You are here and read this post which probably means that you are working hard to build muscle but you gained just a little muscle mass and it suddenly stopped and you are now wondering why. There are some possible reasons that might explain to you why are you not gaining muscle mass even if you train hard and eat a lot.
1. You are not consuming enough calories
Probably the biggest reason why your muscles don't grow. If you don't consume enough calories you can't build any muscle. You need to feed your muscles with macronutrients to make your muscles to grow.
One of the reasons why are you not consuming enough calories can be that you are afraid of gaining body fat and you want have shredded body, but you should know that by eating clean and training hard in the gym it is very hard that you will gain body fat.
To support muscle growth your calories intake should be between 18 to 20 calories per pound of bodyweight. If you eat only clean food and you are doing resistance training you can't get fat believe me.
Check out the list of foods you should eat for muscle gains:
If it is hard for you to consume all the calories that your muscles need then you should try with Homemade Mass Gainers, check out recipes on this site:
2. You are following a wrong workout routine
To make your muscles to grow your workout routine is very important. Don't try workout programs created by professional bodybuilders because they are probably not designed for beginners. Also, don't follow 6 days a week workout routines or even workout routines in which you must train every day. With everyday training plan, only steroid users can make muscles, not beginners and natural lifters. You need to let your muscles to recover in order to grow.
You need a workout routine that is mostly consisting of compound exercises to hit more muscle groups on every workout. You should also know that some workout routine can work for someone but not for you. You need to try new workout routines every month until you find one that is really making your muscles to grow.
3. You don't consume enough protein or you are consuming mostly proteins
Either way, your muscles won't grow. Protein is the most important macronutrient for muscle growth and you need to consume a proper amount of it every day, even when you rest. More about proteins importance and best sources you can read in my another post:
One of the common mistakes that many beginning lifters make is that their diet consists of mostly protein foods and they don't consume enough carbs and fats. You need to consume twice more carbohydrates that protein and you don't have to avoid good fats.
4. Too much cardio
Doing too much cardio training while trying to build muscle mass is a very common mistake. You are wasting a lot of calories and you might be in caloric deficit. If you are looking to gain more muscle mass then you need to strictly focus on resistance training and eating a lot to be in caloric surplus and gain muscle mass fast. Of course, do some cardio here and there but you don't have to include cardio in every workout.
5. You don't rest enough
Training in gym stimulate your muscles to grow, but muscles grow while you are resting. HGH (human growth hormone) levels are highest while you sleep and lack of rest and sleep can cause higher cortisol levels, and you don't want that. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that can break down muscle and it is also linked with stress.
You should also check out which supplements are best to support your muscle growth:
Top 5 Supplements for Muscle Mass Gain
