How athletes lie to themselves: 8 daily lies

You can lie to everyone in the world about your workouts. But the truth is in your body and it knows when you are lying. Are you telling yourself any of these 8 deceptions?

Some gym goers take too many selfies, while others are guilty of another sacrilege: lying to themselves. And the main problem may be that you don't know that, in reality, you are lying to yourself. Much like the infamous words spoken by George Constance, "... just remember that this is not a lie if you believe it."

Let's start being honest with ourselves. Let's put all the cards on the table and get rid of all the lies to expose our true weaknesses.

The perception of oneself can indeed be distorted. You look in the mirror and only see what you want to see. The way we look at ourselves can evolve and change over time, and in the process, we begin to ignore our weaknesses and focus only on our strengths.

Below are eight cheats you can tell yourself every time you walk into the gym or kitchen. Are you ready to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I'll go on a diet someday, but not right now

It often sounds like, "I am pumping muscles now, and after I pump them, I will go on a diet." But the lie is that you will never start this diet.

You work hard year after year in the gym with no real plan to cleanse your diet and finally start losing at least a little body fat. You also don't wear any revealing clothes and skip visiting the pool and beach in fear that someone might not perceive you as a bodybuilder. The diet phase is the right part of the training process, isn't it?

Tell yourself the truth! Most of us are afraid of the diet phase because we love and are accustomed to the way we eat. It's convenient and doesn't require a lot of planning. It's time to start your diet right now. You've already had enough time to build your muscles and now it's time to get rid of excess fat. Take some time to plan your meals. You will be glad that you did it.

If I just ignore my weak points, they disappear

Look in the mirror. Are you proportional? Are your delts, chest, biceps, and quads balanced? How about your back, triceps, biceps and leg muscles? Workouts only show half of your muscles. You can have a well developed upper body without a hint of leg development! Are you still wearing your pants to the gym? Don't be fooled. We all have weak points. You just do your best to ignore them as long as you give your full attention to your strengths.

Tell yourself the truth! Do you need leg workouts? Yes, leg workouts are difficult, but you want to wear shorts so that others don't look at them in disbelief, right? Let your strengths fade away and start paying more attention to your weaknesses.

Is your back behind your chest? Start doing twice as many sets of your back as your chest, and train it early in the week when you have the most energy. Be honest, train your weak points, and get the best proportions.

I don't have to squat to pump my legs

We do not advertise the need for free weight squats, but if you ignore them, you will never pump up your legs. Avoiding some form of squatting is a surefire way to stop your progress. Sure, leg presses, leg stretches and other machine exercises have their place in your training routine, but squats are a natural movement of the human body.

Tell yourself the truth! Leg workouts are challenging. If it were easy, everyone would have big, angular legs. Whether it's back squats, front squats, one-legged squats, pistol squats or any other version of them, they instantly take your leg workouts to the next level.

Don't be fooled into relying on multiple sets on the machine to build muscle. You will need a thorough approach plan. You're most likely doing countless sets of grueling chest and arm exercises, so why should your legs still be left unattended?

If I don’t bench press, I don’t pump my chest.

On any Monday there is a huge line leading to the bench press station. Well, the most popular question is: "How much did you press on the bench?"

Many gym goers are scared to death of skipping this exercise from their chest workout routine, so they include it in every workout they do. One of the most common mistakes in this exercise is using poor form and loading the bar with too much weight to impress others.

Tell yourself the truth! Maybe you are the type of person who is not quite looking for the benefits of the traditional barbell press. Maybe it emphasizes your shoulders too much, but it does little to emphasize the real development of the chest.

Switch more to dumbbell work. This will allow you to personally control your unique movements as well as squeeze out muscle fibers more fully. And, as an added bonus, you don't have to wait in line on the bench.

Lifting heavier weights will lead to more muscle growth

Lifting heavy weights is sometimes necessary, but too much weight alone has no real benefit. What's more, many athletes use so much weight that they can only do a couple of reps. And big lifts will ultimately give you the athletic appearance.

Tell yourself the truth! If your goal is to reshape your body with a V taper, six abs and wide, slim chest, then you need to train properly. Moderate weight, moderate reps, and multiple sets are a sure and proven formula for achieving this goal.

The constant use of heavy weights will eventually lead to sore joints and marginal results.

I need to do more curls to grow my biceps

The bicep curls are made for more attractive arms, right? Larger biceps are the target of anyone who has ever touched a barbell. I'm sure you are no different.

Set by set, you do these bicep curls diligently. You pick up heavier weights, do more sets and more reps, but all of this is not very effective. You think you just need the most of this in order to finally get the biceps you want.

Tell yourself the truth! Have you ever seen someone with big biceps but a small and weak back? We think not. Large arms are a byproduct of doing a significant amount of lifts such as pull-ups and deadlifts. If you practice pull-ups and heavy deadlifts in all their forms, your biceps have no choice but to start growing.

So you just need to stop doing arm curls? Not. Use these exercises as finishing exercises to put the finishing touches on your muscle growth. Stop doing a lot of curls. Choose just two angles for multiple sets.

I don't need to develop my hamstrings

The hamstrings are another victim of muscle display. They play a key role not only in the aesthetics of the hips, but also in their strength and functionality. Ignoring this area is common. Performing just a few sets of leg curls at the end of the day of leg workout seems to be common practice.

Tell yourself the truth! Well-developed biceps are your long way to improve a strong lower body. While squatting, for example, your quads, hamstrings, and glutes (along with many other supporting muscles) work together to develop properly.

If a weak link exists, it will severely limit your ability to progress. Your hamstring workouts shouldn't be limited to leg curls. Also try Romanian deadlifts, standing and sitting leg curls, lunges for a fuller workout.

I'm too muscular to do pull-ups

Are you a big guy? Do you usually start your workouts with a deadlift because you think you can't do the pull-ups? Have you tried in the past but failed and never returned to the bar again? Why bother, right? As long as you have a solid top block trainer, who needs pull-ups?

Tell yourself the truth! You can do all kinds of pull-ups. This is one of the best back exercises. Pull-ups with different grips stimulate the back in such a way that the deadlift is very weak in comparison.

If you have difficulty with this exercise, start with one run. Next time, do two reps, then you can do three reps in a row, with a goal of ten total reps. Regardless of how many sets you take to complete those 10 full reps, over time you will become proficient and be able to do multiple sets and reps.