Stagnation in muscle building is a common problem in a muscle building programme. Anyone who trains regularly will experience a period of stagnation at one time or another. What causes muscle stagnation? What solutions should be adopted to overcome it and therefore continue to progress. We have selected for you the best techniques to help you advance in your fight.
Muscle stagnation: what are the main causes?
In the field of bodybuilding, we speak of stagnation when the athlete is no longer able to develop his muscles despite the sports activities he exercises or the diet he follows to the nearest centigram. Stagnation is manifested by a decrease in strength and a halt in muscle development.
There are several reasons for muscle stagnation. It is up to you to see which one is closest to your case in order to adapt the ideal solution to your case later on.
Excessive training: Stagnation in muscle gain can be caused by overtraining. The athlete wants to improve his performance as soon as possible, so he adds to his training times. This is a completely false concept. It takes time for the body to break down the muscles and reform them according to the demands of the athlete.
Also with intense efforts, the body needs a lot of rest to recover. If you make too much physical effort and forget to let your muscles rest for a few days, they will not progress. As a general rule, training each muscle or muscle group once a week is sufficient to give them enough time to recover.
Food balance: Building muscle means first gaining weight and then transforming it into muscle mass through intense sports activities. In order to achieve sufficient weight, the body must be provided with the calories it needs on a daily basis.
The athlete must therefore use a calculation basis in order not to make a mistake in calculating the necessary caloric requirements. Proteins, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fatty acids, these are all elements that must be present in the right amount in your diet. If one of these elements is lacking, muscle gain may stagnate, as each of these elements plays a vital role in the proper functioning of the body.
Training planning: If training stagnates, muscle development also tends to stagnate. In order to progress, you must try to do better in each exercise session. For example, you can try to do one more repetition in each set than you did before. You can also add extra weights to your barbell.
The choice of exercises to do: For each muscle or muscle group to be developed, there is already a suitable exercise series. As long as you have not made progress with a particular set of exercises, do not exchange it for other sets, under the pretext of wanting to diversify them. It is the intense and repetitive efforts that build muscle. If you change the exercise sets all the time, your body will not be able to adapt to the rhythm you impose on it. Hence the stagnation of muscle gain.
Putting pressure on yourself: you want to build muscle so badly that you impose a draconian lifestyle on yourself. It is not by wanting to go fast that you will develop your muscles. Bodybuilding is a whole process in which psychological state, physical exercise, diet and rest each play a specific role. It is an art that requires a lot of patience and determination.
Some tips for overcoming stagnation
Stagnation does not affect long-time practitioners, but very often beginners. It occurs after only a few months of training. Here are some tips to avoid it.
Define your own training programme: to make better progress in your muscle building programme, start by defining your own programme. Do not compare yourself to other exercisers.
It's hard enough to follow a program set by the gym. The concept of instinctual training is becoming more and more popular. It consists of listening to the body and setting up exercise series according to your own needs.
Vary the loads: It only takes a few weeks for the body to get used to the sets of exercises you do at each session. Once your body is used to it, it stagnates.
Doing a programme with the same loads for weeks or months is unproductive work. You always feel tired after the effort, even though you have not achieved anything during the workout. In order to progress, it is necessary to take increasingly heavy loads during weight training exercises. By increasing the load, you will gain both muscle and strength.
The importance of sleep and recovery: The recovery period is not only about letting the muscles rest, but also about giving the body time to recharge and repair the damage caused by training.
It is mainly during sleep that the body rests and regenerates. A lack of sleep can prevent you from excelling in your physical efforts. As far as muscles are concerned, a muscle that has been worked today needs at least a week's rest before it can be worked again.
Do not neglect nutrition: In order to provide for all the muscles in your body, you must increase your food intake. If at the beginning you have been eating three regular meals a day, as you go through your training programme you need to add extra snacks. The fatty acids and amino acids that your body needs can be compensated for with nutritional supplements that are well adapted to your needs.
