The process of gaining muscle mass isn’t as simple as just working out calorie requirements and loading up on large quantities of food. There are some key rules that must be followed if you are going to gain appreciable amounts of lean muscle mass.
Many people gain weight but end up trying to lose it all again when they realise that it’s actually fat that they’ve gained, and only minimal amounts of muscle tissue.
Science has moved on a lot since the old days of bulking up and stripping down, you can gain large amounts of muscle mass whilst getting leaner at the same time.
If you find yourself in this position, you may want to add these tips into your training plan.
The common mistakes I see and how to you overcome them:
- You’re not eating enough protein.
You must be consuming enough quality protein daily to build lean muscle mass. There is still much controversy out there about the quantity you should eat each day, but I work on 1.0-1.5 grams per pound of lean body weight for muscle gain.
- You’re not eating essential fats
Not only do healthy fats support your immune system (essential for muscle building), lower inflammation and help deliver vital nutrients around the body, but foods like avocado, oily fish, nuts and oils provide a nice 9 calories per gram.
If you’re trying to add calories to your diet, you’re missing a trick if you’re not eating your fats. Fats should form at least 30% of your daily calorie requirements.
- You’re not consuming enough calories
If someone is training 4 times per week, I work on 18–20 calories per pound of body weight. So for a 200 lb male at 12% body fat, I would recommend 3168–3520 calories per day.
If you’re nowhere near the calorie requirements you need to gain mass, don’t complain when you don’t see the results. Time to make eating a priority!
- Your body is resistant to the effects of carbohydrates
If you’re like 80% of the guys who come in to see you me, you’re body may not tolerate carbohydrate foods like rice, pasta and potatoes well. Does eating too many of them soon show up around your waistline? If this is you then you’ll do best saving them to the time during your workout, or even until the 1 to 2 hour window after you finsh training.
I’m a huge fan of carbs for gaining mass and getting lean, but you must be smart about when you have them.
- You’re spending way too much time in the gym
You really shouldn’t need more than 1 hour of actual workout time in the gym. In many cases, guys spend half the time talking and the rest of the time pretending to train. Prepare your sessions ahead of time, get in to the gym, train hard, and then get out. A little over or under an hour is fine, but spending 2 hours training is a waste of time and energy.
6. You’re not using enough time under tension to gain muscle mass
An area where I see so many people going wrong, is their inability to lift weight slower and for longer.
This is important to make sure that the time frame being used is that which supports muscle hypertrophy.
For this to happen effectively, you must make your set last a minimum of 40-70 seconds. So for those of you who lift quickly and you’re looking to gain mass, chances are you aren’t even lifting in a range that will help you to grow.
12 reps lifted very quickly could take between 15 and 25 seconds. You get a completely different result if you try the same 12 reps with a 4 seconds lowering tempo, 1 seconds pause at the bottom position, 1 second on the way up and then repeat the lowering phase.
- You’re not contracting your muscles
All too often people tell me what weights they lift on certain exercises, only for me to take them through a session and then have to drastically lower their weights. To grow a muscle, you must learn to contract it, the best way to do this is to learn how to connect your mind with the muscle you’re training.
Just try this, sit up and flex your pecs. If you can’t do it, you don’t have very good muscle connection. If you want to try one harder, stand up and put one leg behind you. Then with your heel raised and toes pushing into the floor, try and contract your calves and hamstrings at the same time. This is tough for many people!
So the next time you’re training, slow down your reps for one workout and focus on the muscles you’re training. Don’t be scared to drop the weight, remember it’s your body you’re training, not the person next to you. Drop the ego!
- You’re not getting enough sleep
You must sleep at least 7-8 hours per night. Lack of sleep increases your cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and high levels of the stress hormone lowers your testosterone level. If you don’t know this by now, you need testosterone to grow!
Get some sleep and start growing!
Take some time to go through the points above and check where you maybe going wrong. Hopefully these tips will help you move forward on your journey to growing more muscle.
Steve