5 Things 97% Of Guys Do That Diminish Their Muscle Gains

10 years ago, I made the life-changing decision that I was no longer going to be the “skinny guy”.

My older brother (older half-brother to be exact) was 11 years older than me, a personal trainer, and a bodybuilding hobbyist.

I was in awe of how strong he looked, how wide his shoulders were, and the way his bicep veins squeezed their way through his t-shirt sleeves.

He looked like one of my childhood superhero action figures, except IRL.

The voice in my head said “I’m going to be like him”. And so I began my journey.

After deciding to dive head first into fitness, I spent my afternoons watching youtube videos from the biggest names in fitness talk about their workouts, their nutrition, and their lifestyles.

I scoured articles on bodybuilding.com, and other online fitness forums, looking for the most effective ways to build strength and pack on lean muscle (without doing steroids).

I went to the supplement store and loaded up on all the powders I could buy: creatine, pre-workout, protein powder, greens powder, you name it.

I wanted to have a physique I was proud of. And I thought I was doing all the right things.

But despite going to the gym consistently, and putting in what (I thought) was an appropriate amount of effort, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.

Sure, I was getting ~a bit~ stronger, but I wasn’t getting the head turning results I knew I wanted.

I then spent the following 5 years discovering the importance of the 5 changes I am about to share with you.


1) Drinking too much of this

Modern society revolves around alcohol. And there’s always a reason to drink.

Birthdays, weddings, vacations, weekends, St. Patrick's Day (does anyone actually like green beer?), you get the idea.

And in my early 20s, I was someone who spent Monday - Friday looking forward to getting blackout drunk with my friends on the weekends.

Little did I know this was blunting the progress being made from the hours I was spending in the gym during the week.

And while the occasional drink won’t derail your progress, many people have a weekly habit of drinking (like I had), which will ruin your progress in the gym.

Even if you’re not getting “blackout drunk” like I was, 1-3 drinks multiple times per week is going to slow down your progress significantly.

Not only does drinking alcohol add additional calories to your diet which makes losing stubborn belly fat harder, it also slows down protein synthesis which sabotages your muscle gains.

You don’t need to give it up totally (although I did over 4 years ago and my life has never been better) but avoiding it as much as possible will unlock a new level of strength and progress for you.

What to do:

• At your next social commitment, experiment with providing a firm (and polite) “no” if you are offered alcohol. If your friends don’t support your health goals and they try to guilt you into drinking, it’s time to find new friends.
  

• Order non-alcoholic drinks when you’re out with friends. Having a beverage in your hands will prevent people from asking you what you want to drink and help you avoid needing to explain yourself over and over.
  

• View it as an experiment: Set your sights on going 2 months with no booze - If that feels scary to you, that’s exactly why you need to try it.
  

• Schedule social commitments around things that don’t involve alcohol. Go for a hike, go paddleboarding, spend time in nature. Believe it or not, cutting out alcohol can actually improve your social life and the quality of your relationships.

2) Eating too much of this

You’re busy, I get it.

It’s 2023… aren’t we all?

When balancing the demands of work, family, social commitments, all while trying to fit in our workouts, it’s easy to rely on uber eats and fast food more often than we should.

This isn’t a problem when done occasionally, but if relying on uber eats for lunch is part of your weekday routine, you’re not going to make the progress you’re looking for in the gym.

I promise.

Not only is fast food usually loaded with cheap oils that cause inflammation and make fat loss more challenging, most fast food options are low in protein which is essential for muscle growth.

I guarantee you’re not eating enough protein if you’re relying on fast food.

Eating .7-1.0g per lb of body weight of protein is the optimal range for building muscle.

If you’re obese, you can aim for 1g per lb of your goal weight.

Doing most of your own meal prep, eating primarily single ingredient foods, and building your meals around hitting your protein goal is a non negotiable if you want to have a physique you’re proud of.

What to do:

• Reduce eating fast food to a minimum.

• Eat 0.7g-1g of protein per lb of your current body weight each day. If you’re obese you can do 1g per lb of your goal weight.

• Focus on single ingredient foods, and have plenty of high protein options around

• Prioritize lean protein like lean beef, chicken, turkey, non-fat greek yogurt, whey protein, and beef jerky are all great options.

3) Not getting enough of this

Hustle culture has tricked us into thinking the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mindset is something to be proud of.

Wrong.

In fact, neglecting your sleep to burn the candle at both ends is a great strategy to guarantee you struggle with annoying food cravings and lack the energy necessary to get in high quality workouts.

Not only will low quality sleep make it harder to stick to your fitness and nutrition plan, but it will also wreck havoc on your hormone health.

Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) get released during sleep, so if your sleep sucks, you’re missing out on some of the most important hormones for your health, performance, and recovery.

