12 REASONS YOU AREN’T GAINING MUSCLE:

— You don’t eat in a calorie surplus. In order to grow maximally, we must be consuming more calories than we are expending. I like a modest surplus of around 250-500 calories for most to keep things tidy whilst maximising lean tissue gain at the same time.

— You don’t use a log book. Without logging your lifts you can’t ensure that you are applying the principle of progressive overload to your training, which is needed to force adaptations and stimulate new muscle growth.

— You don’t get enough protein. Protein is the macronutrient responsible for growth and repair, for people who resistance train, I like to aim for 1-1.2 grams per pound of body weight.

— You expect supplements to do the work. You are wasting your time and money even considering supplementation if a calorie surplus isn’t present and you don’t have the basics nailed down of progressive training and eating.

— You don’t give yourself enough time! This is a very common one. When looking to build muscle, think months and years rather than days and weeks. As a general rule of thumb, I like 9 months of the year in a caloric surplus and 3 months in a caloric deficit, especially for the natural trainee. Muscle takes time.

— You are afraid to gain body fat. This is an inevitable part of a massing phase, too many people pull back when they see a small bit of fat coming on. Don’t let social media have you believe that you need to stay super lean year round. This will lead to zero progress being made and you looking the same as you did last year. Use mini cuts along the way for sure, but get in and get out as quickly as possible to resume gaining and don’t waste time. I like an aggressive 4-6 weeks tops here, get in and get out.

— You change your exercises too often. Doing different exercises every time you go in to the gym might be fun, but it sure isn’t optimal. It is very hard to apply progressive overload if you are doing this. Rinse each lift for all the progressions you can before programming in something else. Don’t be a program hopper or think you can ’shock the body’.

— You don’t schedule rest days. Managing your recovery modalities is absolutely key. Rest to grow!

— You sacrifice execution / technique for loading. As a result, you take stimulus away from the target muscle group and place it around the surrounding joints, tendons and connective tissue instead.

— You are doing too much in the gym. Your training volume is too high and you are focusing on quantity over quality of work done. Junk volume will only hamper recovery capabilities and performance.

— Your sleep is poor. We break muscles down in the gym, growth and repair happens when we are sleeping. Focus more on sleep hygiene.

— Stress levels are too high. High levels of stress will mean a much less responsive body for muscle growth. Cortisol management needs to be high on your list of priorities if you are serious about growing.

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