5 Reasons Why Your Muscle Building Program Sucks
Building muscle has always been a passion of mine.
The #1 goal of the majority of my clients is to build as much muscle as possible.
If you want to build significant muscle, you need to start taking it seriously. Below are 5 reasons why you're not making the gains you should be making.
1. You wing it.
You need a plan.
Do you think Washington just yelled “Charge!” during the Revolutionary War?
Hell no.
Do you think Tiger won the 2000 US Open by 15 shots by simply “Grippin & Rippin” it?
Hell no.
Do you think Dorian Yates won 6 consecutive Mr. Olympia's without a plan?
Hell no.
So, what makes you think you can build large slabs of muscle without a plan?
You can't.
So pick a muscle-building split and stick with it for the next 3 months.
2. You are focusing too much on isolation exercises.
To get big you need to lift big.
You wanna know how Arnold got huge?
He picked up heavy shit and moved it.
What a genius, right?
Relying mostly on curling 20 pound dumbbells and doing leg extensions ain't gonna do anything for you.
Try doing 50 pull ups, 50 dips, and 50 squats a week and see what that does for you.
3. You are trying to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Look, unless you can re-write the universal laws of thermodynamics, you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the same time.
You know who can do that?
Those that take steroids and/0r are genetic freaks.
I'm talking the top 1%.
That is not you.
You need to gain weight.
Gain weight, but don't get fat.
There is a difference.
When dudes try to gain muscle they eat anything and everything.
The result is that they gain muscle and a ton of fat.
Don't do this.
You cannot force feed a muscle to grow.
4. Your form blows.
Your form when performing exercises doesn't need to be perfect, but it can't be terrible.
Strive for “solid” form.
Whenever possible, lift in front of a mirror so you can see what you are doing.
5. Your recovery blows.
The key to building muscle fast is frequency.
That is to say, the more often you can stimulate a muscle, the more a muscle will grow.
But, frequency depends on recovery.
You can train a muscle whenever it has fully recovered from its previous stimulation.
Increased Recovery —–> Increased Frequency —–> Increased Muscle Growth
Things that affect recovery ability
What can you do to enhance your recovery?
- Make sure you are eating healthy.
- Make sure you sleep about 8 hours a night.
- Try to limit stress.
- Limit your boozing.
- Dont' smoke, dummy.
So, there you have it — 5 reasons why your muscle building program sucks and what you can do about it.
Which do you fall victim to? Tell us in the Comments.
photo credit: PUMPING IRON – TWO