Getting a solid 7-9 hours of sleep is non-negotiable for building muscle because it’s during sleep that your body finally has the opportunity to recover from the stress of training.

And it’s proper recovery that actually allows you to get bigger, leaner, and stronger from your hard work in the gym.

Having a consistent sleep schedule (consistent = going to bed and waking up within 30 min of the same times each day) will also greatly improve sleep quality.

What to do:

• When you wake up in the morning, go outside and get 10 min of direct sunlight exposure. This will wake you up, and make it easier for you to fall asleep later that night.

• No more caffeine after noon. Switch to decaf and non-stim pre-workout.

• Stop eating 3 hours before bed.

• Get 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day (or within 30 min of the same time)

• Use Sleep Breakthrough and Magnesium Breakthrough from Bioptimizers.
  
  

4) Not using one of these

In the first 5 years of my fitness journey, I was going to the gym consistently and I thought I was doing it right because I knew on Monday I did full body, Tuesday was chest, Thursday was back, and Friday was legs.

But I wasn’t tracking my weights or the exact number of reps I did with each set.

This is how most people workout, and it’s exactly why most people don’t make the progress they truly want in the gym.

This is also why group fitness classes will never get you the results you want.

Since I’ve made following a program, and tracking my weights and reps a non-negotiable aspect of my training, my progress in the gym has shot to a new level.

Now every time I walk into the gym I have one goal: either add weight or reps to what I completed the previous week.

This creates a novel stimulus that your body needs in order to grow muscle.

So whenever you're in the gym, make sure you’re following a program and tracking the weights, reps, and sets that you do for each exercise.

What to do:

• Follow a program in the gym

• Track your weights, reps, and sets in an app or notebook

• Focus on adding weight or reps to the sets you did the previous week every time you walk in the gym.

5) Not doing enough of this

Oh boy. This one took me some time to learn.

And it’s the biggest issue I see most people in the gym struggling with today (and I promise you need to work on this if you’ve made it this far in the article).

Most people think if their program tells them to do 10 reps that they are done when they get to rep 10. This is not the case.

The purpose of a set in the gym is to create a stimulus that will lead to muscle growth aka hypertrophy.

Research has shown that the 5 reps before complete and total failure are the only reps that can create a growth stimulus.

What does this mean? This means if you’re stopping your set with anything more than 5 reps left in the tank then you aren’t giving your body a reason to build more muscle.

In fact, you should really never be stopping a set with anything more than 2 reps left in the tank.

So every time you finish a set, ask yourself “If I had a gun to my head and my life depended on it, how many more reps could I have done?”

If the answer is ever more than “2”, you’re stopping too early. You need to dig deeper.

And new research has confirmed that training to absolute failure is optimal if your goal is to build more muscle.

Does this mean that every set you do should be done to failure? Not necessarily (but you should be driving to failure more often than not)

Aim to have at least 1 set per exercise to absolute failure

What to do:

• After each set ask yourself “if I had a gun to my head and my life depended on it, how many more reps could I have done?”

• Never stop a set with more than 2 reps left in the tank

• Have at least 1 set on each exercise that you push to absolute failure

Final thoughts:

If you’re going to dedicate an hour of your valuable time to go to the gym, you likely want to maximize the ROI you get from investing that time working out.

Yet, often, we miss out on the key drivers that will get us the head-turning results we truly want.

Does this mean you need to be perfect?

No, of course not.

But you need to be doing more of what moves you forward, and less of what pushes you back.

So once again:

• Avoid alcohol as much as possible.
  

• Eat whole foods. Reduce fast food to a minimum. Allow cheat days occasionally, but they should be an absolute exception.
  

• Prioritize your sleep. No coffee or caffeinated pre-workout after noon. Have a consistent sleep schedule (even on weekends) and get 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
  

• Follow a program. Track your weights, reps, and sets in the gym. Make sure you add weights or reps to each exercise every week.
  

• Work harder in the gym. Never finish a set with more than 2 reps left in reserve. Push to failure often. Don’t scroll your phone in the gym. Get steps in between sets.

• Bonus - Client Success Story

In just a few months, Jacob lost 25 pounds, gained massive strength, and has no signs of slowing down.

Want to see how?

Check out this thread:

Looking to build muscle, shed body fat, and take control of your health like Jacob?

My coaching program is full, but I’m looking to take on 1 more serious applicant who want to make a change.

Interested?

Fill out my application form to see if you qualify:

https://airtable.com/shrt473iN3R9k1JR7 

Also, if you’re looking for daily fitness insights and tips, give me a follow and say hi on Twitter and Instagram.

As always, thank you for reading!

Have a great rest of your week,

Sam