Studies have shown that the result of muscle growth doesn't depend only on heavy lifting but rather on a cooperative interaction between training, nutrition, and recovery. In fact, there is evidence that with proper nutrition and consistent lifting, significant increases in muscle size (~12% gain in cross-sectional area) and strength (~20% gain) can be achieved after only 12 weeks of resistance exercise (Journal of Applied Physiology). And even with frequent workouts, most people still can not realize their desired gains. Why is this the case?
The fact of the matter is, people make small but damaging mistakes that cost them in the long run! Whether it is underestimating calorie needs, neglecting rest, or rushing through workouts with poor form, these are habits that can hinder the seeing of palatable results.
Whether you've wondered, "Why am I not gaining muscle?" you are not alone. The good news is that you can fix most of these mistakes with thought and care. We'll take a look at some of the most common stumbling blocks and how to navigate them so that you can start making real progress.
Signs You're Not Gaining Muscle
It's not always easy to tell if you are really gaining muscle or just working hard and wasting your time and energy. Here are a few things to look for:
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No noticeable size or strength improvements – If you've been lifting for months and still look the same, something is off. For example, if your biceps are the same size after three months of curls, then it’s probably time to take a look at what you're eating and how you’re training.
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Clothes fit the same – If you're actually just gaining muscle, then before long, your favourite T-shirt should fit a little snug around the shoulders and chest. If it still fits the same as Day 1, that may mean little progress.
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Lack of progress in the gym – If you're using the same weights for the same reps week in and week out, I can guarantee that your muscles are not recycling enough tension to grow.
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Feeling perpetually tired or sore with no results – Being sore doesn't always mean you're going to build muscle. If you are always tired and nothing is happening, it either means you are overtraining or aren't giving yourself enough time to recover between workouts, or that your nutrition isn't adequate.
Now if any of these sound like you, do not lose hope: It doesn't mean it's all over yet. It merely means you get to analyze and sharpen.
7 Common Muscle Building Mistakes and Fixes
When it comes to building muscle, most people aren't held back by lack of effort—it's the small, often overlooked details that make the biggest difference. Let's break down the most common mistakes that stall progress and how you can fix them.
1. Not Eating Enough Calories
An important reason that so many people have difficulty adding muscle mass is that they are not consuming enough calories. This idea might sound counterintuitive at first, but then again, when people conceptualize "getting in shape", they also tend to think about eating less food. But when the goal is to grow muscle, it's not.
To repair those muscle fibers that you tear down while training, your body needs a constant supply of nutrients. If you aren't feeding it enough calories, then you're asking it to build muscle out of nothing. think of it as trying to build a house when you don't have enough bricks - no matter how hard the construction crew works, there's not going to be much progress made.
That doesn't mean you can go hog wild eating whatever you want and a bunch of junk food, but it does mean that you are going to have to eat in a controlled surplus. For example, if your maintenance calories are around 2,500 calories a day, then consume between 2,700 and 2,800 calories as a starting point. How do you make up for that extra couple of hundred calories? It might be as easy as a protein shake, an avocado, or a serving of oats added to your usual meals.
Not to mention, the last thing you should worry about is that those extra calories will immediately turn into flab. When you are a regular strength trainer and lead an active life, your body uses that energy to grow new muscle for the sprints and recover from the lifting session, as opposed to storing it around the waist.
2. Not Getting Enough Protein
Calories are important, of course, but protein is what actually rebuilds and strengthens your muscles. If you don't consume enough protein, your muscles can't adequately recover from training, and the lack of recovery means a halt in results. A lot of people think they eat enough protein, only to find out that they barely hit more than half of the goal.
And as a general rule of thumb, shoot for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Research from the International Society of Sports Nutrition supports this approach, recommending 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for those engaged in regular resistance training to maximize muscle growth and recovery.
For example, if your weight is 170 lbs, you need between 120-170 grams of protein per day. And you might think that 4 grams is a lot — but it’s easy to work into your meals. For breakfast, that might mean eggs or Greek yogurt; for lunch, chicken or tofu, and, in the evening, salmon or lean beef – plus snacks like protein bars or cottage cheese to bridge the gap between meals.
If you always reach your protein intake, then you're going to recover faster and have less soreness and more muscle mass.
