Mistakes in the hypertrophy process
Text by @rodrigoschroder
Common mistakes in the hypertrophy process
1️⃣ Skipping meals! We need an anabolic environment, unlike when losing lean mass, when we want to reduce circulating insulin levels. To gain lean 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 GAIN MUSCLE MASS and simply don’t eat carbohydrates because they are afraid of gaining fat! Carbohydrates from good sources, such as oats, firm-cooked potatoes, and even rice, are important. You may gain some body fat if you’re a natural athlete, but that brings us to the next topic:
3️⃣ Gaining fat during a lean mass-gain diet is normal! It’s better to make solid gains and then reduce your body fat percentage. Right? But ideally, you should stay at no more than 15–18% for men and 20–24% for women. Obviously, you can gain lean mass and lose fat, but you won’t make BIG gains in lean mass.
4️⃣ Not allowing your muscles the necessary rest: if you train legs hard on Monday, for example, and can train them again on Wednesday, I have two pieces of news for you: 1st, you’ll hinder muscle hypertrophy because muscle “repair” happens during rest, and therefore so does hypertrophy. 2nd, if you can train the same muscle group on Monday and Wednesday, you didn’t use the necessary intensity and/or volume—in other words, your workout is garbage!
5️⃣ Alcoholic beverages: they increase cortisol and decrease testosterone.
6️⃣ Inadequate sleep: want to grow? Sleep! If you see someone big who sleeps very little, 3–4 hours a night, THEY ARE VERY LIKELY TAKING ANABOLIC STEROIDS and supplementing 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 rotten filling in the cake that ruins everything for most people!
Mistakes that keep you from gaining lean mass
Women are increasingly taking over 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… some unique mistakes at the gym. Questions about reps or weights are common in the hypertrophy process.
One of the most common mistakes men make is overdoing the weight or duration of their workouts. Women make this mistake too, but it’s far from the most common one.
Women have tremendous potential in their training. All of them, regardless of age, genetics, height, or level of knowledge… Just avoid these common mistakes in women’s training.
It’s important to get the support you need to get started and keep reaching your goals.
