4 muscle-building mistakes that are sabotaging your gains, according to an expert

You’re hitting the gym religiously but the gains aren’t showing. What’s going on?!

Building muscle is no easy feat. It takes time, effort, and the right approach to see consistent progress. Even the most dedicated lifters can fall into common traps that slow their progress without their realising it.

Although making mistakes along the way is normal, we know you’d rather avoid them, especially if it’s what’s standing between you and your gains. Good thing Patrick James, Head Coach at Marchon Stratford, has shared four common workout mistakes that could be holding you back from building maximum muscle. Take note and listen up!

1. You keep doing a 'bro split'

The traditional ‘bro split’ is where you typically train one muscle group daily— maybe chest Monday, back Tuesday, shoulders Wednesday (you get the idea). But according to James, this old-school training style is, well, just that, pretty old-school. “Frequency is important for hypertrophy,” he writes on his post. “Contrary to a lot of information on the internet, atrophy [where you lose muscle] happens within 7-10 days, so if you’re leaving it a whole week before you train your chest again you’re losing out on gains.” A better alternative that Patrick suggests is splitting this volume for one muscle group across multiple sessions throughout the week, which we often see with upper/lower body, push-pull-legs, or full-body splits. This will ensure

2. You're not resting enough between sets

It’s not rocket science, but it’s still a frequent pitfall on the gym floor. “In very basic terms, you will struggle to hit the same reps or weight if you’re fatigued going into your next set,” says James. Dropping one or two reps per set is pretty normal, but anything higher may mean you need more rest. So, how can you tell when you’re ready to hit your next set? James says to pay attention to two things, your breathing (you want it to return to its normal state) and that burning/pump sensation in your muscles (you want this to have lessened). If both of these are good, then you're ready to go! Just remember, this can vary for person to person.

3. You’re not eating enough

If you want to build muscle you don’t just need to be eating the right foods, but enough of them too. “You can’t build a house without bricks, and you can’t build muscle without any calories or protein,” says Patrick. Eating in a calorie deficit will not help you build muscle. Instead, you need to be eating maintenance calories or in a slight calorie surplus and ensure you’re getting enough protein in your diet. Need some extra guidance? Check out our bulking guide on how to increase your calories the right way.

4. Being impatient

Good things come to those who wait and (whether you like it or not) this particularly holds true if you want to grow muscle. So, there's no need to check yourself out in the mirror every morning to see if your biceps have got just that little bit bigger. “Unless you’ve got outstanding genetics or want to start taking hormones, it’s a lifetime of committed, consistent training for small gains,” says Patrick. Just turn up, train hard and try and enjoy the process because, when you do, it becomes a lot more rewarding and sustainable.