Why People Fail At Building Muscle

Are you frustrated about being stuck at the same weight? No matter how much you lift, how often you go to the gym, you still struggle to pack on that extra muscle?

Maybe it’s time to assess what you are doing and make a change. I am going to share with you 5 key reasons why you may not be seeing the results you hoped for.

Diet

I hear many people complain that they have tried absolutely everything but are still not seeing any muscle gains. But when they are asked the simple question, what did your daily food intake look like yesterday? They simply cannot answer the question.

To gain size you need to be in calorie surplus, and you also need to take a look at your macros to assess whether or not you are eating enough protein, and the right ratio of carbs and fats. Sometimes you are simply not eating enough, or are eating too much carbs and fats and not keeping your protein intake high enough for muscle recovery and growth.

Calorie counting and macro-nutrient tracking is an invaluable way to measure your requirements and if you are hitting them for muscle growth, so I suggest doing your research and formulating your own daily assessment of what foods to eat and what foods to stay away from and get yourself a scale to start tracking your foods daily. 

Consistency

Following onto the previous topic of diet, most people will follow a specific diet, or nutritional plan for some time and then loose track for a few days then start again. A great example of this is 4 days of tracking, 3 days of eating whatever, 5 days tracking, 2 days eating water, 2 days tracking 4 days eating whatever.

This inconsistency is a big reason why you are not seeing the results you want. If you find yourself struggling and struggle to be consistent maybe you need to re-asses your plan and start off with manageable targets for nutrition.

Same goes for training, next I will discuss the importance of programming and why it’s important to stick to a program/routine when training. It keeps you accountable and steers you clear from forming bad habits.

Programming

How much experience do you have with training? Is there a particular program you follow? Or do you just do whatever at the gym?

Most times you will hear someone say its “leg day” or “chest day” etc. but don’t have a particular program or routine they follow, they just turn up and wing the workout.

Most of the time their workouts will either not provide enough stimulus through volume and/or intensity, or they won’t be hitting the muscles from a variety of ways working each muscle group correctly due to the exercises they choose to follow.

Continuing this training pattern of doing whatever at the gym can over time cause bad habits to form, and inconsistency in training to show.

Effort

Without effort you will not provide the stimulus needed for growth.

Take a moment to ask yourself the question – “Am I putting in enough effort to be getting the results I am after?” In most cases the answer is no.

When speaking of effort, I’m not talking about just effort in the gym, but also outside of the gym. Generally, you should try to apply more effort to things such as your form/technique, programming, calculating, diet and so on.

Patience

As we should all know by now building muscle is not an overnight thing. It takes time, effort and consistency to get the results you are after, and it can be a long process especially when it comes to learning correct form and grasping the knowledge of how to build muscle.

Don’t let yourself be impatient and let your ego get in the way of making progress. It’s not always about lifting the heaviest weight. I advise you to keep an open mind, be open to try new things, continue to learn and expand your knowledge, even if that means taking a step back and re-assessing your form and exercise selection.

Thank you Freak Athletes, please comment below if you have anything else to share or add to this particular topic. I feel as though I could go on and on, and there are so many more key components that play a role and this only scratches the surface. I chose these 5 topics because I believe they are the most useful and beneficial in your journey of building muscle.

Good luck!

Elizabeth,
Co-founder, Freak Athletiq

P.S. Watch Filip talk about in detail the 3 Key Ways to Grow Muscle (Training Methods) - Click Here