Are You Making Gains? Check For This!

Are you building muscle mass every week? Most people can’t tell. As a result, they have no idea if what they’re doing is actually working and end up clueless when it comes to the question, “Am I gaining or losing muscle mass?”. I’ll show you 4 simple progress tracking methods that’ll determine if you are gaining muscle or fat. Pay close attention to every one of these 4 methods, because relying on just 1 of them won’t be enough to tell when it comes to how to know if you’re gaining muscle.

One of the most accurate ways for progress tracking in terms of your gains overtime, is by tracking your fat free mass. For this method, you’ll need to be able to track your body fat percentage over time. The easiest way to do this is to get an electronic scale. Control for as many variables as possible. Use your scale first thing in the morning after you go to the bathroom and before you eat or drink anything. This allows you to get the most consistent reading to track changes over time. An alternative to is to estimate it based on circumference measurement formulas (e.g. US Navy Equation).

If you take your body weight and multiply it by your body fat percentage, this tells you how many pounds of fat you have. Take your body weight and subtract your fat mass, and this is your fat free mass. Tracking this number over time is a great way to see if you are actually building muscle mass. Increases in fat free mass are very strongly related to increases in muscle!

A very practical way for you to track progress is to just measure the circumference of your muscles. When answering the question, “Am I gaining or losing muscle mass?”, just pay attention to how your clothes fit. An even better recommendation is to track the circumference of your bicep and thigh over time. This will give you good insights into the growth occurring in both your upper and lower body. Flex your bicep and measure around the largest area of the muscle. For the best results, take 3 measurements and average them together. For the lower body, sit upright with your dominant leg propped up straight out in front of you. Flex your leg and take a measurement at the halfway point. Just like the bicep, repeat this 2 more times and take an average. You may want to also take a measurement at the largest part around your butt to keep track of those booty gains as well.

During your first 12 weeks or so of training, the rapid increases you experience are mostly due to neurological changes. As you become more trained however, the role that neurological factors play in strength decreases and the role that muscle growth plays increases. After your first several months of training, you can start to use increases in strength (or a lack thereof) as a pretty good indication of whether you are gaining muscle or fat. As a point of reference, intermediate lifters who have been lifting for at least 6 months can reasonably expect to increase strength by 5-10% per month.

Lastly, and perhaps the most practical method when it comes to how to know if you’re gaining muscle, is progress pictures. But there are a few things to note. First off, consistency is key. You want to make sure that you are taking them in the same conditions, at the same time of the day, every single time. Ideally, try to get a front, back, and side shot both flexed and unflexed and from the exact same angle. Take these every 2-3 weeks and assess the differences. That said, it can take several weeks or even months for differences in muscle growth to really start to become apparent.

While progress pictures may be easy and convenient compared to the other methods, they can be very misleading sometimes and there are a lot of variables to control. The same is true for any of these methods. So rather than relying on any of these one methods exclusively, use a combination of these different methods. If you are not actively tracking these 4 things, or at least a couple of them, then it is very likely you won’t be able to accurately tell if what you’re doing is helping with building muscle mass.

That’s exactly why within our step-by-step programs we not only provide you with science-based workouts and diet plans, but then show you how to ensure you’re making progress week after week whether your goal is to lose fat or build lean muscle. To join today, take the analysis below, and we’ll show you what program will best help you build the attractive looking physique and confidence you’ve always wanted:

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Видео Are You Making Gains? Check For This! канала Jeremy Ethier