They say that “showing up” is half the battle when it comes to getting into shape. Maybe so, but it won’t necessarily make you stronger or more defined. To get stronger, you must challenge your muscles enough to force them to grow, and, particularly for women, you have to lift with enough intensity to create change when you resistance train.
Muscles only grow or become stronger when they’re exposed to more stress than they’re accustomed to. When you overload a muscle, you damage the muscle fibers at a microscopic level. Once damaged, your body has to work to repair that damage and make your muscles more capable of handling the future stress you place on them. Stress is a wake-up call for your muscles, a sign that they can no longer be complacent. They must grow!
How do muscles grow larger and stronger? Growth is initiated through a cellular process that involves satellite cells. Basically what happens is satellite cells fuse with muscle fibers, donating their nuclei to fibers to form new myofibrils. Myofibrils are the component of muscle that contains the contractile elements, actin, and myosin that make muscle contraction possible. One way muscles grow and become stronger is by forming new myofibrils, although neurological adaptations are also involved in strength gains. Behind the scenes, a number of growth factors play a support role in muscle development, including testosterone and growth hormone. All in all, new myofibrils mean greater strength and size.
The factor that sets this magnificent sequence of events into motion is resistance training, working your muscles against resistance and that means ENOUGH resistance. Are YOU using enough resistance to make your muscles change or are you stuck in a training rut? Here are five signs that you’re not.
You Can Do More Than 12 Reps When You Resistance Train
If you’re using a weight that allows you to do more than 12 reps, you’re training mainly for muscle endurance, not for hypertrophy or strength gains. As such, you can’t expect to see improvements in strength and very little or no hypertrophy unless you’re doing enough reps to cause the muscle to fail – and with a light weight that can take a long time. How can you correct this? For muscle growth, increase the challenge by picking a weight you can only lift 6 to 10 reps, and if your primary goal is strength development, select a weight you can lift no more than 2 to 5 reps.
You’re Not Progressing
You shouldn’t be using the same weight and doing the same number of reps you did three months ago. Muscles grow through progressive overload, gradually increasing the stress you place on them in a controlled manner. When you first start lifting a weight that’s heavier than you’ve lifted before, you force the muscle to adapt to handle that load. Unfortunately, once it adapts, you won’t see further change until you again subject the muscle to more stress than it’s accustomed to. That means increasing the resistance you’re using, increasing the volume, or otherwise adjusting the load you place on the muscle. Progression is the name of the game when you resistance train.
You Aren’t Seeing Visible Progress When You Resistance Train
If your body isn’t changing or you aren’t getting stronger, that’s a sign you need to evaluate how much weight you’re working with and whether you’re doing enough volume. Of course, poor nutrition – insufficient protein or calories – might be the problem, but another possibility is you aren’t lifting a resistance that’s challenging enough to change your body or doing enough volume to greater an anabolic environment that promotes growth. That’s where keeping a training journal comes in handy. How will you know if you’re making progress unless you hold yourself accountable?
You NEVER Get Sore When You Resistance Train
Delayed onset muscle soreness isn’t always an indicator of progress or lack thereof, but if you’re not feeling the burn when you train or the soreness after AT ALL, the challenge probably isn’t enough to initiate growth and strength gains. On the other hand, you shouldn’t feel sore every time you train, nor should you max out on every workout. The key is to push your muscles to near failure on some sets. One way to do that is to push to failure on the last set of each exercise on some days, so your muscles get the benefit of being maximally challenged without becoming overtrained.
You No Longer FEEL Challenged Resistance Train
If your workout feels easy, that’s a sign you’re not using enough weight or doing enough volume. If you’ve ever seen serious bodybuilders at a gym, it doesn’t look like they’re having an easy time of it. When they lift, their faces are contorted and strange, preternatural sounds, or even some profanity, comes out of their mouths as they try to eke out a final rep. Although some of that is probably for show, a weight training workout shouldn’t feel easy unless it’s a planned light day. If it consistently feels easy, don’t expect to see significant gains in muscle size or strength. It won’t happen until you increase the resistance. It’s easy to get comfortable with the workout you’ve always done and stick with the “same old, same old,” but that’s called stagnation. Give your muscles a reason to burn – and a reason to grow.
The Bottom Line
Even if you aren’t guilty of these five progress destroyers, you still won’t make gains unless you give your muscles sufficient rest between sessions (at least 48 hours) AND consume enough protein and calories. Without the proper building blocks (amino acids), growth can’t happen. Restricting calories excessively sends your body into a catabolic state, which stymies muscle growth. To make size gains, you need to focus on nutrition as closely as you do your weight training program. Just as you keep a training journal, a nutritional journal can help you stay on track as well.
Keep these things in mind if you’re struggling to make gains. Getting better results could be as simple as increasing the weight you’re using.
References:
IDEA Health and Fitness. “How Do Muscles Grow?”
Related Articles By Cathe:
Why You Can Benefit from High-Rep Resistance Training
5 Tips for Working with Heavy Weights
5 Biggest Myths about Female Strength Training
Strength Training: Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Lifting Heavy
Are Some People Non-Responders to Strength Training?
Power Up Your Strength Training Gains with Giant Sets
Advanced Strength Training Using a Rest-Pause Approach
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