Athletes can be roughly categorized into three groups: strength athletes, endurance athletes, and skill athletes. Skill athletes are those who rely on more than just their physical attributes for success. They include boxers, basketball players, baseball players, and the like.
There is an old, discredited axiom in athletics which states that “skill” athletes (and endurance athletes) shouldn’t engage in strength training or weight lifting because it will make them muscle bound. Fortunately, this is just a ridiculous myth. Proper strength training doesn’t impair athletic performance, it enhances it.
What does it mean to be muscle bound?
NFL quarterback Brady Quinn is heavy muscled, yet highly skilled and extremely athletic.
Some old coaches – who were guilty of muscle bound hysteria – thought bulking up made an athlete slow, clumsy, and inflexible – that, in effect, the muscles restrained the inner athlete and hampered his performance.
While it’s true that rapid bulking can lead to flexibility problems, you can easily avoid them if you train sensibly. It’s for this reason that flexibility training is an important part of every weight-lifting program. There was no justification for the old-fashioned belief that weight training led to inflexibility.
Sometimes, these old coaches claimed that weight training turned graceful athletes into plodding klutzes. Again, this baseless theory can be completely overturned by a simple examination of the facts. All modern, elite athletes carry enough muscle mass to allow them to perform at world-class levels. Even tiny marathon runners have much more muscle mass as a percentage of total body weight than sedentary individuals. Muscle doesn’t detract from your skills; it makes you more effective at whatever you do.
The bottom line is: don’t worry about outdated theories. Stick to observable fact.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
First you say,
“Since the whole “muscle bound” thing is just a myth, it has no universally-accepted definition.”
Then you say,
“…it’s true that rapid bulking can lead to flexibility problems…”
That’s what “muscle bound” is. It’s a loss of flexibility due to permanent muscle contraction. Your MUSCLES have BOUND your joints in a certain position. It’s not a myth, but it can be avoided with proper stretching, as your article states. A decent article, but to open with a statement like “muscle bound is a myth” is absurd, because it’s not.
I’m not sure we really disagree about anything of substance.
Maybe I’ll rework the article to further clarify the “muscle bound” definition, but that’s not easy because, as I said, there is no universal definition for this controversial phenomenon.
You quote me twice, but you leave out my main point, which is:
Modern athletes work on flexibility and joint mobility along with strength training. School coaches who understand the issues train their kids this way too.
I believe the phrase “muscle bound” has no place in modern physical education because it doesn’t help anyone understand the issues involved.
Correct training should avoid any major muscle bound issues. But lifting weights and successfully gaining muscle may temporary slow you down and tire you out until your body gets used to it. Muscles are heavy and use a lot of energy up quickly. Once you iron out the issues you have additional strength as a tool.
I agree with Johnson. I would go as far as to say proper strength training doesn’t necessarily enhance athletic performance, it enhances the athletes strength. For example a runner who uses weights and a runner who doesn’t, usually the strength advantage has no effect on high levels.
Something like wrestling providing athlete A can gain power with no noticeable losses in other areas then strength can enhance their performance vs athlete B with no strength training it really depends on the sport.
“All modern, elite athletes carry enough muscle mass to allow them to perform at world-class levels. Even tiny marathon runners have much more muscle mass as a percentage of total body weight than sedentary individuals. Muscle doesn’t detract from your skills; it makes you more effective at whatever you do.”
Disagree this maybe more to do with improved nutrition better training methods and more knowledge of the sport, not the strength training. We don’t know if their muscle mass has been gained from poly metrics, body exercises or actual strength training either. Remember muscle can be built in many different ways instead, strength isn’t everything sometimes its nothing.