affect on the size of your arms.




Raw eggs 

   
Raw eggs are NOT good for you, in fact, they can make you very, very sick. We have Hollywood and the "Rocky" movies to thank for this stupid myth. First of all, raw egg protein is NOT better than cooked egg protein. Second, just because something is disgusting doesn't make it good for you. Third, the cooking kills the salmonella bacteria which can make you very, very sick. Guess how much progress you will make in your bodybuilding program if you are have explosive diarrhea and puking for two weeks? No progress at all! Get salmonella and you will be week as a kitten for a month. Please don't eat raw eggs!

Since we are on the subject of eggs, egg whites are an excellent (but expensive) source of protein. Whole eggs (whites plus yokes) are not recommended for bodybuilders because of the very high fat content (58% fat by calories). If you want to eat eggs, then throw the yokes out. Its not as tough as it sounds, just crack the eggs into a bowl then when you are done fish out the yokes with a spoon.
 


Egg nutritional information
                               
1 egg yoke 60 calories 3 (g) protein 6 (g) fat 90% fat
1 egg white 15 calories 4 (g) protein 0 (g) fat 0% fat
1 whole egg 75 calories 7 (g) protein 6 (g) fat 60% fat



Muscle Turns To Fat
 



"Bodybuilding is bad, if you stop the muscle turns into fat!"
This has been rattled off so many times that it is "common wisdom". Think about how ridiculous this statement is! The alchemists of ancient Greece were never successful in turning one material into another and neither are we.
There is no biological pathway for muscle to "turn into fat". Like all myths, this one has a grain of truth. If you stop working out you lose strength and muscle mass, no mystery here. Exercise uses calories, if you stop working out and don't decrease your food intake then you get fat. Put those two facts together and you see why this myth got started. 

Making matters worse is that many bodybuilders thrive on the monthly gains and the endorphins produced so when they stop, mild depression can set in. Many people overeat when depressed, making the transition from muscular stud to obesity quite rapidly.

A word about steroids is in order as they are part of the cause of this myth. Steroids allow rapid muscle growth and a user can easily get addicted to the rapid and seemingly constant gains in muscle mass. Because of the very rapid strength gains, and a steroid-induced aggressiveness, steroid users are more likely to get seriously injured in the gym. 


When a steroid user gets injured, their life can be shattered, depression caused by the steroid withdrawal, depression because they cant work out. They continue to eat just as much (or more because of the depression) but don't exercise and they rapidly get fat. This is one of the great problems with steroids.

If you want to have a fantastic, healthy physique for 40 or 50 years then do natural bodybuilding! It takes longer to get results but they are yours to keep for decades and decades.