How to gain muscle
If you are someone who goes to the gym, but you are struggling to gain muscle, then read on.
There are several reasons why you may not be gaining muscle. This could be due to your current gym plan, your nutrition, the exercises you do and how you perform, as well as your genetics. There are a few ways to know how to gain muscle, however, the biggest thing you need to remember is to be consistent. If you are not consistent with your training, it will take you longer to see the results you desire. You also need to ensure you are exercising regularly. For example, you are more likely to gain muscle if you attend the gym 2-3 times a week, compared to once a week. The more you go the faster you might see results.
Your gym routine
One reason that you may not be gaining muscle is due to your current gym routine. If you are looking to put on muscle, then you need to ensure you are doing the correct reps and sets. It is recommend to perform 3-6 sets of 8-12 reps to increase muscle mass. You also need to ensure you are pushing yourself. If you are easily able to perform 3 sets of 12 then it is recommended you increase the weight you are lifing.
Ego lifting: Ego lifting is when you try to lift more than you are actually capable of doing. It can result in extreme injury depending on the exercise.
The reason I have mentioned ego lifting is because a lot of people assume the heavier the weights the faster you may gain muscle. However, this is wrong. If you are lifting heavy weights with bad form, then you may not be targeting the muscle groups you are aiming to grow. In addition to this, as mentioned previously, lifting heavier with bad form can result in injury. It is much better to practise on lighter weights with good form, before increasing to a heavier load.
Nutrition
Another important way to grow your muscles is based on your nutrition. You need to make sure you are consuming enough calories in order to put on muscle. This does not mean unhealthy calories either. You want to concentrate more on your protein intake. If you end up consuming a lot of fat and carbs as well, you will likely put on weight, but not necessarily the weight you intended to. If you struggle to track your calories intake, a good app to try is calorie counter.
It is worth noting that if you are looking to consume more calories, you may gain weight all over your body, not just the area you are targeting. When I first started to gain weight, I didn’t understand why I was also gaining it on my stomach (silly I know). My weight gain was also due to consuming unhealthy foods regularly, thinking that the food would just go to the areas I wanted it to (again, silly I know). You want to focus on trying to eat as healthy as you can.
Keep working hard!
You do not need to do too much in order to see results. As long as you keep working hard towards your goal, you will slowly start to see the results you want. Remember that depending on your genetics, it could take you longer or quicker than others to see results. Try not be disheartened if you do not see them straight away.