If you’ve spent any time reading or talking to people about bodybuilding, it’s almost inevitable that you’ve come across one of these bodybuilding myths. There are several bodybuilding myths floating around, and not a week goes by that I don’t hear a new one pop up with no scientific merit behind it. Read on to discover the three most common bodybuilding myths that have circulated and continue to circulate.

Bodybuilding makes women look like men

This is probably the number one reason why a lot of women don’t take up bodybuilding, yet there’s actually very little truth to it. For men to develop the muscular physique they have (even before bodybuilding) they need testosterone. While it’s true that women produce small levels of testosterone, they don’t come close to the same amount as men, and they actually produce higher levels of estrogen, the hormone associated with femininity. Due to the levels of these two hormones present, it is incredibly difficult for women to build the muscle mass and quality that men produce without taking additional supplementation or male hormones.

Bodybuilding can stunt your growth

This myth arose because there is a somewhat disproportionate number of competitive bodybuilders who are quite short in stature. In reality, this disproportion is more likely due to taller bodybuilders being selected for other sports where height and size are important, leaving shorter bodybuilders to compete. In the same context, short bodybuilders may also do better in competition because their shorter limbs make their muscle mass look better proportioned, which is ideal for competitive bodybuilding.

Your muscles turn to fat once you stop exercising

I want to make one thing perfectly clear here, it is physically impossible for muscle to turn into fat. They are two completely separate types of tissue, and it would be like saying that skin can be turned into bone. The root of this myth comes from the fact that many bodybuilders get relatively fat after they stop training. What actually happens is that the muscles shrink once they are no longer trained, which can take a year or more to happen. During this time, the former bodybuilder makes the mistake of continuing to eat large amounts of nutrient-dense foods like he did when he trained intensely and consumed all of his energy. This high energy intake, coupled with reduced energy expenditure means that the excess is stored, among other things, as fat. If he reduces his energy intake when he stops training, this myth can be avoided.

Those are probably the most common bodybuilding myths that I still hear on an almost daily basis. You can see how many of them come up, yet you don’t have to scratch far below the surface to see that they’re also wrong. Exercise In general, almost any exercise will have benefits for the person doing it. Sometimes myths are just excuses others use to make themselves feel better about not doing something themselves.