3. Training Too Light—or Too Heavy
Another mistake people also make when lifting is that they are either too comfortable or lift weights that are too heavy. If you've been performing the same exercises with the same dumbbells for months, and you haven't increased your repetitions or weight lately, your body will carry on as is. On the other hand, trying to lift too much weight many times results in bad form, which takes the focus off your muscles and puts it on your joints.
The best method is called progressive overload—slowly increasing the difficulty over time. It could be… Adding 5 lbs to your squat a week from now, doing one more rep on the bench, resting less between sets. This gradual yet steady increment in resistance cues your body to adapt and grow new muscles.
4. Skipping Compound Movements
It's so simple to focus on isolation movements (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and calf raises) — even more so when you consider these work the muscles that have the most front-facing appearance in the mirror. But not doing those compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull ups is a big opportunity missed in terms of gains.
Compound lifts use multiple muscle groups at the same time, which means you can shift more weight - stimulating growth across the board. This is where the right equipment can save you — with a Smith Machine or Power Rack to give that stability and safety. You can train with progressively heavier weights without sacrificing good form. Consider these strength-training foundation pieces.
Once you develop a good base with the compound lifts, then you can incorporate isolation workouts to help shape your body. For instance, if you can do bodyweight pushups easily enough but want to dramatically increase the strength in your chest, it is unlikely that doing a lot more pushups will achieve much compared to bench pressing inside a power rack.
5. Overlooking Recovery
Here's something many people forget: muscles don’t actually grow in the gym—they grow afterward, when your muscles are in a state of rest and recovery. Every time you lift weights, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Your body repairs these tears during recovery, and that's what makes your muscles stronger.
The common misguided belief that more training results in more gains prompts most to train themselves to death every day of the week and wonder why they're constantly tired, burned out, or lifting the same weights for years on end. The truth is that without the necessary recovery time, the body simply doesn’t have enough time to repair and adapt.
Your rest day is not a lazy day — it's actually a growth day. Ignoring them only leads to overtraining, performance plateau, and, in some cases, injuries, which will only hinder the progress more than a single day off ever would.
Don't feel guilty if you need time to recover — it's part of training. Get quality sleep, eat the right foods to fuel your body, and add some gentle exercise like Yoga stretching or a walk to keep the muscles moving, but not overdo.
6. Inconsistent Training
Inconsistent workout is not bad, but one of the biggest secret barriers to success. It’s fine to crush it at the gym for two weeks, but then if you miss the next three, your body never gets a chance to find its rhythm. People are going to have different rates of muscle growth as building muscle is a slow and steady process, which involves prolonged hard work in the gym or at home.
Better to be on a schedule you can midwife through for the next few months than work on a hardcore foster system and give it up in two weeks. Now think about what is realistic for you: Can you physically get to the gym/studio three times a week fairly consistently? If it is, that consistency will take you much farther than a short stretch of overtraining and then burnout.
Pro tip: consider creating your own home gym tailored to your goals. Having your own setup makes it easier to stay consistent—no excuses, no skipped sessions.
7. Sloppy Form
Last but not least, there is bad form, which is one of the biggest reasons for stalling when building muscle. If you have to start swinging the weights, bouncing the bar off your chest, or rushing through reps, just to complete them, you're not accurately working the muscles as they are supposed to be worked. Even worse, you are setting yourself up for chronic injuries that could end your training entirely.
Good form is not how you look; it's about being in control. Slowing the tempo, bracing mindfully, and generating controlled contraction will always serve you better, as opposed to piling up the bar with weights and just doing a set. You get more if you do two sets of 30 reps than one single rep of five seconds or so, 10 close, controlled repetitions of an exercise are better for strength than doing 20 + rapid, sloppy ones!
If you're not sure of your form, record yourself lifting or pay a coach to assess your technique. A couple of tweaks now could make all the difference in your progress and also ensure that you don't destroy your joints.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to building muscle, there is no quick fix and very rarely do we get things right the first time. You have to consistently do the work, put the right fuel in your body, plan for when you lift, and take care of your body between lifting sessions.” All of us struggled to begin (not eating enough, not doing major lifts, too much done poorly over too long periods), but what makes a difference is when you can pinpoint your bad habits early and gradually replace them with good ones.
Stay consistent, continue to learn, and know that gains take months to years, not a few weeks. Get the basics down, avoid repetition of some common mistakes, and you'll likely surprise yourself at how much stronger and more stable you can become.
At Major Fitness, we're here to support your journey — explore our training guides and high-quality home gym equipment to overcome plateaus and build the muscle you're working for.