How to build lean muscle mass
Text by @rodrigoschroder
Common mistakes made by those who want to build muscle
1️⃣ Skipping meals! We need an anabolic environment. Unlike when losing lean muscle mass, when we want to reduce circulating insulin levels, to build lean muscle mass we want to increase circulating insulin, which brings us to a second mistake:
2️⃣ Being afraid of carbohydrates! Some people are afraid to increase the amount of carbohydrates in their diet WHEN TRYING TO BUILD MUSCLE and simply don’t eat carbs for fear of gaining weight! Good sources of carbohydrates, such as oats, firm-cooked potatoes, and even rice, are important. You may gain some fat if you’re a natural athlete, but that brings us to the next topic:
3️⃣ Gaining fat while following a diet to build lean muscle mass is normal! It’s better to make solid gains and then lower your body fat percentage. Right? But ideally, you should always stay at a maximum of 15–18% for men and 20–24% for women. Obviously, you can build lean muscle mass and lose fat, but you won’t make MAJOR muscle gains.
4️⃣ Not giving your muscles the rest they need: if you train legs hard on Monday, for example, and can train legs again on Wednesday, I have two things to tell you: 1st, you’ll hinder muscle hypertrophy, because muscle “repair” happens during rest and, consequently, so does hypertrophy. 2nd, if you can train the same muscle group on Monday and Wednesday, you haven’t reached the necessary intensity and/or volume—in other words, your workout is garbage!
5️⃣ Alcoholic drinks: they increase cortisol and lower testosterone.
6️⃣ Inadequate sleep: want to grow? Sleep! If you see someone big who sleeps very little—3–4 hours a day—they VERY LIKELY TAKE ANABOLIC STEROIDS and supplement with GH!
7️⃣ Skipping steps! Don’t skip steps! Don’t think that taking steroids will let you skip steps. They may be the cherry on top for the 0.01% who really need them, or the filling in a spoiled cake that ruins everything for most people!
Mistakes that keep you from building lean muscle mass
Women are increasingly taking over the gyms in our country, and that’s amazing!
With more and more women entering the fitness world, we’ve come to the conclusion that each gender has, let’s say… its own peculiar mistakes at the gym. Questions about reps or weights are common.
One of the most common mistakes men make is going overboard with the weight or training duration. Women make this mistake too, but it’s far from the most common one.
Women have great potential when it comes to training. All of them, regardless of age, genetics, height, or knowledge level… Just avoid these common mistakes in women’s training.
It’s important to get the support you need to get started and keep achieving your goals.
