You want to build muscles and gain weight, so you hit the gym every single day. But what happens when your muscle building exercises don’t produce the results you wanted? You’re lifting. You’re eating right. What could possibly go wrong? It should be a simple process, right? If you are not building muscle or gaining weight like you’d hoped, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your strategy. Start by taking a look at these seven muscle building mistakes.
- Spending too much time doing cardio. Cardio and aerobic exercises are great for maintaining heart health. There are plenty of other benefits too. But it can be counterproductive for you if you are trying to gain weight. Cardio exercises can sabotage your weight-gaining efforts by burning lots of calories. You need these extra calories to pack on some weight. That doesn’t mean don’t do any cardio but consider doing less. Try to incorporate one day of cardio into your training regimen if you are trying to gain mass. This will help keep your cardiovascular and respiratory systems running smoothly.
- You are not eating enough. When you are trying to build muscle, your body needs enough fuel to synthesize new muscle tissue. There is absolutely no way around this. Just to maintain your current weight, you’ll need to eat more calories than your body needs. All the food you consume is turned into energy for your body. You’ll need extra energy for constructing new tissue whether it’s fat or muscle. Calorie needs vary for each individual. To get an idea of how many calories you need for building muscle, multiply the number of pounds you weigh by 15 to 17.
- You are overtraining. Training is essential for building muscles. When you are training, muscle tissue breaks down, and afterward, the body repairs it. Working out more doesn’t always build more muscle if you don’t give your body time to work through the repairing process. If you overtrain, your body burns out because it doesn’t get the rest it needs in between repairing muscle tissue. This can lead to injuries and is hard on your immune system.
- Lack of adequate sleep. Related to overtraining, lack of sleep can completely derail your efforts at muscle building. Nutrition is number one when it comes to aiding the body’s repair and recovery efforts. Directly behind nutrition is getting enough sleep. If your body lacks sleep, the repair and growth process is interrupted. Sleep deprivation leads to numerous other problems like elevated stress hormones and lower energy levels. These factors negatively affect your workouts.
- Working out too fast. The pace you use when lifting weights is important. Your muscles need to be under tension for some time. This provides muscle fibers with the full resistance they need to help you reach your goals. If you do a set of 10 reps in under 15 seconds, your muscles won’t get enough time under tension to benefit them. Each set of 10 reps should last at least 30 to 45 seconds.
- You are not consuming enough protein. Muscle cells are comprised mostly of protein. You need to get enough of it in your diet or through supplements to ensure you gain strength. When you are trying to build muscle, your body needs an adequate supply of protein for the repair process. Generally, you want to consume about 0.8 grams of protein for each pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you need about 120 grams of protein daily.
- Not drinking enough water. The body is comprised of about 2/3 water. Most of that is found in your muscles. Muscle cells are made of primarily protein and the rest is mostly water. Increasing your water intake can help you gain muscle. Most experts recommend six to eight glasses of water daily. But a better guideline is to take your weight and divide it in half. That number is how many ounces of water you should drink daily. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you need about 75 ounces of water daily.
Everything you put in your body should help you reach your goals. Consuming enough protein, vitamins, nutrients, and even water can all help you achieve the weight gain and muscle mass you want. The natural supplements you find at Full Life Direct can help ensure the muscle building process works for you and not against you.
