If you'v been weight training, here's a short list of muscle and bodybuilding fiction.

1. 12 Rep rule We have all heard it many times. "Do this many reps." The real effect might be not enough tension on the muscle and therefore no muscle gain. For muscles to work at their maximum you need to be lifting the big weight. This will allow bigger muscle gains.

Just doing the same old 12 reps is good for structure in a workout but it will not always build the strongest muscle. Change things up every few days to keep the body guessing. This way by doing heavy weights with fewer reps or more reps with lighter weights will both result in big gains in muscle.

2. Three Set rule Why three sets? Who came up with that rule? Three sets is great and certainly better than nothing but it is not the only way to building muscle. Consider what your goals are. If you are doing a lot of reps, like say twenty, then maybe one or two sets is enough. Depends on the weight you are lifting. Or you might be lifting huge weight and so one set might be all you can handle.

3. Three to four exercises per group This is a waste of precious time. This is 144 reps at 12 reps doing three sets each. Your muscles need more. Try to fool the body by doing different sets and reps to reach the desired number.

4. My knees, my toes You hear it all the time in the gym “keep your knees behind your toes." Probably there is more truth to saying that leaning forward to much will cause more injury. Research has shown that yes there was about thirty percent more stress in the knees when moved forward beyond the toes while doing a exercise like a squat.

But because the knees are held back the stress has switched to an even more dangerous area. Now our back especially the lower and the hips are in danger of injury.

Focusing on your upper body is the key instead of the knee. You must always keep the torso upright as much as possible when doing leg exercises. This reduces stress especially on the hips and lower back. Squeeze the shoulders and hold in that position will help to stay in the perfect posture. Lift up your elbows parallel to the floor will also help.

5. Lift weights, draw abs Ever heard the term "muscle groups"? The muscles will work in groups therefore helping the spine to be as strong as it can be. Depending on the type of exercise the muscle group you use will be different each time. It might not always be the abdominals. The spine needs support and this is most important when exercising. The body will use the correct muscles so don't force only the use of the abs. These might not be the right muscles for the exercise you are doing and you could do more damage than good. Injury might occur and most of all you won't be lifting the big weight you want to.