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View Full Version : 20 Reasons why you're not getting BIGGER!!



ELCANADA
28-10-2009, 06:43 PM
Pretty noob info but a good read. You might even find yourself hitting a few of these points now and then. Next time a noob asks why he cant gain...this should take care of things.

Info found online could not find original auth.



1: Fear Of Overtraining

Overtraining is a result of training too frequently and/or too long. Mainstream bodybuilding literature and science have traditionally focused on the symptoms rather than on the prevention.


2: Not Eating Enough Calories And Eating The Wrong Calories

If you are not eating enough calories, you will NEVER gain weight, no matter what you do.


3: Not Sleeping Enough

Remember, your muscles grow when you rest – this is the time between weight-training sessions. Sleep is the best opportunity to let your muscles rest.


4: Not Training Above Your Threshold

The stress must be heavy enough to exceed the normal threshold of your muscles. Training with weights at your 60-80% 1 Rep Max will not stimulate NEW muscle growth.


5: Relying On Supplements To Gain Size

Supplements will NOT stimulate muscle growth –exercise will.


6: Low Testosterone Levels

If you are pumping MASSIVE amounts of anabolic steroids into your veins to ARTIFICIALLY increase testosterone levels, then stop reading! However, if you are a drug-free trainee, what you DO need is every single secret that will provide the level of support necessary to optimize T-levels safely and naturally!


7: Not Making Consistent Strength Gains

Let’s be honest. When was the last time your strength really went up? Has your strength averaged at least a 5% increase from week to week or even month to month?


8: Training Instinctively And Listening To Your Body

Building muscle is based on improving the intensity of the workout progressively each session. So why complicate things by following this ‘inner compass’ that has never been scientifically verified to work?


9: Focusing On Getting A Pump

Getting a muscle pump is not necessarily what causes the muscle to grow. Doing 100 reps with a light weight will create a huge pump – but does this make a muscle grow? Of course not!


10: Reading Bodybuilding Magazines

Do you think professional athletes and professional strength training coaches read bodybuilding magazines? They glorify drug-using ‘bodybuilders’ and portray them as the picture of health.


11: Not Keeping A Training Diary

Tracking your progress is mandatory. This is like professional sports teams competing without keeping score. Or like runners and swimmers working out without a stopwatch.


12: Ignoring The Weaknesses

You’re only as strong as your weakest link, correct? Many claim to understand this principle yet these same individuals seem to ignore it in application.


13: Not Stretching At Least Half The Amount Of Time That You Lift

Stretching is not relatively popular nor has it ever been. Most ‘current’ thinking leads you to believe that stretching is bad and results in a fear of the unknown.


14: Training Beyond Failure

Training to ‘failure’ has caused a great deal of debate, misinterpretation and improper logic, resulting in too much wasted effort.


15: You Need To Shock Your Muscles And Keep Them Guessing

The people who used to give me this advice must have been shocking or tricking their muscles the wrong way because they had no muscle mass on their bodies to back up that.


16: Monday is Chest Day, Tuesday Is Leg Day, Wednesday Is Back Day...

Splitting up a routine is the most popular workout plan around and is rarely on trial or questioned as the way to structure a muscle building routine. If you are a hard gainer, think again!


17: Low Reps Equal Size And High Reps Equal Cutting

Your muscles do not have much personality – they are growing, shrinking or staying the same. If you want your muscles to grow, then gradually force them to do more work and outperform your last workout’s performance.


18: Alternating Between High Intensity Phases And Low Intensity Phases

How will your muscles grow if you reduce the overload for a ‘low intensity’ phase? No new muscle can be built because there is no overload.


19: Not Lifting Truly Heavy Weights

Your muscles do not want to work any harder than they must. Think of your muscles as being lazy – like in a permanent hibernation. They only want to wake up in an extreme emergency


20: Setting Outcome Goals Instead Of Performance Goals

Do you know that effective goals focus on performance, not outcome? Performance or habits are what you control. Outcomes are often controlled by others.

Memo
28-10-2009, 06:51 PM
18: Alternating Between High Intensity Phases And Low Intensity Phases

How will your muscles grow if you reduce the overload for a ‘low intensity’ phase? No new muscle can be built because there is no overload.


periodization??

DRAPE09
28-10-2009, 06:51 PM
so what did it say from 6 to 20?

Memo
28-10-2009, 06:54 PM
.

ELCANADA
28-10-2009, 07:11 PM
Again BASIC noob info. Not pro stuff or info that will make for a better split or routine.

Praetorian
28-10-2009, 07:25 PM
100% truth..very nice post...

"You Need To Shock Your Muscles And Keep Them Guessing"

That one is my favourite...all the pencil necks just love to spew that garbage!
P

l6873
28-10-2009, 08:00 PM
7: Not Making Consistent Strength Gains

Let’s be honest. When was the last time your strength really went up? Has your strength averaged at least a 5% increase from week to week or even month to month?

