We hear loads of advice and guidance on what to do to build up muscle but much of it is conflicting. For that reason we are going to clear up a few things right now about what not to do to build up muscles. Here we go, 7 things not to do when trying to build muscle up:

1) Train for more than 45 minutes. training longer than this can actually inhibit muscle gains because at this point a hormone is produced that limits the muscle building process, train for less than 45 minutes and the hormones level is about correct for building muscle.

2) Eat lots of all types of food. Often you hear people say to eat as much of everything as you possibly can. Well of course we need extra calories to add muscle mass but do you really believe that stuffing yourself full of E numbers, fatty red meats, fast food, simple carbs (sugars) and so on is going to be healthy for you long term. Of course not, stick to sensible nutritious foods and you will put on lean muscle mass and save your body from long term health problems too.

3) Isolation muscle building exercises. That refers to exercises such as tricep presses that place focus on one individual muscle alone. This is not a very efficient use of either your energy or time. Stick to multi joint exercises like presses, squats, pull ups and so on. Muscle growth is triggered in more than just one muscle at a time.

4) Do not ignore aerobic exercise. I’m sure you have heard that you should steer clear of aerobic stuff as it consumes valuable calories that could be put towards building muscle. yes this is true but come on there is a sensible balance here. Sure get big but do you want to be huge and not be able to walk up a few flights of stairs without panting. For long term health include aerobic exercise 2-3 times a week in your program and eat more calories to make up for this energy use-age.

5) Change exercises too much. You may know that variety ensures muscles keep growing, that is correct but naturally at the same time not letting your muscles establish an exercise rhythm can also limit your progress that you might otherwise make. train with a new exercise for at least 8 weeks before changing it.

6) Over train. A major cause of limited muscle building progress is over training. The majority of people will make good gains from just two workouts a week.

7) Give in. Too many people give up when their muscle growth slows down. This is the exact time when you should be rising to the challenge and training with more intensity, paying attention to muscle building nutrition and showing determination.

Go get massive!

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