Are you struggling to build muscle at the gym? According to strength training and conditioning coaches, there are four reasons why your muscle-building efforts fail.
Hypertrophy, the technical term for the process of building muscle, is one of the most desired outcomes of exercise, along with increased strength and improved conditioning. Whether you enjoy training with free weights like the best adjustable dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells, or using gym machines, these tips are well worth knowing if you want to see results.
Luis SilvaThe authors, who are personal trainers, spin instructors, and certified strength and conditioning coaches, reveal the common barriers exercisers face when trying to build muscle and how to get around them.
Luis Silva is a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach and spin instructor and is currently Head of Fitness at Castle Royle.
4 reasons why you’re not gaining muscle at the gym and how to fix it
Silva reveals some of the most common obstacles you may face and explains how to fix them, so you know what to look out for when you hit the gym and what areas you need to focus on to get the most out of your training.
1. Poor programming
Unfortunately, just showing up and lifting weights may not be enough.
Programming varies depending on your training and goals. Programming needs to be specific because everyone’s body responds differently to stimuli, and factors like lifestyle, sleep, diet, and type of exercise all affect your ability to build and maintain muscle mass.
“Programming can be very broad, ranging from exercise selection to training splits to frequency, volume and intensity,” says Silva. “In this case, we focus on dosage (frequency and volume).”
Silva explains that when you exercise a muscle group, it causes tiny tears in the muscle fibers, and between workouts, these tears repair themselves, making the muscle bigger and stronger over time.
“Many factors influence the repair process, including the amount and frequency of training you subject your muscles to,” says Dr. Schneider. And as your muscles repair and grow, they reach a “peak curve” — meaning the optimal time to stimulate them again.
“Training in time means balancing volume, intensity and frequency,” says Silva. “If you train your muscles too early, you won’t get the benefit of your previous session because they’re still recovering, and you won’t perform at your best. And if you wait too long to train again, you’ll fall off the curve and miss out on the benefits of your previous sessions.”
The volume of your session – the number of exercises, sets, repetitions, and load – directly impacts the time you need to recover. “The more you exercise, the longer you need to recover between workouts,” he adds. This also depends on the intensity of your exercise, whether you work out at a maximal effort (more rest) or a submaximal effort (less rest).
For advice on how to create an effective program, you can learn more about the principles of muscle hypertrophy and strength training here.
2. Nutritional deficiencies
“Muscles are made of protein, and when you train hard, that protein is broken down,” says Silva. “To repair muscle proteins and make new proteins (protein synthesis), you need to consume adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to provide your body with enough energy to function. Intake of too little will affect the recovery process and hinder protein synthesis.”
Protein is an important macronutrient that provides the building blocks for muscle growth, but everyone has different needs. To put it in terms of the equation, to build muscle, you need to consume more protein than you can break down. Leucine, the amino acid that initiates muscle synthesis, is found in high-quality protein sources.
Still, the amount of protein you need to build muscle depends on factors like your activity level, lifestyle, goals, weight, and daily calorie intake. If you’re working out a lot and want to build muscle, you’ll need more protein than someone who doesn’t. As a rough guide, aim for 1-2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or Online Protein Calculator It can help you estimate your recommended daily intake.
3. Compromise
Poor exercise form not only increases your risk of injury, it can also stunt muscle growth.
“Form is a huge mistake that many people make in the gym. Lifting heavy weights is important for providing the necessary stress to muscle tissue to stimulate growth,” explains Silva.
“But adding weight should never compromise your form or range of motion (ROM). Because muscles work harder when lifting at a length, increased ROM is essential to creating micro-tears in the muscles.”
Silva adds that lifting heavier weights with a reduced range of motion puts less strain on your muscles, increases your risk of injury, and reduces your body’s adaptations. “Sometimes you need a reduced range of motion for specific reasons,” Silva adds.
Injury, specific sports training, or the addition of partial repetitions are considered exceptions. In fact, partial repetitions, when properly added to a program, can actually stimulate muscle hypertrophy. Partial repetitions simply mean working through a partial range of motion at any stage of the movement. They do not happen by chance or because a person is lifting too heavy or has a limited range of motion.
There are some cases where partial repetitions can be helpful, but let’s stick with the concept of muscle growth. Adding partial repetitions to your program increases the time your muscles spend in the range of motion where they are under the most mechanical tension, which promotes muscle hypertrophy by increasing metabolic stress. Partial repetitions increase the time under tension, which helps your muscles contract longer and ultimately grow.
If you’re not sure how to add partial repetitions to your routine, we recommend consulting a qualified trainer first to ensure you’re leveraging properly. Otherwise, whenever possible, use full range of motion and proper form with all exercises.
4. Lack of resilience
Recovery is different for everyone and includes active recovery such as walking or jogging, so it’s important to know how your body responds to exercise. It’s often said because it’s true: listen to your body.
“Muscles need to recover to perform well, but poor recovery doesn’t just affect muscles,” Silva warns. “Lack of sleep and increased training volume increase cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that causes muscles to fatigue and performance to decline.”
To reach your goals, Silva recommends that you incorporate rest and recovery into your program thoughtfully. “This doesn’t just apply to sleep,” he adds. “Mobility and flexibility are also factors that need to be considered when planning your training cycle.”
Generally, a good rule of thumb is to allow for longer recovery times for maximal strength sessions where you are pushing your muscles to their limits, such as a single max strength program.
For those training for hypertrophy, spreading out sessions throughout the week and splitting them into upper and lower body sessions allows you to train multiple muscle groups several times a week while giving other muscle groups adequate rest. Unless you plan on going to the gym every day, “bro splits,” which assign one muscle group per day, are not the most efficient use of your time.
It’s also worth remembering that for women, planning your sessions to coincide with your menstrual cycle – known as exercise cycling – can help you stay focused. For example, the follicular phase (from the end of your period until ovulation, when estrogen levels rise) and the ovulatory phase (mid-menstrual cycle, when estrogen levels peak) are the best times for weightlifting.
One study SpringerPlus It turns out that the follicular phase produces greater gains in strength than the luteal phase. However, how you plan your training will depend on the type of training you do, your goals and time frame, and the part of your body you want to focus on.
We strongly encourage you to plan a program rather than just showing up to the gym and doing random workouts. Find out how many days a week you need to train to see results here.
