Cheating, swinging, body English, and even lack of concentration will all negatively affect muscle fiber firing, increasing your chance of injury more than your chance of building lean tissue. Master correct form on all movements while focusing on feeling the muscle work, not how much weight you’re moving from point A to B.
5. You’re Bored
In the early stages of lifting weights, almost any workout program will help to build more muscle, even if utilized week after week. But as you grow more experienced, the body becomes more stubborn and far less responsive to doing the same things time and again in the gym.
However, either because of laziness, lack of knowledge, or simple habit, most trainees perform the same exercises, for the same reps, in the same order at every workout. And the result? Little to no progress is realized. Because the human body is literally an adaptive machine, it needs to be constantly challenged with unique stimuli, or it will remain in a state of homeostasis.
If you have been training more than two straight years, make sure to switch things up in the gym at least every few weeks. Use different exercises, rep ranges, intensity techniques, and rep tempos to keep the body off balance.
6. You’re a Phone-y
No, I do not mean you’re fake, but rather a person who cannot put the phone down, even while attempting to get in a good workout. Trust me, I understand that social media has become a huge part of our lives. It’s fun, rewarding, and sometimes necessary—especially for those employed in the fitness industry—to take videos and photos at the gym.
But some take it too far, to the point that they are more worried about their best camera angles than hitting their muscles from all right angles. Sure, take a video or two and post to your favorite media accounts, but then put the phone away, turn up your headphones, and get to work.
The bodybuilders of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s are often considered the best ever. Perhaps this is because when they entered the gym, they only had muscle on their mind.
BY ERIC BROSER