NOT GROWING??? Top 10 reasons possibly why not

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

This is a great post I read from another forum.
This might even be sticky worthy


* The post below was made by Iron Addict from Iron Addicts

Not growing? Top 10 reasons why?

1. You overtrain and under eat.
These are listed as the main primary reason because they go hand in hand and BOTH must be balanced or you can forget growth. The most perfect training regimen will fail miserably if diet is not there to support it. And conversely, the most perfect diet will be wasted if the trainee is doing more workload than they can recover from—most do WAY too much!

2.The training workload is not varied.
Doing the exact same lift the same way stops being productive for most trainees within 3-6 weeks. Once the body has adapted to the loading it must be changed if you are to continue to force the body to adapt.

3. Too much focus on isolation exercises, not enough compound work.
You can do all the “small” lifts until you are blue in the face, but until you are moving big poundage’s in the big lifts you will remain small. Which brings up point #4.

4. You MUST squat and deadlift if you are going to reach your bodies growth potential.
Think it through. Doing squats or deads activates 70-85% of the bodies overall musculature in one move. Doing a set of curls maybe 3-5%. Which sends a big signal that the body better get better at synthesizing protein and better at handling the need to grow as a unit? You will NEVER reach your potential without doing the squats and deads.

5. You constantly fluctuate between lifts that have bad carry-over.
Here is an example:

I have seen many times, and one I have done myself. The trainee burns out on benching and decides to do Hammer Strength Benches for a change. He makes the switch and is jazzed. His Hammer press is going up every week and he is stoked. After a time he has added 50 lbs to his Hammer bench and decides to go back and hit the bench, only to find it’s up a whole 10 lbs!!!!!

That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with Hammer Benches. It just means that the lifts are dissimilar enough that an increase in one may not necessarily help increase the lift on another. Use of stabilizers and inter and intra-muscular coordination are two primary reasons, along with neural recruitment pattern gains that don’t apply well to the other lift.

6. You don’t know when to de-load/cruise , or take time off.
NO ONES body takes a constant pounding of hard training without periods of active or full rest recovery. Until you learn how and when to don this your training will never be optimal

7. Your micro-nutrient support SUCKS! I can’t count the number of guys I have seen trying to build great physiques taking a “one a day” vitamin and thinking they have it covered. If you want great things out of your body, you need to put great fuel in it.

8. You train with the intensity of a arthritic old lady.
Nuff said.

9. You have no clearly defined goals.
Most people just “lift to get bigger”, and while this is a fine goal, not having and strength related goals will kill your progress in the long run. Your primary goal should be getting stronger on the big lifts on a CONSTANT basis. Setting short and long-term strength goals and achieving them is what equals a big strong trainee in the long run.

10. You are inconsistent.
Getting excited about your training and killing yourself in the gym only to burn out and few weeks later and miss a bunch of sessions ends up being 1 step forward, 3/4 steps backward for many trainees. Getting and staying consistent and racking up sustainable gains over the long-term is what it’s about.

[lee thompson]

good posting tommy cheers!

[POWERJIM]

Good find Tommy.

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Originally Posted by dannyboy9

I think this is sticky material, minus the bright red lettering

Fixed, go check it out again - Hahaha

[Boomer91]

Good Post man, thanks for sharing

[Merk0135]

....+1

[Hawkwind]

Good find and very good reminder.

[rom30_six]

Oh man i wish i read this sticky like 2 years ago....

I used to always overtrain, barely rest, and I ate like a teenage girl...haha
And i always wondered, why wasn't i gaining size ..lol

Thats changed now though,

Now I aim for 110% intense workouts, I focus more on the negative contraction than the positive, to stress my muscles more... I wait till i'm recovered before working same muscle.
Plus...I Do squats now. Before I would never go near a rack =P

And most important, I stuff my face and make sure i get the calories i need, and I sleep & nap like a bear...

[vassille]

Reason 11. Low test level. No matter what you do you will not grow

Good post bro!

[DNeu]

Reason #1 Was the reason why i wasn't getting any gains...I thought exercising everyday with arms on one day and legs another and alternating would get me stronger. Then i hit a slump and i couldnt lift my usual maxes.
Now i'm going to start going heavy and giving my major muscles 3 days to rest! Nice list, thanks for posting

[PainIsPower]

yea bro amazing.. so many people dont understand that or just wont listen

[lordofsherwood]

i guess squatting heavy alone can deliver much better gains forur whole body than any other exercise.this is because squats r the most potent natural test releasers....

[j1r!!!]

Thanks for posting this BiggerGuns = LongerDrives.

[kovalaybolt17]

Originally Posted by j1r!!!

Thanks for posting this BiggerGuns = LongerDrives.

you post the most meaningless comments on old threads. keep it up.

[los]

i lift 3 times a day and like most you guys a i have a chest day, an arm day, and a shoulder and back day... on any of these days i do about 2 hours in the gym and do abot 7 different exercises per body part.... i have been doing this for about 6 months and i have noticed a lot of gains.... is this considered overtraing?

[bakr boi]

well said! couldn't have put it beter my self.. hard training, beeing constant, motivation, good clean diet!

[blmoore1892]

i think one big mistake that we all make is we see that guy at the gym that does a full body routine 4 days a week. or the guy in the magazine that hits every muscle group three times a week. you have to remeber most of the guys are taking roids, and/or a supplement that helps thier body heal faster. you cant stress enough that your muscle grow when you are not working out. give them time. dont do the roids. you might get great gains from them, but stop the roids your muscle will deflate like a busted balloon. build your muscle through hard work and dedication, and you will feel better about yourself. i had a buddy that took the roids, he went from 170 lbs to about a solid 230 240. he came off the roids, and now looks like he gets drunk every night. tips the scale at about 260 and no muscle.

[xbigpitax]

this is very helpfull thanks