MAB E-Book: Muscle Building Mistakes

[BendtheBar]

What are the biggest mistakes you made, and that you see beginners make when they are trying to build muscle?


Notes to participants:

1) Participants should ignoring how others respond and not just chime in with "what he said", if this makes sense. This doesn't mean answers have to be long. I would just prefer them to be independent of what others are saying.

2) Answers can be as long or short as you desire. I want this e-book to be organic and not something that becomes a burden for those responding.

[SeventySeven]

Ego, many novice lifters( including myself at one point) walk into a gym see guys moving heavy weight and sacrifice form to move heavier weight then we are capable of to look more impressive. Normally momentum is moving weight and not the muscle. If the muscle is not working its not growing. General rule of thumb, if you cant hold it at the top or bottom for a good squeeze depending on the movement; you're lifting to heavy.

[Max]

Lack of proper nutrition,supplements and rest.

[Rich Knapp]

Originally Posted by SeventySeven

Ego, many novice lifters( including myself at one point) walk into a gym see guys moving heavy weight and sacrifice form to move heavier weight then we are capable of to look more impressive. Normally momentum is moving weight and not the muscle. If the muscle is not working its not growing. General rule of thumb, if you cant hold it at the top or bottom for a good squeeze depending on the movement; you're lifting to heavy.

10000 x

Building Muscle is about working it, NOT the ego of great numbers or video's of thrown PR's.

The great PR's both in weight and vids will come with dedication to work , form, and nutrition. Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition no matter if your bulking or cutting.

Eating big does not mean get fat or belly rolling over the belt, it just means make sure you eat enough to make quality gains.

[emekajokammor]

Hey BTB can i speak on a topic of the misunderstanding on Contest Prep?

[Ryano]

The biggest mistake I see is lifters doing "the big three" with absolutely horrible form. Knees in on skwats, elbows straight out at the bottom of the bench stroke, rounded back on deads. Stuff like that can lead to injuries in a hurry. Some of it is due to trying to lift more weight than they are capable of, but most of the time, their form is horrible to start with. I cannot slight someone for going for a max weight in any lift, but use good form.

[Mr.Silverback]

The biggest mistake I see would have to be beginners listening to other beginners that have no clue what direction theyre heading. Most of the time the beginner finds themselves in a bad position due to lack of good form, rest, or nutrition. It is okay to take on consideration what is being explained, but use your common sense.

Silverback Barbell

[Off Road]

Trying to run before they can walk...Like...

Worrying about the proper macronutrient breakdown of a good bodybuilding diet when they should start by seeing how their body reacts to more/less food and cleaning up their eating habits.

Worrying about which exercise is going to hit their inner, outer, lower, upper head of their trapectalezius muscle when they should be trying to build any muscles they possibly can.

Trying to find the perfect routine split and exercise rotation when they should just worry about how they are going to add another 10 lbs to the squat bar without crushing themselves.

[BigJosh]

The first thing that comes to mind is not having a plan when they go into the gym. Beginners need to have a set routine and stick with it. This means they do not just do what ever feels right at the time, but do the same thing every week.
This will allow a focus on progression week in and week out with the same exercises.

[DieselWeasel]

When I first began going to the gym and lifting weights, what held me back the most were the following three things:

1) I was reading muscle magazines like Flex, Muscle & Fitness, Iron Man, Muscular Development, and Musclemag International. All of those were espousing nonsense that was totally unproductive for me. I haven't read them since 2004 or 2005, but if they're anything like how they were back then, beginners should avoid those (and similar) publications like the plague.

2) Another early hindrance to my success in strength training was not doing squats consistently, every week, and then doing very shallow squats for a few years. It was only when I started doing squats on a regular basis and going deep (hip below knee) that I really made leaps & bounds in both my strength and physique. My advice regarding squats is that if you think you're going deep enough, GO DEEPER.

3) Lastly, as everyone who knows my infamous lifting history is aware, my deadlift technique was beyond atrocious because I was extremely overambitious. This caused me to hitch/ramp all of my deadlifts for a few years, significantly delaying my goals of getting bigger and stronger, while also greatly increasing the chance of catastrophic injury. Luckily for me, I escaped mostly unscathed, but the same can't be said for the vast majority of novice lifters if their ego makes them constantly attempt weights that they're not ready to lift. I'm not telling newbies to avoid heavy weights and personal records; I'm saying that they should progressively lift heavier, but those heavier weights must still allow them to utilize decent (not necessarily perfect) form.