Most individuals who embark on a health and fitness journey strive to positively change their body composition and build more muscle mass. However, there’s arguably nothing more frustrating than feeling as though our results don’t reflect our level of effort and time spent invested in the gym.
When faced with this conundrum, it’s not uncommon to question our genetics and think “Maybe my body just doesn’t respond to lifting weights and I’m not cut out for this whole muscle building thing”. Well… we’re here to tell you some good news! Just because you haven’t responded well to certain training protocols in the past doesn’t mean you’re a non-responder all together – it simply means you need to reevaluate and modify your approach!
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of why your training may not be resulting in hypertrophic outcomes, there are a few big-ticket items that you need to consistently tick-off. These include:
Training - Being Consistent & Adherent To A Program
Nutrition – Total Energy & Protein Intake + Diet Quality
Sleep – Quality, Quantity, Routine + Hygiene
Life Stressors – Identify & Manage With Personal Strategies
Once you’re confident in nailing the above, consider the following when it comes to training:
Execution – Are you performing exercises correctly through a full ROM?
Exercise Selection – Are the movements you’re programming appropriate for your biomechanics?
Volume – Are you performing 10-20 working sets per muscle group per week?
Intensity – Are you REALLY pushing yourself? Are your RIR 0-5 for most sets?
Connection – Can you actively feel yourself stimulating the target muscle/s?
Frequency – Are you training a muscle group at least twice per week?
Log Book – Are you meticulously tracking your training and being proactive with setting progression targets?
Being Realistic – Building muscle takes time, and tangible progress will compound if you’re patient!
To hear us talk more in depth about this topic make sure to tune into episode 128 of “The Bodybuilding Dietitians” podcast
Let us know, have you ever questioned your genetics in the past before questioning your training?