Each day countless numbers of people start muscle building routines. Unfortunately, the majority of those people will fail to reach their goals. This can happen for many reasons – injury, illness, laziness, improper nutrition, overtraining, etc. The good news is that most of these issues that cause people to fail can be avoided by following a few simple rules.

In this article I’m going to describe a few muscle building mistakes and tell you how you can avoid them.

Muscle Building Mistake #1: Improper Nutrition Plan

Even though most people know how important a diet program is to their muscle building success, many people wind up failing to reach their goals because they didn’t follow a proper nutrition plan. It doesn’t matter how good your workouts are, if you’re not eating the right foods at the right times, you won’t build muscle properly. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who have no issues getting to the gym each day to get their reps in and then go home and undo all of that hard work by eating the wrong food (or failing to eat the right food). If you want to build muscle properly, you need to follow a program like the Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer that is specifically designed for you to build muscle.

It probably isn’t news to you that you need to eat several properly portioned, nutrient dense meals throughout the day for proper muscle building. You may even be loosely following a diet program that is similar to the one just described. However, if you’re not fueling your body at the proper time with regard to your workouts, you aren’t going to reap the maximum benefits. Additionally, if you’re eating junk food (candy, chips, etc), you’re just undoing all of your hard work.

Click here if you want to follow a diet that is proven to help you grow your muscles. This plan is designed specifically for your body type and will help you get the growth you’re looking for.

Muscle Building Mistake #2: Supplements

We’re all guilty of this one. I can’t tell you how many different supplements I’ve tried to help me gain muscle. Do you know what it got me…a smaller bank account.

Have you ever noticed that muscle magazines are loaded with ads? Do you know why that is? It’s because they work. So many of the people that read muscle magazines have no clue what they’re doing (that’s why they’re reading the magazine) and therefore they are ripe targets for these marketing companies. Whether it’s a fat burner or a muscle building supplement, we’re all guilty of succumbing to the marketing campaigns of these companies.

What these companies hope you never find out is that it’s not necessary for you to take their products in order for you to reach your muscle building goals. You may see some minor and short-lived gains from taking supplements but the real results are going to come from you actually taking the time to do the work in the gym and eat the proper food.

If you are new to bodybuilding (or even if you’ve been around for awhile and are still looking for results), don’t get caught up in the empty promises that the supplement companies try to sell you. Try just working out and following a proper nutrition plan first. Don’t try to shortcut the system. Muscle building takes time, hard work and patience. There are no magic pills.

Muscle Building Mistake #3: Undertraining

Unlike overtraining (which we’ll discuss), undertraining generally occurs when a person has overtrained and, in their effort to correct the problems caused by overtraining, they end up working out too little and not doing enough to build muscle. They feel that since they benefit from a little bit of rest that they’ll probably benefit from a lot of rest.

This generally occurs to people who workout and live their lives in extremes. It’s the “all-or-nothing” mindset. What you need to do if you’re guilty of undertraining is slowly increase the amount of days you’re working out so that you can start to gain muscle again. The goal is to find a middle ground that is sustainable and gives you results.

Muscle Building Mistake #4: Overtraining

You guessed it…this is the opposite of undertraining. Overtraining occurs when you workout TOO much. We’ve all been guilty of this at one point or another. You see the results that you’re getting from your workout and you love them. So, you increase the frequency and intensity of your workouts in an effort to build muscle faster. As you add this stress to your body, something bad happens…you get injured. Now you’re stuck on the couch, unable to workout because you tried to do too much.

Overtraining is an easy trap into which you can fall but it’s also easy to avoid. Make sure that you’re getting at least 1 rest day a week (if not more) and don’t crush the same muscle groups on consecutive days. We’re in this for the long haul so make sure you don’t overtrain and take yourself out of the game.

Muscle Building Mistake #5: Failure to Track Your Progress

This is one of those mistakes that is so easy to avoid, yet so many people fail to do this. What is the point of doing all of the work to build muscle if you’re not going to keep track of what you’ve done? Would you watch a football game if they didn’t keep track of the score? How will you know if you’re making progress if you don’t keep track. This is such a simple thing to do and, if you aren’t doing it now, you’ve got to incorporate into your plan if you’re serious about succeeding with any amount of muscle gain.

Here’s what I do to keep track of my progress (I learned this from the Muscle Maximizer): I have a little bag that I take to the gym every time I go. In that bag is my weight lifting gloves, a small note book (the 3″ X 5″ size) and a pen. At the beginning of each workout, I make a note of the date and then I start filling in information regarding my workout for the day. I make a note of what exercise I did, how many reps I did and what weight I used. I also make notes about whether or not the weight was too heavy or too light. This way when I go to do the exercise again, I can refer back to my notes and make adjustments where necessary. It’s a very simple and very efficient system. It helps me to see how much progress I am (or am not) making and allows me to make changes when I need to. You wouldn’t drive a car while wearing a blindfold and you shouldn’t workout if you’re not going to take the time to track your progress.

So, that’s it for today. These are 5 of the most common muscle building mistakes I see. If you are guilty of any or all of these, you just need to make some small changes and you’ll start to see serious results. It’s up to you to get the most out of your workouts. See you next time!