Here’s Why You’re Failing At Gaining Muscle Mass

I get e-mails and questions all the time from people who have been killing themselves in the gym, and yet after six months of consistent workouts are left wondering why they’re only two or three pounds heavier.  I’m going to give you four of the most common mistakes I see people making and how to fix them.

You Train For The Pump

I USED to make these mistakes... not anymore!

For the average trainee, heavy training with lower volume is much more productive over the long-term than volume routines where you do countless sets and focus on feeling that blood flow in the muscle. If you train volume for your first six months or year of training, it may look like you’re putting on quite a bit of muscle.

What is ACTUALLY happening is this in initial volume training:

Your muscles are getting bigger due to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, basically they’re getting better at storing water and carbohydrates. It’s something that looks like muscle, but you’ll only have a small, small percentage of that size come from actual muscle growth.

Second, you’ll start getting stronger, and you think it’s because of this “muscle” you put on. What’s ACTUALLY happened is that your untrained central nervous system is now becoming better at recruiting muscle fibers (can recruit a higher percentage of your total fibers during a lift) and this causes strength gains.

It’s a perception thing that traps a lot of people – why do most guys using volume plateau after 15-20 lbs of weight gain? This is why.  Your body can only get so efficient at storing water and carbohydrates, you need to build some muscle at some point to continue to gain.

Speaking of building muscle, here’s the principle you need to adapt to.  If the weight on the bar isn’t consistently going up by 1-5 pounds per week on your lifts, it’s next to impossible to break a plateau.  If you’re not keeping track of your numbers and trying to beat them every single workout (yes, bring a physical logbook to the gym with you) than there’s a very high chance that you’re going to be about the same size next year as you are right now.

Don’t make huge weight increases, focus on the small incremental gain every week.  For example, if you added just 5 lbs. a week on your bench starting with a 135 lb. bench, you’re now benching 395 lbs… how many people do you see even benching more than 225 in the gym, let alone 395?  On top of that, how much thicker and more muscled do you think your chest, shoulders and triceps would have to be to be pressing over 300 pounds with good form.  I’m very doubtful you’ll be benching that much, but it shows you what small, constant progression is capable of.

Focus on low volume and strength with proper form, and the rest will follow.  You can do your 20 rep sets of flies and hammer strength presses, and you might “feel” it more, and I’ll do my dips and heavy dumbbell pressing for a few sets and actually grow.

You’re Guessing On Your Diet

Most people just have no idea how many calories they’re eating every day.  They may get inspired and actually lay out a meal plan to follow, but until you physically weigh the food you’re putting in your mouth and track it for a few days, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

A great website I use when adjusting to a new diet is www.fitday.com.  It’s a free tool that lets you pick a food and enter in how much of it you had, automatically calculating the nutrient value and calories and giving you a total for the day.

Go out to Wal-mart and buy a $10 scale.  Commit to two or three days of food logging.  The results may surprise you when you were trying to aim for 300 grams of protein a day and only ended up with 185 grams.  This is the case for most guys who can’t gain weight – they think they’re eating a ton of food – but when the numbers come in they’re still short calories.

Another issue is that most people don’t take the time to even understand the barest principles of nutrition.  One resource I found that gave me much of my understanding on nutrition is an e-book called Burn The Fat – read my review.

You Beat Your Central Nervous System Into Tears

Your Central Nervous System (CNS) is responsible for recruiting and firing muscle fibers (i.e. without this, your muscles would be useless).  Recovery doesn’t usually hinge on your muscles, but on the recovery of your CNS.  As you get stronger and bigger, this becomes more of an issue to balance.  Most people beat their CNS into the ground without even realizing its importance.

Doing a 20 rep set of squats with 405 pounds puts a huge load on your CNS and causes it to be very drained.  If you did that set of squats on Wednesday, and came in to the gym to do chest and shoulders on Thursday, you’d probably find that your strength would be slightly down.  Why?  The muscles aren’t fatigued… but your CNS is still not fully recovered.

Other things that burn the CNS out are training to failure, doing lots of sets, doing high intensity cardio, and having a poor sleeping schedule.  Be nice to the little guy, and he’ll be nice to you.

This is why it’s also extremely important to log your workouts.  If you notice that your strength gains have stalled or are actually reversing, it’s time to take at least a week out of the gym.  This is a huge indicator that your CNS is not recovering quickly enough and needs a break to recuperate.

You Don’t Think Long Term

2.5 pound plates are your friend.  I know next year seems like a long ways away, but the time will come to pass.  Do you want to be significantly bigger and stronger next year or around the same size?  If it’s the second option, train volume 5 or 6 days a week, guess on your diet, never take a week off from the gym, and focus on lifting with terrible form so you injure yourself.

However, if you want to gain muscle mass quickly, look at what it’s going to take.  It’s not today’s workout that gets you there – it’s the next workout that beats today’s workout that gets you one step closer.  And the workout after that that beats the last workout that gets you one step closer.  And on and on and on.

PROGRESSION should be your new favorite word.  Constantly making small, incremental improvements over time will lead to massive changes.  This stuff isn’t difficult, but most people still manage to screw it up.

Success At Building Muscle

Focus on putting weight on the bar every week.  Progression is your best friend.  Make sure you know what you’re putting in your mouth every day .  Pamper your CNS like the Prince he is.

Finally, don’t get obsessive-compulsive about this stuff.  In the grand scheme of things, missing a workout once in awhile or missing a meal shouldn’t send you into a spastic tantrum.  Focus on what you can change in the present moment.  If you fall off the track, simply step back on it.