If you are not gaining as much muscle mass as you hoped, then you must read this article. Find out which 5 mistakes exercisers make most often and how to correct them.
Usually when you start to progress and notice the results of hard training, proper nutrition and good supplementation, then you start researching many advanced techniques that will help you achieve even better results.
These advanced techniques usually mean trying out new, more complicated repetition sets, and more complicated exercises and workouts, which is great because it means you've become more confident and advanced.
However, the problem with this approach is that with advanced techniques you usually forget the basic rules you learned in the beginning and which helped you the most when you were just starting training. The result of this is that even the advanced techniques you have started to use will not be as effective as they could be with the application of the basic rules. Therefore, understand this text as a reminder of these basic rules.
ERROR NUMBER 1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CLEAR PLAN BEFORE TRAINING
A busy daily schedule, many plans and commitments can be one of the reasons why you make this mistake. While all of these reasons sound rational, not getting a clear pre-workout plan is the main reason why you miss potentially the best possible workout.
SOLUTION: PLAN AN HOUR OF TIME BEFORE TRAINING
It would be almost impossible to state exactly what you should do an hour before training, but we can give you some advice on what your routine should include.
First, slowly consume your pre-workout, unless the instructions on it say otherwise. Although those 300ml don't seem like much, it is very important that you consume it properly so that your digestive tract absorbs it as well as possible.
Second, imagine training in your head. Think about what you want to train, which exercises would be best, and set a goal, how many reps, and how hard you want to work.
Third, clear your mind, try not to think about anything other than the training ahead of you.
ERROR NUMBER 2: FAST WITH HEATING
Once you have progressed and learned how your body reacts to the exercises you do, you have decided to shorten your training time by shortening your warm-up and doing just a couple of easy sets and then immediately moving on to serious weights.
The side effect of this approach is that your muscles are not ready for the hard work that awaits them. Not enough blood passes through them, which affects the pump, the joints do not have enough synovial fluid to lubricate them, and the chances of potential injury are much higher.
SOLUTION: DEDICATE TO PREPARE
The primary task of warming up is to prepare your mind and body so that you can do your best training. Although it will take a few minutes of your precious time, warming up is key.
By warming up we mean light aerobic activity that will move the blood in your body, a few minutes of stretching and a couple of light sets with which you will practice the form of performing the exercises. If you haven't warmed up recently, take a few minutes to try the above and feel a huge change.
ERROR NUMBER 3: YOU ARE FOCUSED ON LIFTING WEIGHTS
In the age of social media and YouTube, it is very easy to fall into the trap of admiring the huge weights that bodybuilders are now lifting. Bench press, squats, separation with bars on which the ten heaviest plates stand can be motivating and make you go to the gym, find the heaviest pair of dumbbells and try to do a couple of repetitions of an exercise with them. The problem with this approach is that in this way we are exposed to a far greater possibility of injury, as well as forgetting the most important thing, and that is the focus on the muscle we are working on.
SOLUTION: FOCUS ON MUSCLE TRAINING
If you are not a powerlifter, there is no reason to focus on the weight you are lifting. Weight should only be a means to an end, and the goal is to build muscle.
After some time in the gym and experience, we are inclined to assume that we now know how to exercise the muscle and turn our attention to the number on the board or dumbbell.
Instead of focusing on weights, remind yourself that the muscle needs to be tightened when performing the exercise and that you need to dedicate a few seconds to the negative part of the repetition. These two factors also have the greatest effect on muscle growth.
ERROR NUMBER 4: YOU ARE IN THE COMFORT ZONE
The vast majority of practitioners fall into this trap very easily. At the beginning, it is always difficult to choose the right weight with which to train, but as you train and progress more often, you reach a certain level of strength after which you do not try to progress further. You just think that 10 repetitions with a certain weight is enough and you don't do sets until failure, etc. Although this mistake contradicts mistake number 3, the point is that you are still pushing the boundaries of strength, but primarily with a focus on the muscle you are training.
SOLUTION: PUSH YOURSELF TO THE MAXIMUM
The next time you lie down on a bench, choose a weight and tell yourself that you will work with it until you are fired. Whether it's 10 or 20 reps, work on that weight until you can do another repetition with the right shape that adequately hits the muscle.
This kind of pirstup will certainly be uncomfortable and your muscles will burn, but that's what you really want. Each workout try to do one repetition more than the previous time, or try to do the same number of reps but increase the weight by 2.5kg. This approach to constantly increasing effort will have an impact on increasing muscle mass in both the short and long term.
ERROR NUMBER 5: DO NOT PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO RECOVERY
Just as warming up before training is neglected, many make the mistake after training. Namely, most of them rush to take a shower after training and move on to obligations or social life, putting supplements and food after training in the background.
However, as you rush to get out after a workout, your muscle fibers are broken, your body temperature returns to normal, and your body waits for the nutrients it needs to begin its recovery. You know that nutrition is just as important as training, and if you've already spent hard-earned money on supplements like creatine , glutamine and protein , then why not use them in the best way and get the most out of them?
SOLUTION: RECOVERY BEGINS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LAST REPEAT
Prepare your post workout shake in advance and take it with you so you can start drinking it right after your workout and start the recovery process as soon as possible.
This moment is crucial if you want to turn the effort in the gym into new muscle mass, so don't forget it!
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