Looking for a simple no nonsense muscle building plan to change your physique? Make sure to avoid these common mistakes which prevent many people from gaining serious lean muscle mass.
By putting together a straight forward no nonsense muscle building plan into action you can quickly start getting results. When I was just getting started I had the same questions that so many other beginners have who struggle to gain muscle. Unfortunately I also made the same common mistakes that most people make who are new to weight lifting. If you can avoid these very common yet critical mistakes of building muscle mass you can quickly turn things around and really start seeing some results.
Overtraining Will Get You Nowhere
If you look at any of the workouts in the fitness magazines the first thing you notice is that their answer to gaining muscle is to spend lots of time in the gym doing 8-12 sets per body part and training six days a week. For the so called advanced lifter, training twice a day, or split routines, are recommended to seriously put on muscle. These publications advise their readers that the only way to have large muscle gains is to train more. This type of advice is counter-productive and results in overtraining and gets so many people headed down the wrong path of trying to reach their goal of gaining muscle. Unless you’re genetically gifted or you’re planning on taking steroids most of the routines found in the muscle magazines will lead to overtraining. Overtraining occurs anytime you train too often, train too long or your body hasn’t fully recuperated from a previous workout and you find yourself back in the gym working out again. When your body has been over-trained maximum muscle growth will not happen.
Lack of Quality Calories
The number one thing that stops most people from putting on lean muscle mass is not eating enough quality calories. Simply put if you don’t consume plenty of the right nutrients at the right time you will never put on muscle even if you have a great workout routine. For your muscles to grow and get bigger there must be a calorie surplus. You must feed your body lean protein, complex carbohydrates and essential fats. So this means that eating 3,000 calories of pizza and crackers is not the same as eating 3,000 calories of salmon and vegetables. If you want to get that smooth look and just be fat then go with the pizza and crackers. However, if your goal is to gain lean muscle mass and actually look like you work out then you need to be eating balanced meals with plenty of protein, carbs and good fats.
No Rest Equals No Gains
A common misconception that many people have when starting out is that their muscles grow and get bigger during their workout. This is wrong. Your muscles grow and get bigger when you are resting not when you’re at the gym. Therefore if you don’t get enough sleep and recover from your workouts you’re not going to get optimum muscle growth. Sleep enables your body to release testosterone and growth hormone levels begin to rise about 30-45 minutes after falling asleep. Needless to say, these are critical elements to building muscle and being able to recover and get back to the gym and train again. When it comes to getting enough sleep, most people will benefit from somewhere around 8 hours of sleep at night.
Are You Making These Mistakes?
If you have been struggling to gain muscle you need to start evaluating your daily routines including your workout schedule. If your training routine does not allow each body part to fully recover before being trained again then your body may be over-trained. If you don’t consume enough protein, complex carbohydrates and essential fats to not only fuel your workouts but also have excess calories to promote optimal muscle growth then you have little chance of making muscle gains. Finally ask yourself if you’re getting enough sleep and rest between workouts. If you’re tired going into the gym is it because you haven’t recovered from the prior workout? Making these critical adjustments and avoiding these common mistakes can make all the difference in the world when it comes to putting together a simple no nonsense muscle building plan to increase muscle mass.
