5 Big Reasons You Can’t Increase Muscle Mass & Strength

You go to the gym every day and work out like mad. Your level of commitment and dedication would surprise even Jay Cutler and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yet you can’t seem to increase your muscle mass and strength. Why is this so, you may rightly want to know. This article will give you some pointers and set you in the right direction.

1) You Obsess about Your Abs

Let’s face it. Next to a barrel like chest and enormous arms and shoulders, everyone I know is fascinated by washboard abs. What the average body builder does not realize is that definition in the ab area is only brought about by getting rid of excess fat in the stomach area and doing exercises that bring out your six packs. Jumping jacks, hanging extensions and Roman chairlifts are good exercises.

Unfortunately, crunches aren’t a particularly good exercise for abs development and overdoing the crunches makes the stomach sore and cause plateaus development. Abs need to be rested to develop- so leave them alone every alternate day.

2) You don’t Squat or Deadlift

Ignoring squats and deadlifts is another reason that muscle mass and strength is arrested. The best and biggest natural bodybuilders in the world tend to include both deadlifts and squats in their top three exercises. That is because they work to develop and build up strength in the entire body with regular use.

Continuing to focus on Smith machines, leg extensions and light weight presses will ensure that your legs remain puny and frail.

3) You don’t Take Steroids

In case you believe that steroids and supplements are unethical and unnatural and should not be part of a body building program, think again! Professional body builders and power lifters regularly take steroids to help build up muscle mass and aid in giving them superhuman strength. Steroids not only help a builder recover fast from a tough exercise routine, but also make him motivated and challenged to build muscle mass further by igniting his receptors and stimulating new gains. Every great body builder in recent times has used steroids and supplements at some time in his career and is not ashamed of it.

4) You don’t Obsess Enough about Progression

There is no magic about developing muscle mass and strength. Bodybuilding requires hard work as well as increasing the load of weights you carry. There have been builders who call it a day after reaching a plateau. They don’t want to get larger and stronger and think that they would look humungous and unwieldy. But the truth is that you only progress when you push yourself to the limit and then add weight when you have reached your peak. The shock your muscles get forces them to grow and develop further. To maintain shape and definition, use lighter weights once or twice a week as you grow.

5) You are not Prepared to Eat as Much as Needed

One of the prime reasons bodybuilders fail to grow in mass or strength is that they are obsessed about a certain body to fat ratio, or a particular arm-shoulder-back ratio that gives the V shape. If you fail to increase your food intake, your body will not have the fuel to convert this into energy. Body builders are known to maintain their food intake even in the off season because it will help them compete and come up the curve faster in competition season. So stop obsessing about others and increase your grub to a level that will help increase your physique.