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oes simply dreaming of eating a chocolate cake make you feel like having tasted it? And you must be saying obviously NO…Is it enough if you have the best ingredients to bake the cake? Again your answer would be, NO…You need to follow the correct recipe, bake the cake at the right temperature, follow proper baking time, you must not over mix or under mix, no using substitution, wait patiently, no shortcuts absolutely….there you bake the perfect cake if you follow the right procedure…by the way why is a fitness blogger talking on cake making today? Is that what you’re thinking? I thought the scenario will easily connect you to today’s topic…
You may be spending one an hour at the gym daily, you may be lifting weights, you may be following the right diet pattern, you may also be using the best protein and amino supplements, okay, then why is it that some of you guys make complaints about not getting proper muscle-building results?
Whether it’s baking a cake or training to build muscles…there are so many factors that influence the right outcome…
This blog will help you fix the major causes that are hampering your results of muscle gains…
1. SKIPPING MEALS
You wake up in a rush, leave home without having your breakfast, you’re caught with urgent work at the office, so don’t find time to have lunch, you’ll be too tired when you get back home from the office, so hit the bed early without having dinner...tell me honestly, how many times have you done that? Guys, it’s not enough if you focus just on your post-workout or pre-workout meals, you need to give value to other meals of the day too.
What happens is, your habitual skipping of meals will push your body to starvation mode, your body will consider it as a period of crisis, hence will hang on to the fat stores and will burn muscle tissue for energy. The second consequence of skipping meals is that you tend to have low blood sugar, which will cause serious cravings, especially for simple carbs and fatty foods (this will no doubt lead to fat gain). The third major cause is you are not providing your body with enough nutrients, it will affect the metabolic rate, your body will lose its ability to burn calories and will eventually lose muscle mass.
Skipping meals will result in weight gain, fatigue, and muscle loss!!
2. GOING TOO LOW ON CARBS
Going too low on carbs is one big mistake what gym-going people make. Those who do regular workouts generally worry about the amount of protein they should consume and totally ignore carb intake, this is especially true among those with weight loss goals. Many people are of the opinion that carbs make them gain weight. This is an utter misconception! Your high-intensity resistance training will use carbohydrates as a fuel source, research evidence shows that weight training can burn your body’s fat stores. Your body requires a lot of energy to power through workouts to gain stronger muscles. Consuming adequate complex carbs will serve as a sustainable source of energy, and will avoid the crash that happens with simple carbs. Consuming high glycemic carbs is particularly beneficial postworkout as carbs peak insulin and replenish the glycogen stores. The insulin spike will favour the carrying of amino acids that are free in the bloodstream into muscle cells quickly and will initiate muscle building and repair. Not consuming sufficient carbs will result in decreased energy, low glycogen stores, low muscle strength, and decreased athletic performance.
Going too low on carbs will deteriorate the glycogen stores & degrade muscle mass!!
3. INADEQUATE SLEEP
You go to the gym regularly, sweat your shirt, you eat well, but in the end, fail to get adequate rest! Not getting quality sleep will affect your efforts in the gym, adequate sleep is very much essential for faster muscle recovery and growth hormone secretion. Sleep deprivation affects muscle gains and recovery, you can’t aim for maximum replenishment of muscle glycogen if you don’t get enough sleep. Poor sleep will hinder energy levels and leaves you susceptible to mood swings, your emotional state will directly affect your performance in the gym. If you sleep less and stay awake for long, there will be an increase in appetite-inducing hormones. A lack of sleep will make feel hungrier, make you eat more, lower your sensitivity to insulin. Low insulin sensitivity means improper restoration of glycogen, without proper restoration of glycogen stores, athletes are less likely to train hard. Don’t forget, quality sleep contributes in great sense to mental health and faster reaction times. Good sleep for 7 hours will allow you to recharge yourself, and give your muscles enough time to recover.
Shrinking your sleep time is more like shrinking your muscles!!
4. INADEQUATE PROTEIN INTAKE / TOO MUCH PROTEIN INTAKE
You may say that you are consuming enough protein, but my question to you is, are you consuming quality protein? Not all protein is the same. A quality protein is the one with a good amount of essential amino acids. The RDA recommendations for protein intake is 0.8g to 1g per Kg of body weight for both men and women. Your body is in a constant phase of muscle protein breakdown and muscle protein synthesis. In order to maximize your muscle protein synthesis, you need to make sure that you take sufficient protein which offers a good amount of BCAA. Adequate protein intake will contribute to greater strength, muscle mass gains, allow for muscle mass preservation when coupled with resistance exercise. Just like any other food, too much of anything is not good. High protein intake just means taking in too many calories (which ultimately gets stored as fat) and placing an unwanted strain on kidneys, not making any sense to muscles.
While consuming an adequate amount of quality protein is a must for maintaining a positive protein balance, consuming too much protein does not accelerate muscle gains.
5. BEING INCONSISTENT/ NOT FOLLOWING PROPER WORKOUT FORM
Do you go to the gym with full spirit on the first 3 days of the week, and your interest levels drop on the remaining days? Do you start your workouts in zeal but take long breaks in between? Do you directly head to workouts without focusing on warm-up? Do you give prominence to bicep training alone? Do you follow a strict diet on the weekdays and on weekends, it’s like total garbage? You must have said 'yes' more than twice. If your main goal is building muscle mass, then you ought to be consistent with your workouts, diet, rest, and workout pattern. Resistance training will offer the stimulus to your fast-twitch muscle fibres and contribute to muscle gains and strength. Women usually find it intimidating to lift weights, in that case, you can make use of weight machines, resistance bands, or your own body weight. Most people stick to cardio first and then do weight training, that’s not wrong to do, but people, let me tell you, you have to evaluate your fitness goals before planning up your workout routine. If you want to reduce body fat and gain lean muscle, then doing cardio for hours and weight training in the end minutes won’t help. If you are a beginner, you need to weight train two to three times a week in order to gain maximum results. You shouldn’t be lifting too light or too heavy, include compound movements that involve all your major muscles. Your training time shouldn’t be something you dread, it should be something you look forward to.
Being consistent with training, rest, diet pattern, and following proper training form will help you achieve desired results of muscle gain…
Guys, the next time, please don’t unnecessarily blame the supplements you are using, the gym that you have chosen, your genes, and don’t blame yourself either for not getting results of muscle-building…fix your mistakes, and work towards progression…
Make sure you are not training to failure, the key to successful training is to workout in spirit and passion...not to forget, there’re no shortcuts to fitness…
*Many factors go into building muscle mass, your diet, genetics, metabolic rate, hormone levels, body type, your individual muscle fibre composition etc.
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