Here are Just a FEW Reasons You Are Not Building Muscle

Do you feel like you are training your butt off and still not building muscle?  When it comes to female bodybuilding and building muscle size, it can become a difficult task over time. Many women may not want to weight train due to the fear of getting “muscle-bound,” but believe me; it takes more than just working out with weights to develop that type of size.

If you’ve been putting blood, sweat and tears into each and every workout and are at a complete standstill, you may be making some costly mistakes in your program hindering you from progressing. Below are 9 reasons you are not building muscle.

Program Jumping

You are not building muscle because you program hop.  It’s so common to jump into a training program and have no idea of where you are going.  John Romaniello tells us, “[O]ne of the biggest mistakes, by far is a phenomenon known as program hopping—which is when clients move from program to program to program, often without even finishing them.  Even when they DO finish a program, these hoppers don’t really think about the overall structure of their training as a whole, and move to whichever program seems cool at the moment.”  Choose one program and use it only.  You have to give your chosen program time to prove itself.

Not Breaking Plateaus Instantly

It’s not uncommon to have a growth spurt, only to have it suddenly stall dead in its tracks. The problem is not the plateau; it’s the fact that the lifter has no idea of how to proceed once he or she hits the roadblock. The thing to remember is that a training plateau is not a death sentence. It’s simply an alert system tell you that you need to change something in your program. This could be anything from adjusting your calories to changing your rep range.

Not Tracking Progress

You are not building muscle because you are not tracking your lifts.  You can’t really progress your program unless you are tracking it. Neglecting to track your diet and training will keep you on the same cycle, which is running around in circles. A structured system is one you follow for a set amount of time, evaluate and gauge your progress and tweak based on your results. This is the simplest way to improve your diet and workout.

Ignoring Your Weak Links

Training your strongest muscle group gives you a feeling of euphoria. The sheer power you produce will feed your ego. However, if you fail to train your weak muscle groups you will create muscle imbalances which will ultimately lead to injuries. If you only give 50% to your weak body parts because you simply don’t like to train them, you are doing yourself a great injustice.

Supplement Dependence

In female bodybuilding, supplementing your program can help give you the extra ump you need in your training. Supplements aren’t bad, but supplement-overload can be. There really are only a few key supplements you need to help boost muscle gains. The trick is know what to take, when to take it, and in what amount. Investing in all the latest trendy supplements may not improve your muscle development, but only deflate your wallet.

Not Using Focused Intensity

You are not building muscle because you are not putting enough anaerobic intensity into each set.  To lift the poundage you need to build muscle you need to have training intensity which is known as anaerobic intensity. Anaerobic intensity is the poundage and forced used, not high-volume training. You MUST challenge your muscles with force and poundage to build muscle.

Bogged Down With Information Overload

So many lifters are caught up in information-overload, which is simply having SO much information and not having any idea of how to apply any of it. Certain advanced tactics work well for muscle development, but if you are overweight, they could blur the results you want. You really have to understand the advanced tactics and know what to look for when you apply them.

Using Bad Form

There’s nothing worse than a lifter using poor form. Poor form won’t build muscle as quickly or as well as using proper form. Bad form will also cause injuries. You will zone-in and target a muscle 100% better by using proper form. In the end, bad form just shows the entire gym that you don’t know what you are doing.

Afraid of Eating Carbs

You are not building muscle because you are not utilizing carbs.  Not eating carbs is probably the biggest muscle-building mistake you can make. Your muscles need carbs in order to grow. Carbs are stored in the muscle cells as muscle glycogen, which is your fuel for training. If you don’t have that fuel in your muscles to train, you can’t train as heavy, and this robs you of muscle gains. I don’t care how much protein you eat, if you are not getting enough carbs in, you just won’t build muscle to your full potential.