Awesome information as usual, fellas…learning a lot with every post. Looking forward to tomorrow’s “solutions”.
-D
In Part I of this article, Vince and I shared with you THREE big reasons that may be holding you back from gaining muscle. If you missed that article, be sure to read it first by clicking HERE (page opens in a new window). Once you’ve done that, read on to discover 3 MORE reasons you’re muscle building progress may have stagnated.
6 Reasons You’ve STOPPED Building Muscle, Part II
By Joel Marion and Vince Del Monte
Training your butt off but not really getting anywhere? Put on “some” muscle, but can’t seem to add any more? Simply not progressing fast enough? If you can relate to any of those scenarios, then you’re going to love part 2 of this article as we’re getting ready to unleash three more BIG reasons why you’ve stopped building muscle.
If you missed Part I, click HERE (page opens in new window)
Reason #4: No “down-time”
Did you know that strategically taking time OFF from your training (when done in a very specific way, and when strategically setting up the rest of your training to benefit from it) can actually lead to MORE muscle growth?
It’s very true.
Simply put, your body performs and responds best when it’s pushed and then is given time to recover. Let’s face it, you can’t go full-out, “balls to the wall” 100% all the time. That leads to burn out and overstimulation.
But you can learn how to cycle strategic periods of “down-time” into your training, either by scheduling time completely “OFF” every so often, or by using “lighter” training periods within your training cycle.
Utilizing this one tactic alone will have a profound effect on your results, and we’ll show you how to do it properly in tomorrow’s article.
Reason #5: Nervous System Inefficiency
Fact: You’re NOT going to gain muscle unless you can stimulate muscle tissue to grow with loads challenging enough to induce an adaptation response—and sadly, most people simply aren’t.
Why? Nervous system inefficiency.
Perhaps the most important thing you can possibly do when it comes to building muscle is strengthen your nervous system connection. You see, your nervous system controls:
- how fast your muscles contract
- how hard your muscles contract, and
- how many motor units you’re able to recruit
Amongst other things.
An efficient nervous system leads to faster, harder, stronger muscular contractions.
An inefficient nervous system leads to slower, weaker, haphazard muscular contractions.
Can you guess which one is going to lead to more muscle?
Fact is, most people’s nervous systems aren’t efficient enough to allow them to use loads heavy enough to adequately stimulate their muscles to grow. And when the stimulus is lacking, trust us, the results will be lacking as well.
Fortunately, we’ll be back to teach you an easy way to fix this tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Reason #6: Your Training is One-Dimensional
Did you know that there are three types of muscle fibers? (Type I, Type IIa, and Type IIb)
Did you know that there are two types of muscle growth? (Myofibril, the “protein” portion of muscle cells, and Sarcoplasmic, the “fluid” portion of muscle cells)
Did you know that you need to strategically train in a very specific way to stimulate each ONE of these 5 pathways, each of which requires a differing training stimulus?
Did you know that there are at least 7 OTHER pathways to stimulate the generation of calorie-burning lean muscle?
Most people don’t, which is why most people fail to unlock more than 80% of their muscle building potential.
To make an analogy, let’s imagine that you’re trying to grow your bank account, and your sole method of doing so is depositing your bi-weekly pay check into a checking account.
The number will continue to rise on a slow, steady basis.
But, what if that money was in an interest bearing account? What if you took some of that money and invested it in 3 or 4 or 10 different places? What if you set up a side business that was generating even more money to deposit in to that account?
Do you think that over a period of 6 months you’d have SUBSTANTIALLY more money than if you continued to solely rely on the “paycheck deposit” method of growing your bank account?
YES.
Similarly, there are MANY ways and avenues and pathways to stimulate and generate muscle growth, and if you’re hoping to experience optimal growth, you need to be utilizing all the different pathways.
And in tomorrow’s article, we’ll share several methods to ensure you’re hitting multiple pathways with your training.
Wrap Up
Alright, there you have it – 6 of the biggest misconceptions surrounding muscle growth and some BIG reasons why you may not be experiencing the lean muscle building results you’re after, but don’t worry, you can “fix” all of these problems, and we’ll be back tomorrow to share a bunch of solutions.
Stay tuned.
Comment Time:
In the meantime, we’re hear to answer your questions and respond to your comments below, so be sure to drop yours below. If you’ve yet to comment on the blog, make today your first! And if you’re a regular commenter, continue with that “action-taking” habit. The more you act, the more we interact, the greater your results will be. This is a community and we’re here to help you.
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel and Vince
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37 comments - add yours
hey bros, lovin the info! keep it coming!!!
thanks for your series on muscle building. i now know that i need to concentrate on building more muscle so i can burn more fat and have a more balanced body.
i want to look good on the beach this year!
susan
The more muscle I add to my body – the easier it is to stay lean. I love going away on vacations and being able to eat more than my non workout friends and they come back chubby and I come back looking the same.
Muscle! It’s as close to magic that you’re going to get! Get it on your body.
vince
Hi guys, this just gets better and better. I mostly agree with what you guys say.
My questions are:
1) what are your opinions about 24h fasts increasing the production of growth hormone, and
2) Is there such a thing as gaining too much muscle naturally, so that you look big and bulky?
