Why Am I Not Gaining Muscle? (Mini Guide Backed by Science)

In this video I answer the dreaded question "why am i not gaining muscle" with 4 solution how you can break through a plateau!

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Not building muscle can be caused by a variety of things and in this video I decided to analyze the 4 main reasons why this might happen.

Reason #1 - Over-Training / Under-Recovering

A lot of fitness gurus will claim that there's no such thing as over-training which is a bunch of nonsense.

For a natural lifters there's a limited amount of "adaptation" your body can make.

And every one of us has a Maximum Recoverable Volume.

We can use the model of the General adaptation syndrome (GAS) to look at the predictable way the body responses to stress. The model was developed by Hans Selye.

Your body is adapting, if you expose it to too much workout volume (sets x reps x weight) over time it's not gonna be able to adapt, and eventually reach the stage of over-training.

There seems to be a sweet spot where we're working between over-training and under-training.

A 2005 study by Gonzalez-Badillo https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16095427 showed that the group that did moderate amounts of volume made most of the progress.

A practical way you can see if you're over-training is by logging your workout days using the recovery status scale (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20581704): https://www.dropbox.com/s/za4fmfhsv04uwxc/recovery-scale.jpg?dl=0

If you're constantly between 6 - 10 on the scale for weeks and months then you're probably need to back-off a little bit.

For "How many reps and sets" check out this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zojOIesDM0

Reason #2 - Under-training / Lack of Progressive Overload

Your body is adapting, and if you're not giving it a reason to build muscle it won't do so.

If you're going to the gym and at the end of each set you're not fatigued and you have a ton of reps left in the tank then the intensity of your training is too low.

Progressive overload is the core principle of every single workout program. It simply comes down to doing more over time.

Start with a weight you can do with perfect technical form and add weight any time you can.

Improvements in technique and range of motion care also progressive overload.

Only once you've mastered technique with a certain weight then look into increases in reps and lastly increasing the load.

If you do the same workout you did the week before, but with better form, that's progression.

Remember: Growth happen in spurts, make sure you're measuring it over the course of several weeks.

Reason #3 - Not eating enough, too paranoid that you'll gain body fat

Being too afraid of gaining fat is a common thing with intermediate lifters.

Unfortunately you can't optimize muscle growth or strength growth in a caloric deficit or a reduced caloric intake.

Of course you don't want to dirty bulk or some nonsense like that but you definitely need to provide your body with just the right amount of calories to give it the permission to build muscle.

Determine you caloric maintenance, see how much muscle you can build realistically in a month (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSqMJDZGPuY) and start by adding that amount of calories on top of your maintenance.

That's your starting point, if you're not gaining after 2-3 weeks add more.

Remember to gain 1 lbs of muscle you only need 3500 kcal per month extra. This is not a lot of calories (116 extra kcal per day), and will allow you to "lean gain".

Reason #4 - Bad Recovery / Not Sleeping Enough

Scientists from Brazil in 2011 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21550729) found that sleep debt decreases protein synthesis which causes muscle loss.

Lack of sleep makes it harder for your body to recover from exercise by slowing down the production of growth hormone which is your natural source of anti-aging and fat burning that also facilitates recovery.

Also final note, make sure you're actually tracking muscle growth. A lot of guys say they're not growing but they're not even measuring growth. At least use a weight scale or a tape measure to quantify your progress.

Tracking Apps: Fitnotes for Android and Strong for iOS

Talk soon, Mario
For more fitness, nutrition and personal development tips check out: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarioTomicOfficial
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Видео Why Am I Not Gaining Muscle? (Mini Guide Backed by Science) канала Mario Tomic