6 Mistakes When Trying Build Muscle
I used to be very skinny. I struggled for years to gain weight. I made all six of these mistakes in my early twenties. Since then, I have gone from 65kg (10.5 stone) to 92kg (over 14 stone).
Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes, so you don’t waste as much time as I did when I was younger.
Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes, so you don’t waste as much time as I did when I was younger.
Not Eating Enough.
This is very common and the most obvious mistake people make. You can't expect to gain a significant amount of muscleif you're consuming a large amount of calories.
I regularly have clients who are underweight claim that they eat loads of food. When I get them to track their food intake on MyFitnessPal it shows they are massively under-eating. If they were eating loads like they claim they would be gaining weight, even if it was fat. If you’re trying, but not gaining weight, you simply have to increase your calorie intake. It's that simple.
What often happens is they eat one or two large meals, but don’t eat much for the rest of the day, or they eat a lot for a couple of days, but then under eat for the rest of the week.
If you want to build muscle, you have to eat enough calories consistently.
I regularly have clients who are underweight claim that they eat loads of food. When I get them to track their food intake on MyFitnessPal it shows they are massively under-eating. If they were eating loads like they claim they would be gaining weight, even if it was fat. If you’re trying, but not gaining weight, you simply have to increase your calorie intake. It's that simple.
What often happens is they eat one or two large meals, but don’t eat much for the rest of the day, or they eat a lot for a couple of days, but then under eat for the rest of the week.
If you want to build muscle, you have to eat enough calories consistently.
Impatience
A big mistake is people try and rush gaining muscle. Building muscle is a slow process, and to gain a significant amount will take a long time. You can gain on average 1-2lbs a month when you first start out. Gaining 15lbs in the first year is realistic if you’re doing everything right, but that rate of muscle gain won’t last. The next year you would do well to gain half that. Trying to bulk up too quickly willjust end up with you gaining too much fat. At my stage, I would be happy gaining 1kg in a year!
Think long term if you're planning on gaining a large amount of muscle
Think long term if you're planning on gaining a large amount of muscle
Not making progress on your lifts
You need to be consistent and achieve progressive overload in order to build muscle.
If you're still squatting and doing other leg exercises the same weight for the same sets and reps in a years time, you shouldn't expect for your legs to grow. You need to ensure you're doing more than you used to be able to do if you want to gain muscle.
Find a good routine and stick to it. Go on any fitness forum on the internet, and you’ll see beginners asking if they should change their routine, or they have already done 6 different programs in 3 months. They can’t understand why they haven’t made much progress.
Make sure you stick to your routine for 6-12 weeks.
If you're still squatting and doing other leg exercises the same weight for the same sets and reps in a years time, you shouldn't expect for your legs to grow. You need to ensure you're doing more than you used to be able to do if you want to gain muscle.
Find a good routine and stick to it. Go on any fitness forum on the internet, and you’ll see beginners asking if they should change their routine, or they have already done 6 different programs in 3 months. They can’t understand why they haven’t made much progress.
Make sure you stick to your routine for 6-12 weeks.
Not doing the big exercises
This is another common mistake you’ll see across gyms.
The big exercises use the most amount of muscle, and so will build the most muscle.
Base your routine around these exercises,
Squats
Deadlifts
Bench press
Overhead press
Rows
Chin ups
Dips
There’s nothing wrong with doing curls, flys, push downs etc, but don't do them instead of the big exercises.
The big exercises use the most amount of muscle, and so will build the most muscle.
Base your routine around these exercises,
Squats
Deadlifts
Bench press
Overhead press
Rows
Chin ups
Dips
There’s nothing wrong with doing curls, flys, push downs etc, but don't do them instead of the big exercises.
Avoiding training legs
As obvious as it should be to train your legs, it’s very common for people to avoid it. Training legs is hard, so peoplewill often skip it, or put little effort into it.
The muscles in your legs are large, and make up a large percentage of your total muscle mass, so it should be obvious why not training your legs is a bad idea.
The muscles in your legs are large, and make up a large percentage of your total muscle mass, so it should be obvious why not training your legs is a bad idea.
Relying on supplements
People often look at supplements first before sorting out their nutrition and exercise. They are designed to supplement your good nutrition, not replace them. This subject is the one I probably get the most questions from my male clients. They are looking for a short cut that doesn’t exist. For the sake of convenience, fish oil, vitamin D, multivitamin and whey protein can be useful. However, they are far from essential. Don’t place too much importance on supplements. Get your diet sorted first.
6 MISTAKES WHEN TRYING BUILD MUSCLE