Building muscle is a very strenuous and difficult task that requires a lot of dedication and consistency. It is for that reason that you want to be doing everything possible to maximize your results during each and every workout session. Here are 5 common things that people do that absolutely kill their muscle building results.
Overtraining
This could possibly be one of the most common reasons why 90% of people who are trying to gain muscle mass don’t see the maximal results they could be. When building muscle it is important that you work hard in the gym, however it is important that you spend a bigger portion of time outside of the gym recovering from the intense workouts you’re putting your body through. It is strongly recommended that you keep your workout sessions to 45-60min and that you workout a muscle group only once per week.
No Goals
Whether its building muscle, losing weight, starting a career or whatever everybody needs to set goals. Goals are what drive us to accomplish and stick to certain things. When it comes to muscle building goals are a very crucial and important part of the process. Building muscle without goals is like going somewhere without a map eventually you will get to where you want to go but it will take a whole lot longer. You should be setting both short term and long term goals, this will help to motivate you as well as help to give you an idea of what you have to do.
Lack of Progress Tracking
This is absolutely huge, and I see it all the time in the gym. Most people are not keeping track of their results and inevitably it is causing them to miss out on their true muscle building potential. Keeping track of your results will not only help to motivate you but it will show you where you’re at and where you should be going next. It is important to keep track of the exercises you do, the weight, sets, and reps. Keeping track of your results and what you do in the gym will also help you to remember what you did last time so that you can increase the intensity for future workouts, which will ultimately help you to build more muscle.
Poor Nutrition
Nutrition literally makes up about 50-60% of the muscle building process. It is crucial as it plays a huge roll in the muscle building process. You can have the best workout in the world, and do all of the best exercises for building muscle but if you are not giving your body what it needs to repair itself then you will never see the results that you should or expect. Very few people realize that muscle is built outside the gym. If there was a ratio for muscle building it would basically look something like this. 15% workout, 30% Rest, 55% Nutrition.
Poor Form
This will not only hinder your gains but will also vastly improve your chances of tearing or pulling muscles. There are basically 2 reasons for the use of poor form the first is by far a big ego, and the second is a lack of knowledge. If you fall under the category of the second instance that it is important that you do some research on how to properly perform each exercise. However if you are apart of the vast majority of people who have big ego’s in the gym and try to way too much weight then you are looking for trouble. Every gym should have a sign posted saying ” Leave your Ego at the Door”. Lifting huge amounts of weight at the expense of your form is not macho its absolutely stupid and senseless, and will cause more injury and less muscle gain.
