Everyone wants to build muscle.

Building muscle not only gives you a more aesthetically pleasing look, it also improves your overall health. Studies have shown that increased muscle mass is linked to reduced risks of hypertension, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases, among others. In addition, with increased muscle mass, you will have increased metabolism, stronger joints and tendons, improved posture and balance, and stronger bones. Furthermore, more muscle means more strength, which will help in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). And the list goes on.

However, building muscle is a challenging task for many. This is because of the misconception that you can get to the physique you want by simply going to the gym and lifting weights. Unfortunately, there is much more to effective muscle building than that. If you struggle with muscle building, make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes!

*There is more to muscle building than simply lifting weights.*

1. Insufficient Protein Intake

If you’re not eating enough protein, you’re not going to gain muscle.

Protein is the only macronutrient that can build muscle. Studies have shown that an increase in dietary protein favorably effects muscle and strength during resistance training. In my previous article, I recommended a protein intake of about 2.0g/kg of body weight per day for optimum fat loss or muscle gain.

*Protein - the only macronutrient that builds muscle.*

2. Not Eating Enough

To the ‘hard-gainers’ out there, if you’re not gaining weight, it means you are not eating enough. There is no way around this. Your body cannot create new muscle out of thin air. The food you consume is energy (or calories) for your body, and is required to build new tissue, be it muscle or fat. You also need sufficient energy to fuel your workouts.

3. No Progressive Overload

As you lift weights, you get stronger. However, by lifting the same weight at the same repetition and same number of sets all the time, you will reach a point where you stop gaining muscle. You need to provide your body sufficient stimulus in order to synthesize new muscle. This is done by always striving to lift heavier weights or increasing the number of repetitions or sets. This creates an environment where your body is forced to build more muscle in order to cope with the increased demands. And that is how you ensure that you are gaining muscle mass.

*Always strive to beat your previous workout.*

4. Too Much Cardio

Cardio can hinder muscle growth, particularly for someone who struggles to gain weight. This is because cardio burns calories and as we seen earlier, sufficient calories is required to build new muscle. Furthermore, studies have shown that excessive cardio can attenuate gains in muscle mass.

However, the keyword here is “too much”. Not doing cardio at all can be dangerous for your heart health. Do some cardio for your heart health, but not too much that can affect your training and gains. A good amount would be one or two days per week on non-training days.

*Make sure you balance the amount of cardio you do if you want to build muscle fast.*

5. Poor Form

The most obvious problem of lifting weights with poor form is the risk of injury. If you get injured, you will need to take time off the gym, which means you surely wouldn’t be building muscle.

Other than the risk of injury, lifting with poor form means recruiting other muscle groups, joints and bones instead. This results in less activation of the muscle that you are targeting, which means less muscle growth there.

Lifting with limited range of motion (ROM) would also limit your gains. Studies have shown that performing the exercise with the full ROM confers beneficial effects on hypertrophy compared to exercises with partial ROM.

Check out my Instagram page for step-by-step videos on how to perform exercises safely and effectively.

6. Neglecting Compound Movements

Compound movements are exercises that allow you to stimulate several muscle groups at the same time, and involve multiple joint articulations. Compound movements are more efficient in building muscle. It also allows you move heavier loads and to overload faster. Compound movements also simulates ADL, which will reduce the risk of injury during these activities and improve your sports performance. Some examples of compound movements include:

Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift
Overhead Press
Pull Up
Bent over Row

Again, check out my Instagram page for step-by-step videos on how to perform them safely and effectively.

*Barbell Squat - one of the most effective compound movements.*

7. Neglecting Lower Body

Many tend to avoid lower body exercises that targets the quads, hamstrings and the lower back, as these muscle groups are less obvious to the human eye. However, the lower body muscles are the largest muscle groups in the body. Studies have shown that resistance training can induce growth hormone and testosterone release, which are crucial for overall muscle building. By neglecting lower body exercises, you’re potentially losing out on a whole lot of growth hormones and testosterone!

In addition, research has shown that lower body exercises like Squat and Deadlift help improve posture and reduce musculoskeletal injuries and diseases. This can significantly improve your quality of life.

8. Not Lifting Close to Failure

If you had an easy time at the gym lifting weights, you probably aren’t putting enough resistance to your muscles, and that will not result in muscle growth. Make sure you’re lifting the weights about 1 to 3 repetitions shy of failure.

Also, as you lift closer to failure, you start to activate your larger fast-twitch muscle fibers.

However, the keyword here is “close to”. Always lifting to failure will result in over-training, which will be elaborated in the next point below.

9. Over-Training

It is logical that the more you train, the more muscle you will build. However, training too often can result in poor recovery, increased fatigue, lower performance, increased injuries and even sicknesses. These will put you out of training for some time which means a halt to your muscle building sessions. Rest about 48 hours after training each muscle group.

*Many make the mistake of over-training.*

10. You Change your Routine too Often

Studies have shown that your body needs time to learn new exercises, and to properly recruit sufficient motor units before actual muscle building takes place. You might see strength gains in the first few weeks of your training, but that may be mostly attributed to increased motor unit recruitment. If you switch the exercise too quickly, you might be missing out on a ton of gains. Try to stick to the same routine for at least 8 weeks before switching it up.

Conclusion

To get the most effective results in the most efficient manner, it is worth taking the time to make sure you’re doing it right. Knowing what and what not to do is important, otherwise you’re wasting your time and energy, and will not be able to see any real progress.

I hope this article has enlightened you on the mistakes that you might be making and how to address them!

Do share with someone who needs to see this!

P.S. - still struggling with muscle building? Drop me a message!