Reps or weight?
Text by @rodrigoschroder
Common mistakes for those looking to build muscle
1️⃣ Skipping meals! We need an anabolic environment. Unlike when losing lean mass, when we want to reduce the amount of circulating insulin, to build 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 WHILE FOLLOWING A MUSCLE-BUILDING DIET and simply don’t eat carbs for fear of gaining fat! Carbohydrates from good sources such as oats, al dente boiled 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 point:
3️⃣ Gaining fat while following a lean-mass-gain diet 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, it’s possible to build lean mass and lose fat, but not make BIG gains in lean mass.
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: First, you’ll hinder muscle hypertrophy, because muscle “repair”—and consequently hypertrophy—happens during rest. Second, if you can train the same muscle group on Monday and Wednesday, you haven’t used the necessary intensity and/or volume—in other words, your workout is garbage!
5️⃣ Alcoholic beverages: they increase cortisol and lower testosterone.
6️⃣ Inadequate sleep: want to grow? Sleep! If you see someone who’s big and sleeps very little—3–4 hours a night—they’re 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 filling in a spoiled cake that ruins everything for most people!
Mistakes that keep you from building lean mass
Women are increasingly taking over the gyms in our country, and that’s incredible!
As more and more women enter the fitness world, we’ve come to the conclusion that each gender has, let’s say, its own… peculiar mistakes at the gym. The question of reps or weight is a common one.
One of the most common mistakes men make is overdoing the weight or duration of their training. Women make this mistake too, but it’s far from the most common one.
Women have tremendous potential in their workouts. Everyone, regardless of age, genetics, height, or experience… 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.
