For a bodybuilder, there is nothing more frustrating than busting your rear end in the gym, day in and day out, and not seeing the results you were hoping for. We know that building muscle is tough, but with the right diet, the right training routine, and the right work ethic, you can effectively build yourself an impressive and aesthetic physique. But what can you do if the gains stop dead, or worse still, if they don’t come at all? Well, there are actually a number of potential fixes for you to try. Here’s a look at a few reasons why you may not be gaining muscle, and at what you should be doing instead.
Your workouts don’t have any structure
If you want to build muscle you need to ensure that you’re following a training regime with plenty of structure. A lot of people make the mistake of training what they want, when they want, with no structure to their routines at all. Rather than having a clear and concise training regime, they instead simply see how they feel when they wake up. So, if they wake up and they can’t be bothered to go to the gym, they don’t go and they see how they feel the next day. Ideally you should have set days and times for training so you can hold yourself somewhat accountable. Rather than training whichever body part you feel like training on the day, you should instead give yourself a training program to follow so that you know when you’re training, and what you’re supposed to be training, well in advance.
You aren’t eating enough
To build muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus, it’s that simple. A surplus is where you are taking in more calories than your body needs to maintain itself in its current state. By taking in extra calories your body will use them to help build muscle. Be careful, as the human body can only build so much muscle and if you take in too many extra calories, you will also find yourself storing excess body fat as well. Make sure that you’re also getting plenty of protein, Ideally around 1g – 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight. Protein is essential for muscle tissue growth and repair, so it’s important that you are getting enough from clean sources.
You’re training too much
Another common mistake that people make when trying to build muscle, is by spending far too long in the gym training. They’ll see some “Instagram trainer” on social media talking about how they workout twice a day, 7 days a week, and how they’re ‘making gains while you’re sleeping’ and other pretentious and judgemental nonsense like that and will take it as gospel. The truth of the matter is that your body needs rest to recover, and that we actually build muscle while we rest. If you’re training twice a day, and/or not giving yourself a full day off, your muscles are constantly under stress, so your body won’t have enough time to fully repair them. Ideally you should train 4 – 5 days, depending on which routine you follow, and you should give yourself at least two full days each week to recover. You should also make sure you get enough sleep and that you go to bed and wake up at a reasonable hour.
