13 Most Common Muscle-Building Mistakes to avoid

13 Most Common Muscle-Building Mistakes to avoid

Ask any guy who goes to the gym regularly his reason for doing so, and he’ll tell you it’s to build muscle.

But while a great chunk of the male population aims to build muscle, many also quit the gym because they get frustrated with their results or lack of (Muscle-Building Mistakes).

Imagine working out and doing well for the first few months. Then you hit a muscle-building plateau, and nothing more happens.

What’s even worse is when you learn that you’re doing certain things that are hurting your gains, like using a poor form and overtraining all this time.

As such, keep watching to know the 13 most common muscle-building mistakes so you can avoid or stop doing them from here on out.

Table of Contents

1- Not eating enough diet

Not eating enough diet (Muscle-Building Mistakes) is one of the two main pillars of muscle building together with exercise.

If you aren’t consuming enough calories, then that’s as good as wasting all your gym efforts.

The reason is simple without achieving a calorie surplus, it’s very hard for the body to build muscle in the first place.

Calories are essential for fueling your workouts and helping repair and grow muscles.

You shouldn’t be eating anything just for the sake of having a calorie surplus.

You must put clean, nutritious food into your body for it to function optimally real quickly.

2- Not following a Program (Muscle-Building Mistakes)

Building muscle requires a careful, Well thought plan to be a success. Various factors are involved in workout routines, from body shape to fitness goals.

Without a plan, some areas would be inevitably neglected. For instance, since your goal is to build muscle, then you must focus on the right exercises.

You can’t just do the same chest, arms, and AB exercises and expect to pack serious muscles in turn.

Your training program utilizes things like the overload principle and smart scientific approaches.

You can look into online resources, vet, or get a professional to help you. The key is to work smart and hard.

3- Not drinking enough water

Many of us don’t realize how beneficial enough water your body and sweat to engage in heavy physical activity.

You can lose up to two liters of water an hour. The muscle cells are made up of protein and water, so if you want to gain more, then you must drink a lot of water.

Forget about the usual six to eight glasses of water guideline. you have to drink half your weight in ounces of water each day.

So if you weigh £150, you should be drinking approximately 75oz or nine cups of water a day. Overtraining is bad for your muscle gains. Here’s how exactly.

4- Training too much

You might be thinking that the more you train, the bigger you’ll get. While there is some truth in this, going overboard with training, however, is an entirely different story.

Overtraining causes muscle mass to break down and is also the main culprit for injuries.

Also, it can cause the body to burn out simply because your body isn’t getting enough time to do so.

Apart from injuries, overtraining can increase stress levels and even cause sickness, as it can suppress the immune system.

5- Using poor form

Employing a proper form when executing exercises is of grave importance.

Not only does poor form come with a larger risk of injury, but it also makes it a lot harder to build muscle since muscles are triggered the wrong way and since you’d be doing a lot of strength training.

Having a proper form is especially important because this form of exercise is dangerous if done wrong.

Challenge yourself with new weights, but do so with good form always.

6- Lifting Too Quickly is also Muscle-Building Mistakes

you aren’t doing a race here. There’s no need to go crazy on timing your reps, as it can get you injured.

Not to mention this won’t allow the muscles to get engaged, meaning you won’t be seeing as much growth as you want from lifting quickly.

The pace at which you lift determines the time under tension of your muscles, which is when the muscle fibers get full resistance.

Muscle building happens to get the most out of the time under tension. You want to set it to last at least 30 to 45 seconds.

Are you skimping on carbohydrates because you’re afraid of gaining fat?

You shouldn’t because your body needs carbs to build muscle.

7- Not eating enough Carbs

Some people are getting good results with a low-carb diet like Keto or Paleo, but the operative here is some meaning.

Such diets aren’t for everyone. And since you’re working out hard, your body needs energy and you can get it through glucose from carbohydrates.

The right carbs will affect you to lift heavier weights. Just make sure you keep your carb intake clean.

You can do this by choosing complex carbs like sweet potatoes, wild rice, and steel-cut oats.

8- Not eating enough Protein

As we’ve talked about, muscle cells are made up of protein and water. protein is crucial in your nutrition.

An insufficient amount of this macronutrient is akin to starving your muscles, especially after a hard lifting session.

You work out to break down the muscle fibers with micro-tears, so when they repair, they build back bigger.

And over time it leads to increased muscle mass. To facilitate good muscle growth, aim for zero 8 grams of protein per pound of your body weight.

So if you’re a 150-pound person, then you’d be looking at a 120 grams protein intake per day.

9- Skipping leg Day is big Muscle-Building Mistakes

You may think lightly of leg day to skip it. After all, there’s not much importance to getting bigger leg muscles, The truth is, whatever affects the leg muscles will change your body.

There is a significant amount of testosterone produced by the body from just a leg day alone. Of course, any large muscle groups (Muscle-Building Mistakes) like the quads and the back muscles have the same effect.

So don’t just focus on your arms and chest. You must also have leg days to maximize your gains.

Do you often skip stretching?

Think again, because not stretching is a common mistake in muscle building. Learn the reason here.

10- Stretching is also Muscle-Building Mistakes

Neglecting stretching flexibility is important when building muscles. Stretching at the end of your workout is the start of the recovery process.

Moreover, it helps prepare your body for the next workout. Without proper stretching, your muscles can become tight and you risk having an injury.

Stretching is also important for the muscle fascia, a connective tissue of the muscles. Stretching the fascia gives more room for your muscles to grow.

So make sure to stretch before and after a workout, or else you’re missing out on an essential part of the muscle-building process.

11- Not Sleeping enough

Not sleeping enough to ensure muscle gain, you must have enough sleep every night. It’s because lack of sleep lowers testosterone and causes the breakdown of muscle mass.

Just one night of poor sleep can already set the fat gain and muscle loss process in motion.

Another problem with not sleeping enough is that it dampens motivation and breeds lethargy.

When you’re feeling sluggish and unmotivated, doing even light exercises can be impossible.

That’s why lack of motivation is among the key reasons people quit the gym.

12- leaving Out Compound Exercises

There is more than one way to build muscle effectively. Isolation movements aren’t all that great.

What you must be focusing more on instead is training your biggest muscle groups through compound movements.

Doing so will build you serious muscle. Since compound exercises push your body’s limits with more efficiency, compound moves like deadlifts press-ups, squats, and pull-ups are like the staples of muscle building.

You can still do other exercises specifically for your arms, shoulders, and ABS, but keep compound ones your main focus.

13- Expecting Instant Results

muscle gain occurs over months and years. Sure, the newer you are to strength training and the less muscle mass you have, the quicker you’ll see muscle gains.

It doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t expect your body to become like those athletes in strength sports over the summer.

If you do, you’re just bound to fail and get disappointed. And failure and disappointment are two common causes of quitting.

If you see an impressive physique at the gym, remember that it’s the result of years of consistent training and diet.

Besides avoiding those muscle-building mistakes, you can also step up your game by following gym hacks that will significantly boost your muscle growth.

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