Let me guess

You’ve been hitting the gym everyday, and you’re starting to see some gains.

Right???

Of course not!!!

You’ve probably been hitting the gym for a while now, and you still look the same today as you did in 2012.

If I were to guess 🤔.

There’s a good chance you’re wondering what you’re doing wrong.

And, what you can do to fix it.

RIGHT 😁???

I’m such a genius 😎.

Here Is A List Of 13 Most Common Muscle Building Mistakes You’re Probably Making, That Are Killing Your Gains

1. Not Warming-up First

Let’s go back in time 🕒.

To school

Do you still remember when coach would continuously remind the class about the importance of warming up?

Guess he/she was right.

Warming up is a very important part of any exercise or warm up routine.

Warming up not only sends important signals to your body that you’re about to work hard, it also; helps prevent any risk of injuries and helps loosen your joints (enabling you to tackle heavy-duty machines at the gym much easier).

2. Poor Nutrition

Just like your training, nutrition is key to building muscle.

In fact, a poor nutrition can and will kill all your hard work and sweat at the gym.

So… In order to see the right results you need to eat the right foods.

You need to eat protein-rich foods, combined with essential carbohydrates and healthy fats to fuel you during workouts.

Remember: when you step out of the gym, you need the right foods to help your muscle tissues recover and grow bigger and stronger.

SEE ALSO: 20 Low Cost Foods To Help Build Muscle And Gain Weight Fast

3. Insufficient Fuel

Working out on an empty tummy has been proven to be beneficial for weight loss.

But you do not want to lose weight… You wanna do the opposite.

Plus

Training on an empty tummy will cause the body to use the protein in your muscles as fuel, and protein is needed to build and repair muscles.

It’s impossible to build muscle without it.

4. Being Dehydrated

DID YOU KNOW – Muscles are made up of nearly 79% water.

If your common sense doesn’t tell you that they need water to stay healthy, nothing will.

Muscles need water to stay hydrated in order to function properly and grow bigger and strong.

Note – Being dehydrated has been shown to decrease performance at the gym.

5. Choosing A Weight That’s Too Light

In order to build muscle, you need to consistently challenge them.

No challenge, no gains.

The whole goal of working out is to break down your muscles. But the end goal is to build them back up, bigger and stronger than they were before through nutrition, which won’t happen unless if you challenge your muscles.

6. Lifting Too Quickly

Like I said above;

No challenge, no gains.

The slower you lift, the more time your muscles are carrying the weight load. Moving fast decreases the amount of time your muscles spend carrying weights (making it less challenging).

Lifting too fast not only harms results, it is also the most common cause of most weightlifting injuries.

7. Failing To Rest And Recover

Failing to rest and recover is a very common mistake in the world of bodybuilding.

Remember: You go to the gym to break down and challenge your muscles, not to grow them. Muscles grow outside the gym (through SMART nutrition, rest and recovery, sleep, etc.).

Exercise creates microscopic tears in your muscle tissues. But during rest cells called fibroblasts repair them.

Resting gives your muscles a chance to heal and repair, so they grow even bigger and stronger.

  • It is recommended to rest for 72 hours before working out the same muscle group again.

SUMMARY

Growth happens during rest days when your muscle fibers have time to repair and grow stronger.

8. Resting Too Much

Training once per week is enough to stimulate muscle growth. And, you can expect to see your dream body in a year or two, I guess…

But you don’t want that, do you?

To see better results, I recommend you train 3-4 times per week.

Getting enough rest is essential for muscle growth, but too much is bad as well. There is the possibility of either slowing down or even preventing muscle growth as a result of it.

9. Doing It All Yourself

It’s okay if you don’t know something.

What’s not okay is going to the gym and lifting the wrong way or using an improper form and technique, just because you were too embarrassed to ask for help.

This may lead to injuries and cause damage to your shoulders, neck and back.

Remember… It is your responsibility to find out and research. At the end of the day you are doing harm to no one but yourself.

Click here. We have a load of helpful and informative articles with a focus on (helping skinny dudes with) weight gain and   building muscle naturally.

10. Not Getting Enough Sleep

Turns out mom was right after all! Sleep does make you grow big and strong!

And getting enough of it not only increases muscle mass, but also repairs them and recharges and prepares the body for your next workout.

TO BACK THIS UP

One 2012 study examined how sleep deprivation affected muscle gains and recovery.

As a result of the research, they found that people who only got 5.5 hours of sleep per night saw a 60% reduction in muscle mass by the end of the study.

However

The participants who got 8.5 hours of sleep per night experienced an increase of 40% muscle mass.

All participants ate the same amount of calories per day.

SEE ALSO: How To Sleep For Muscle Growth – 9 Tips To Build Muscle As You Sleep

11. Focusing On Isolation Exercises

Often, beginners make the mistake of focusing and relying only on isolation movements.

This can mean more work with less progress.

For example… Performing 10 reps of single arm bicep curls on your left arm, then another 10 on your right, instead of doing 15 or 20 reps of barbell curls.

Compared to unilateral exercises (alternating dumbbell curls), bilateral movements (barbell curls) are far more effective.

For now, I recommend you only perform isolation exercises to target muscles that aren’t being worked to their full potential.

12. Taking Your Phone With You While Working Out

The gym is a no cell phone zone.

Cell phones are so distracting, they have the potential to draw your attention away from your workout or current task.

Texting or even taking a short call during a workout has been shown to lower the intensity of your training and even lead to injuries.

WANT TO SEE RESULTS AT THE GYM? LEAVE THE PHONE BEHIND!!!

13. Not Having A Game Plan

Don’t make the mistake of heading to the gym or beginning a workout without a plan.

It’s a complete waste of time.

Nigga WHAAAT?

What I mean is that… Don’t go to the gym without a plan, and proceed to hit every muscle in the upper body with no real purpose.

Or, you’ll always be that guy in the gym who looks the same today as they did in 2017.

  • Before you head to the gym, know what you plan to do.

CONCLUSION

Mistakes happen.

And… As a beginner, you’re most likely to make mistakes at the gym.

And it is your responsibility to fix them.

The good news is that each of these mistakes can easily be fixed, and you can expect to see results in no time.

So… What do you think? Did I miss any mistake(s)? Share with us in the comments!