I don't know about you guys, but I double my strength every 4 months.

JacktheThriller
28-10-2009, 09:40 PM
nice post. how bout trying to do to much with terrible form, 21 Rely on spotter

Canadian Protein.com
28-10-2009, 10:43 PM
18: Alternating Between High Intensity Phases And Low Intensity Phases

How will your muscles grow if you reduce the overload for a ‘low intensity’ phase? No new muscle can be built because there is no overload.


periodization??

This would help reduce the chances of over training which is probably the biggest result of a plateau or regression since overtraining leads to: reduced t-levels, pour sleep, lack of desire to train, injuries, increase stress hormones which decrease protein synthesis and carry other detrimental effects with it, one can go on and on...

So, IMO over training is the absolute worst because of all the other characteristics it brings with it.

Big D
29-10-2009, 12:19 AM
I don't know about you guys, but I double my strength every 4 months.

hahaha ya so if you bench 315 now in 4 months you'll be able to bench 630 ???

ELCANADA
29-10-2009, 12:30 AM
4 more months 1260

l6873
29-10-2009, 02:25 AM
hahaha ya so if you bench 315 now in 4 months you'll be able to bench 630 ???

According to the article I should be able to.

RagingRandy
29-10-2009, 11:06 AM
^^^ Agreed
Start @ 300 lb. as that is a # that is getting thrown around recently. With only a 5% increase per month (not a week) you will be doing 400 lb. in 5 months. I believe this will be very difficult to achieve natural as the article suggests. There is some truth to some of the other point.

CanadianIron
29-10-2009, 01:12 PM
According to the article I should be able to.

He was generalizing and speaking to the newbs... 5% weekly increases might apply to someone training in their first year.. after a few years, its takes months to increase your lifts by 5%.. if everyone could exponentially increase all their lifts by 5% on a given schedule, we'd all be benching 1000lbs.

It just means, you should be consistantly increasing weight lifted... eventually you will hit the natural limits of the human body, at which point you should be competing and bending olympic bars. So basically, keep lifting heavier all the time.

Praetorian
29-10-2009, 03:12 PM
This would help reduce the chances of over training which is probably the biggest result of a plateau or regression since overtraining leads to: reduced t-levels, pour sleep, lack of desire to train, injuries, increase stress hormones which decrease protein synthesis and carry other detrimental effects with it, one can go on and on...

So, IMO over training is the absolute worst because of all the other characteristics it brings with it.

Most overtraining seen in the gyms today is not from intensity levels...its from volume. The intensity levels of most beginners to intermediate lifters is actually quite low...even though they will tell you that its extremely high. The issue being they havent develop the focus nor the abiltity to recruit enough fibres to be considered high. The main problem is doing endless sets of exercises such as bench presses, curls etc which is self defeating.
P

tex
29-10-2009, 03:32 PM
^^ agreed. I am using the conjugate system now and this means that I am doing a 1rm for bench and squat every week.....training the cns......

Sean Summers
29-10-2009, 04:38 PM
100% truth..very nice post...

"You Need To Shock Your Muscles And Keep Them Guessing"

That one is my favourite...all the pencil necks just love to spew that garbage!
P

Muscle confusion baby...muscle confusion. LOL
SS

CanadianIron
29-10-2009, 05:14 PM
The funny part is, most of the people who believe this ^.. only believe so because of an infomercial they saw...

I personally do a lot of the same thing, I just go heavier all the time. Works great for me.

tex
29-10-2009, 06:44 PM
The funny part is, most of the people who believe this ^.. only believe so because of an infomercial they saw...

I personally do a lot of the same thing, I just go heavier all the time. Works great for me. read about conjugate training.

natenator
29-10-2009, 06:56 PM
The funny part is, most of the people who believe this ^.. only believe so because of an infomercial they saw...

I personally do a lot of the same thing, I just go heavier all the time. Works great for me.
yeah but how long did it take you to get to understanding that? Most will believe in the shock'n'awe theory and I bet 98% of us all did at one time as well.

BAM
29-10-2009, 07:09 PM
#21 Your gear is poop

l6873
30-10-2009, 12:10 AM
He was generalizing and speaking to the newbs... 5% weekly increases might apply to someone training in their first year.. after a few years, its takes months to increase your lifts by 5%.. if everyone could exponentially increase all their lifts by 5% on a given schedule, we'd all be benching 1000lbs.

I was stating how ridiculous the idea of adding 5% a week to your lift is - regardless if you're new to it or not.

I doubt there's anyone out there that went from benching 150 to 300 in four months. A 5% monthly increase when you're first starting out is somewhat more realistic. Hell, I'm happy to be adding an extra rep every month or so.