Going to the gym is fun, however very few people invest hours of their lives every week for months and years on end simply for the enjoyment factor. Rather, the large majority of people with health and fitness related goals are in the pursuit to BUILD MORE MUSCLE! Therefore, it can feel frustrating when someone feels they aren’t experiencing a return on investment for their time:muscle growth.
There could be potentially a few reasons for this…
1.) Energy Balance
Skeletal muscle mass is a tissue and thus it adds weight to the human frame. Therefore, little to no change in bodyweight is unlikely to correlate with tangible differences in building more muscle mass long-term. It is recommended that you aim to gain between 0.5-1.5% of your bodyweight per month if starting from a relatively ~lean position. This usually equates to eating in a caloric surplus of ~150-300 cal/day above your maintenance.
2.) Protein Intake
Aim to consume a total of 1.6-2.4g/kg of protein per day. Also, it’s recommended that you evenly space protein intake throughout the day between 3-5 meals/snacks, and consume 0.4-0.55g/kg of an HBV protein source at each eating period.
3.) Expectations
Drastically changing your body composition and building a significant amount of muscle mass takes years, not days, weeks, or months. Therefore, focus on consistency and effort over time and create an enjoyable lifestyle that is conducive for supporting muscle growth. If you love the journey, the results will naturally follow.
4.) Training Quality
Anyone can muster up the determination to bounce through and exhaust themselves with plenty of sets and reps… but not everyone can train HARD. Being able to apply true intensity to your training is a skill, and building muscle is highly correlated with getting STRONG for reps, not just performing copious amounts of reps. Therefore, it’s often a case of “less is more”, and training quality/intensity (matched with adherence to a structured program) should be prioritised over training volume and unstructured workouts.
Let us know, how did you put an end to wheel-spinning and start making gains?