I think one important factor was forgotten….
hormone balance, if for whatever reason test is too low then for sure all you will get is a little muscle and a lot of soreness.
you said in ur earlier article that you should train as frequently as possible and today you say your body needs time to recover. can you please explain?
@travis –
perhaps he meant
as frequently as possible WHILE giving your body just enough time to recover.
so no training when you really need to rest
and try not to skip a workout when you are rested and ready
Excellents points. Hopefully people will take the hint.
Carey
Education: Thanks to your devoted coaching we are learning about our personal bodies we so mistreat. Maybe through better understand, with your help, we will give this miraculous machine the respect it deserves. Barb
Wow! I thought I knew quite well how to train effectively… Now I realize I didn’t.
Thank you!
@Travis
Quote:
“Simply put, your body performs and responds best when it’s pushed and then is given time to recover. Let’s face it, you can’t go full-out, “balls to the wall” 100% all the time. That leads to burn out and overstimulation.
But you can learn how to cycle strategic periods of “down-time” into your training, either by scheduling time completely “OFF” every so often, or by using “lighter” training periods within your training cycle”
So what I believe he is talking about is during your main training phase you train hard for say 4-6 weeks were you are training hard and frequently with more weight, volume and intensity, but then after 4-6 weeks you will shedule a deload week with less weight and volume and giving yourself more time to recover. Some trainers also advocate taking an entire week off with no training whatsoever, with maybe just some light walking and active recovery stuff such as foam rolling, stretching, etc.
Interesting points about training multiple muscle fibers for growth. I have been doing John Romaniello’s program and it kind of introduced this principle. I am interested to see what your methods are for training these different areas for muscle growth and development. I am not really in the muscle building game as much as I am in the increasing your metabolism game for losing body fat.
Hi Guys,
AS you know, I’ve been at this for over 14 months now and had a pretty awesome transformation … still a ways to go. The rest concept is interesting to me, as I have really stalled out thepast three moths, despite changing up the exercises. What are you thoughts on this? I ma going on vacation in a week (Mexico vacation I won in a transformation contest). What if I really take the entire 10 days off? I can eat well, maybe take a couple days of vacation celebration, and stay active with some cardio, but really jsut take 10 days off. It makes me a bit nervous, but after more than a year, maybe an extended break is okay. I still have 10% BF to dump, so do you think this will help or hider?
Mark
Very well put Brian.
Great info in the post, as well.
awesome article joel and vince like it alot didnt know nohing about the Sarcoplasmic part of muscle growth cant wait for tommorrows article 6 reasons is probably one of my hardest to accomplish, i want to know how to do that
Originally Posted By ClementHi guys, this just gets better and better. I mostly agree with what you guys say.
My questions are:
1) what are your opinions about 24h fasts increasing the production of growth hormone, and
2) Is there such a thing as gaining too much muscle naturally, so that you look big and bulky?
I wanted to weigh in on this one too…
1. As Joel said, no more than 1 a moth. Believe me – these are powerful. I supplement with a high dosage of BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids) on these days to protect my muscle and for a bit of energy. Males should be close to 6 liters of water on these fast days to flush your body squeaky clean.
2. THat’s personal opinion. Certain girls think I’m too big. Some girls think I’m too “average” My fiance thinks I’m PERFECT and says I could be a tad bigger but “not much more.”
I always ask her… “So you wouldn’t have gone out with me if i wasn’t a muscular guy?” She still won’t give me a straight answer…LOL
Hey Joel, Rob and Vince,
I’ve been recieving your emails since early January and there has been some good information. However you all are young, fit and MALE. It woud be fantastic if you would address the middle aged woman. I’m 48 and lost 20 lbs 2 1/2 years ago (35 lbs over weight) and have been on this plateau since. Been dieting, exercising and maintained up until now. I have been applying your advise with the exercise, no more 90 minute cardio and 30 minute strength training, not that it did my body any good. I go to an all woman’s gym and women from 45-55 all have the same problem, can’t lose. If you could find the key to unlock hormonal weight gain your information would be priceless. Here’s my question, how do you know how many calories a woman should eat to lose weight. I’ve read not to go under 1200 a day. So I’ve eaten 1200 and workout 2 hours a day 5 days a week. Up the calories to 1600, same workout, and no weight loss.
Is there a formula? I know if you eat too little calories your body holds on to fat. So do you eat 1200 calories plus whatever calories you burn?
I would really appreciate any advise you would have for me. Seriously not losing weight is getting old. HELP!!!!
Totally looking forward to the solutions!!! :)
I’m loving learning about all the ins and outs of muscle growth and development. The body is so complex in how it operates, this is fascinating stuff!
/off to the gym. ;)
Forgot to mention. I’ve been having some sleep trouble lately (unrelated to training) and when I get to a certain point of exhaustion, I will avoid working out on these days.
I tried it once or twice and found that instead of feeling good and energized after my workout (albiet, the muscles themselves are usually pretty exhausted!) I felt like crap. In addition, I didn’t do nearly as well, muscles got tired faster, they didn’t perform like I knew they could, and I was absolutely dead by the time I was done. No spark, no energy. It didn’t feel healthy.
But I wanted to get your take on this. On these really bad exhaustion days (btw; we got a new mattress so sleep should be much better now! :) ) is it better to take the day off, do you do more harm than good trying to force your body through this?
Thanks!
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...