Bodybuilding is tough. In fact, to say that bodybuilding is tough, is like saying that quantum mechanics and particle physics is tough. To be more accurate, bodybuilding is one of the hardest disciplines in the entire world. To succeed as a bodybuilder, you need to eat, sleep, and breathe the bodybuilding lifestyle. People think that the hard part of bodybuilding is training in the gym. It’s not, if anything, that’s the easy part. If you’re struggling on your bodybuilding journey and aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for, perhaps you’re making any/all of the five mistakes we’re about to look at below.
Skipping legs
Friends don’t let friends skip leg day, and if you’ve a friend that has been known to skip leg day, you should drag him or her to the squat rack and get them squatting right away. Yes, we know that training legs is tough, and we know that leg DOMS absolutely suck, and that they last for days. However, if you want to build a symmetrical physique you need to make sure that your legs match your upper-body, otherwise you’ll look like you’ve got chicken legs, and nobody wants that.
Taking too many supps
The supplement industry is currently booming, and rightfully so. Supplements can help you perform better in the gym, recover better, and look better, but they don’t work miracles. A lot of people new to bodybuilding get suckered in by clever marketing and they blow much of their monthly budget on supplements rather than wholesome foods. Supplements should SUPPLEMENT your diet, they should become the basis of your diet. In reality, when starting out, all you really need is a multi-vitamin, a healthy fat source, and a good quality whey protein supplement. As you progress you can experiment with new products, but when starting out, just stick with the basics.
Not warming up
Before you begin training of any sort, you need to make sure that you perform a warm up, without fail. Failing to warm up will hinder your performance, plus it will make you more susceptible to injury.
Trying to train when injured
When you’re making gains the last thing you want is to pick up an injury, but unfortunately, sometimes injuries happen. Sure, you can help avoid an injury by warming up like we just looked at, but sometimes injuries just happen for no apparent reason. When you pick up an injury, even if it’s something fairly minor, the last thing you should do is try working through the pain. By doing this you not only prevent it from healing, but you will likely make it worse. Your workouts will also suffer because the pain will hinder your performance. When you pick up an injury, as frustrating as it is, you will need to rest and allow it to heal. Otherwise, a small injury could become a big injury, in which case you could be facing a potential very lengthy layoff.
Not pushing yourself and not mixing things up
If you want to build your body and increase your muscle mass, you need to make sure that you’re pushing yourself and constantly progressing. It’s no good sticking with the same weights, for the same number of sets and reps week in and week out, because eventually your body will adapt to what you’re doing and your gains will stop. Be sure to try slightly heavier weights, or go with more sets and/or reps, and be sure to change your routine every few weeks.
