These are the 5 most common mistakes when building muscle.

The reasons for the desire to build muscle are manifold. For some, a muscular body is considered a beauty ideal; for others, it is primarily about health and a pain-free musculoskeletal system. But no matter what the goals behind it are, the principles of muscle building work the same for everyone. Although the path to a muscular body often sounds simple in theory, many fail to implement it. To avoid frustration and anger, we uncover the most common muscle-building mistakes.

What is important for muscle building?

Before we take a closer look at the most common muscle-building mistakes, let's briefly review the most important points for building more muscle:

Broadly speaking, you have to pay attention to two essential points when building muscle: training and nutrition. Through the stimuli you set during strength training, you inflict minimal damage to your muscles, which your body repairs after training with the help of the nutrients you absorb through food.

During this repair process, your muscles become thicker than before and grow. Even if this sounds easy at first, there are some mistakes that you should definitely avoid to ensure your training success.

Mistake #1: You exercise without a plan

A training plan not only helps you structure your workouts and integrate them into your everyday life, but it's also important to keep track of your progress. It is best to consult trained trainers who can put together your personal training plan. Together with professionals and a structured plan, you will achieve your goal much faster and more efficiently. In this way, you will also quickly notice when your muscle growth and strength increase stagnate and when you should change your plan.

Mistake #2: Doing the Wrong Muscle Building Exercises

A training plan is only effective if it contains the right exercises. Many who start new with training and fitness initially concentrate heavily on endurance training. This is not bad in principle, but the muscles do not grow from it, as cardio is better suited for losing weight .

On the other hand, to stimulate muscle growth, you should focus on heavy strength training. Choose the exercises so that you can cover all major muscle groups with your training plan. Especially at the beginning of your fitness journey, isolation exercises – those that only train a specific muscle – should be the exception rather than the rule.

Mistake #3: Your recovery breaks are too short

If you train hard, you must also take breaks. You should give your body sufficient recovery time both between your training sessions and between the individual repetition sets. Only during breaks do your muscles have the chance to build up and grow new tissue.

If the recovery periods are too short, your performance and the weight you can move will decrease. To find the ideal recovery time for your body, it's best to work with a trained fitness coach.

Mistake #4: You don't enjoy training

This muscle-building mistake may sound trivial at first, but lack of enjoyment is one of the main reasons why people don't reach their training goals and stop exercising after a short time. So if you don't enjoy strength training, it may not be the right sport for you. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of sports disciplines, so almost everyone can find the right sport for themselves.

Mistake #5: You're not eating right

One point that is often neglected in the desire for more muscles, but is just as important as strength training, is nutrition. For example, if you train hard but eat too few calories, you won't be able to build muscle. Instead, the body's own reserves are reduced to cover the increased energy consumption.

However, it is not only important to eat enough calories, but also what foods you consume.

One nutrient that is particularly important is protein. Proteins are the building blocks of all our cells, and since the body does not have a protein store, it is important to constantly absorb them through the diet. The basic rule is that you should consume 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. When exercising, and especially when you want to build muscle, this amount can increase to 1.5 to 2 grams.

In addition to protein, your body also needs enough carbohydrates to ensure you have energy for training.

How to build muscle fast

To build muscle fast, you need to train hard and eat right. Take on heavy weights and push yourself to your limits. But make sure that you first master the right technique. It's best to get help from a fitness and training specialist.

When it comes to nutrition, the recommendation for macronutrient distribution is:

To find out how many grams of carbohydrates you should consume daily, some calculations are necessary. The first step is to determine your daily calorie requirements using a calorie calculator. Our sports scientist Nico explains in his guide how to use the calorie calculator to build muscle .

These are the best foods for building muscle

We now know that it takes protein and enough calories to support muscle building. Foods that are particularly high in protein include:

A widespread myth that has solidified in our minds over the years claims that we absolutely need meat to build muscle. But building muscle with a vegetarian diet is just as easy.

It's best to start the day with a large portion of protein for breakfast. For example, you can cover your protein needs quite well with oatmeal , nuts, or seeds. Milk or yogurt are a good addition to this. Or you can grab the sports breakfast from VERIVAL, which is rich in plant-based proteins and provides optimal energy for sports.