6 Worst Mistakes You’re Doing to Your Muscles And How To Fix Them
An overwhelmingly high amount of people that work out regularly are not as knowledgeable about nutrition and the muscle building process as they should be. This will result in plateauing and disappointing results. Below, we will go over 6 common mistakes people make when they are trying to build muscle and what they can do to fix them.
You are not giving yourself time to recover
This is a common mistake among people that want to build muscle fast. It is great that you are motivated enough to push yourself every day, but your muscles will only grow when you give them time to recover from each workout. When you perform a lift, you are damaging your muscles. The muscle isn’t actually growing until after the workout as you recover. By working out the same muscles too soon, you are preventing your body from repairing them as much as they should be able to.
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You are not eating enough calories
Nutrition is important if you want to maximize your strength gains in the gym. Your body needs calories in order to build muscle. If you are dieting or you are not providing your body with the calories that it needs, it will not be able to spend as many resources in the muscle repair phase. This will slow down your results. An easy fix for this problem is to track your calories and try to increasing your calorie intake by 100-200 per day until you start to see progress again.
You are not consuming enough protein
Your body uses protein to repair your muscles. If you are not eating enough protein, you will not see the same type of strength gains as you should be. You should be consuming about .75 grams of protein per pound of body fat per day to ensure that you have enough to fully repair after your workouts.
Improper form
The form on your lifts can be off as you progress to heavier weights. With improper form, you are robbing your body’s ability to get the most out of the lifts. You could be cheating in one way or another that is preventing your muscles from being stressed in the way that the exercise is intended to. Poor form will slow down your progress over time and it can even lead to injury.
You aren’t changing it up
Over time, your body will become accustom to the workouts you do regularly. Changing your workouts up will create muscle confusion. This causes your muscles to work harder which will help you continue to increase your strength and gains. An easy way to do this is to mix up your reps. If you hit a plateau, try mixing up your reps for a few weeks. This will usually be enough to help you break through that plateau.
You are not putting enough energy into your workouts
When it comes to working out, you will only get out what you put in. If you find that you often have low energy during your workouts, try improving your diet to fix that. You may also be overworking yourself. Sometimes, a day of rest can be a good thing for your overall progress. If all else fails, you can try drinking some caffeine before you hit the gym for an extra boost.
Conclusion
We hope that we have been able to help you with some of the issues that you have been experiencing. If you work out regularly, push yourself at the gym, make sure you are getting enough rest and eating enough, you should continue to see a dramatic increase in your muscle growth.
