Want to Gain Mass Fast? Avoid These Muscle-Building Mistakes You’re working hard to reach the physical goals you’ve set for yourself, trying to balance between training to grow muscle mass, cardio workouts, nutrition, and calories from healthy carbs like oatmeal and quinoa, to protein shakes and workout bars. It’s a juggling act, for sure, and the challenges are a little different for everyone. Experts agree on key principles to apply, both in the gym and in your total lifestyle, to help you gain muscle while maintaining a healthy balance. Still, all the advice pouring in from everywhere at once makes it easy to fall into bad habits or take short cuts that only slow down your progress. Here are some common muscle-building mistakes to avoid: #1 Don’t Be Impatient Know that your body will respond differently over time. As a beginner, you’ll see quicker changes and be able to build muscle mass faster in response to the new regime you impose on your body. Over time, the body adapts and becomes more accustomed to the stresses and demands of your routine, including training and nutrition, and your progress will slow after the first few years. During the initial phase you’re building up your base of muscle mass. In later phases, you may not experience much weight gain as a result of your intense workouts and diet, but you will see visible changes in physique. #2 Don’t Fear the Fat Protein alone is not enough. You will need to consume carbs and put on some fat in order to maintain the metabolic and hormonal balance needed to build muscle. In other words, your body wants to see surplus calories. In case you are worried, it is much easier to lose fat in a few weeks when you are at the end of a building cycle, than it is to build muscle, which takes longer. If you fail to supply energy in the form of carbohydrates, your body taps into the available fuel source—protein—thus slowing down your growth. #3 Don’t Skip Meals Instead, keep body metabolism on track by consuming multiple meals throughout the day. Six small meals are recommended by most to keep your energy levels steady. If you go too long without food, your body begins to take away readily available muscle, not fat. There should be some protein in each meal to keep building muscle. High protein bars are a convenient, portable protein source for snacks on the go, as meal replacements, or to help in exercise recovery after intense workouts. #4 Don’t Forget to Eat Enough
If you’re like most fitness buffs, you spend a lot of time thinking about your diet, but are you actually eating enough? Yes, you need to lift and train and work, but you won’t see any growth in that muscle mass if you don’t consume a fairly high amount of calories. Get them from a balance of protein, carbs, and fat to supply your hardworking body with all the right nutrients to repair and recover from tough workouts, and to grow more muscle. Protein is especially important, and experts recommend as a rule of thumb 1.3 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, for those aiming to increase weight and mass.1 High protein low net carb bars are an excellent supplement to keep your metabolism pumping throughout the day, and help meet your daily protein requirements. #5 Don’t Train Too Much—or Too Little As with everything, there’s a fine balance between training hard and overdoing it. If you aren’t pushing yourself to lift more and heavier weights, you probably are not making progress, and may be frustrated that you don’t see the changes you hoped for. By all means, you should start slowly, lifting lighter to master a new form, but once the foundation is ready, gradually increase the weight, with proper coaching to avoid injury. On the other hand, doing too many repetitions, too many days a week, and always repeating the same routine will hold you back. Your body needs that rest time on days off, because that’s when muscle grows. It’s better to do fewer reps and combine different compound movements, like overhead press, squat, deadlift, and others, to get better results. Concentrate on shorter workouts and more intensity. #6 Don’t Neglect Your Total Routine If you’re truly committed to a higher level of fitness, you need to adopt a total lifestyle that supports your goals. Besides healthy, frequent meals, focus on getting plenty of sleep. Key to getting the ideal 8 to 9 hours a night is establishing a bedtime routine. While you’re sleeping, you pass through non-REM and REM cycles. Your body requires the non-REM, or deep sleep phase to produce growth hormone, a vital component of muscle growth and recovery. Getting to sleep on the early side, around 10 p.m., means you will have the time to reach that deeper sleep cycle and let your body’s restorative sleep aid your muscle growth.2