5 Mistakes Most Young Bodybuilders Make When Trying to Build Muscle

Last Updated on June 3, 2023

In this article I am going to share with you 5 of the most common mistakes that young, and some older, bodybuilders make that stops their muscle building efforts dead in their tracks. These 5 mistakes can cause a lot of wasted time, effort and energy and cause so many bodybuilders frustration, discouragement and disappointment.

Do your best to avoid these 5 mistakes and you will be well on your way to accelerating your gains by unblocking any obstacles in your path to muscle building success.

1. Overtraining

This has to be one of the most common mistakes young beginner natural bodybuilders make and that is overtraining. It takes time to build muscle and unfortunately most do not see results as quickly as they would like. Heck, none of us see results as quickly as we would like but experienced and intelligent bodybuilders know that it is a process that takes time and that does not happen overnight. Unfortunately for those impatient and uneducated who want results now fall into the misconception and false belief that more is better. And then by adopting this belief they end up training more often, for longer periods of time, performing more exercises and more sets than is necessary or required to effectively stimulate muscles growth. Not only does this not lead to greater gains and results but it actually works against the person by entering a state of overtraining which is beyond the point that the body can effectively recover from. Stimulate don’t Annihilate!

2. Not Consuming Enough Protein & Calories

So many beginners and young would be bodybuilders fail to realise or appreciate just how much protein and how many calories they need to grow and to gain weight, especially the Hardgainers amongst us! You can train as much, as hard and as well as you like but without enough quality calories and enough lean protein your muscles will never ever grow. Training and exercise is merely a stimulant to cause the adaptation or growth within any given muscle tissue but for the growth and adaptation to occur you must supply your body with the nutrient, the raw materials, to grow. Without adequate protein and calories it becomes like trying to build a house without any bricks or materials, no amount of effort and hard work will change anything!

3. Lack of Recovery

This goes hand in hand with mistake number one of overtraining but is a separate mistake in itself. Your muscles do not grow while you are training, your muscles grow when you are resting, especially when you are sleeping. Training and exercise is stressful and strenuous to the body and it is also catabolic, meaning it breaks the body down. This is not a bad thing, in fact this is the very thing that stimulates the body, your muscles, to adapt. However this can only occur if you give the body and your muscles adequate amounts of quality rest because this is when your body (provided it has an adequate amount of quality nutrients) will become anabolic, which means the body is building up. This anabolic state is when the muscles will repair and grow due to anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. Without proper adequate amounts of quality rest and recovery time then the body will never have enough time in an anabolic (building up) state which is when the muscles grow. Your goal as a bodybuilder should be to create an anabolic state as much as possible to encourage and allow maximum muscle growth after training.

4. Poor Mindset

Most people underestimate the power of the mind. Both mind and body are so complexly connected that very few realise the impact and the influence the mind has on the body. For example if an individual has a strong limiting belief about what is possible regarding the potential of their physical body and the amount of muscle they can effectively gain naturally (without performance enhancing drugs) this greatly affects the amount of growth, size and strength they will ever actually achieve. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. And then on the flip side if an individual has an unwavering belief about how much they know they can gain by training and eating naturally then they inevitably perform better and make greater gains. In fact I can guarantee you that the best natural bodybuilders in the world have the best mindsets, attitude and psychology about what is possible. Give up your doubts and adopt an empowering belief about what is possible for you!

5. Copying the Wrong People

Mistake number 5 is also very common amongst young beginners but again also amongst some more experienced and veteran bodybuilders and that is copying the wrong people. And when I say the wrong people I mean those who have either superior genetics or who have chosen the path of performance enhancement drugs to aid their training and their gains. The reason I refer to these as the wrong people to copy is not because I am implying there is anything bad or wrong with their training techniques etc… clearly they have worked well for them but that does not mean they will work well for you. Most bodybuilders in their early years fall into the trap of copying the biggest, the strongest or the best conditioned guys at their gym or the professionals they see in the magazines. These are the wrong people top copy because what has worked for them will probably not produce the same level of results for you and is a huge mistake to copy them. If you do not have superior genetics and are pursing a natural drug free career or lifestyle in bodybuilding then you should copy or model the best natural and genetically less gifted bodybuilder who have achieved incredible levels of muscular size and conditioning. You must discover what will work for you individual body type!

OK these are 5 of the most common mistakes that stop so many bodybuilders from ever achieving anywhere near their full genetic potential and causes so much pain and heart ache that many either quite all together while others will turn to performance enhancing drugs in an attempt to accelerate gains when in truth they could have seen far greater results by simply avoiding these 5 mistakes.

Reference:
http://www.gymworkoutchart.com/2017/05/21/5-mistakes-young-bodybuilders-make-trying-build-muscle/