Ten mistakes in the bulkhead

Surely you love prolonged cardio workouts, strict dieting, dry rice and non-fat unseasoned water-based meals. You can't get enough of the wavy carbohydrate reduction, and you find walking past past pastry shops and pizzerias a pleasant test of your iron will. Well, maybe you only cultivate this masochism with a strain of will and secretly look forward to off-season training. We'll deal with that now.

Off-season training means a time for gaining muscle mass and a time of energy intake equal to the output of a small nuclear power plant. However, increasing caloric intake and gaining muscle mass, preferably until thermonuclear fusion ignites, does not mean eating cake and bacon. Muscle adepts make many mistakes that then cost them a lot of time and effort when the summer days return. It may even cost them their next progression. Of course, they can be avoided, it often just takes a little. In fact, staying clean in terms of caloric intake is just as important as losing fat later on.

With that principle in mind, we can look at the ten most common mistakes you can make during the bulking phase.

1. Clean eating

The biggest mistake during the muscle gain phase is usually the "eat what I can reach" strategy. Gaining muscle mass is no excuse for going to candy stores and fast food joints, which we were strictly forbidden to do during competition training or our "beach" season. On the other hand, why not indulge in some forbidden food from time to time. However, controlling what we eat in terms of "healthy foods" is still an important principle.

2. Insufficient caloric intake

If you want to grow, you have to eat. It's simple. If you gain muscle, you will also gain fat, get over it. You don't have to worry about fat in the off-season, it's in the off-season that you should make the most progress in developing muscle mass. Precisely because you are still taking in a preponderance of calories from "clean" food, you may want to allow yourself to pick up a little fat for greater development.

3. Skipping cardio

Not performing cardio makes sense during periods when you want to gain muscle mass and avoid excessive energy expenditure. The problem is that at the same time you reduce cardio, you reduce your appetite. That's why you should maintain your 3 x 20 minutes of cardio per week. Cardio will increase your appetite and so you will take in more of the essential building blocks for your goal. Plus, you'll strengthen your cardiovascular system, which will also help you with the important reps of your strength training.

4. Overtraining with cardio

On the other hand, the same problem as skipping cardio altogether is over-training aerobically. The result will be the inability to put on the amount of muscle mass we would like to put on. We need to always keep in mind to maintain a balance between the goal of gaining muscle mass and reaping the positives of incorporating cardio.

5. Insufficient carbohydrate intake

Adequate carbohydrate intake is terribly important especially during the period of gaining muscle mass. Carbohydrates provide you with energy for your workout and throughout the day. Among other things, they can make you stronger during your workout and handle the entire workout without any problems.

6. Without a goal

Everyone has their weak point in developing certain muscle groups. Unfortunately, many trainees focus most on the parts they have no problem with, the ones they are "good at". If you are not sure, ask your training partner or gym buddies for example, they will be happy to show you your weak areas.

7. Chaos in the menu schedule

The best option is to take in calories in the form of a meal every 2-3 hours. Your body will take in enough building blocks throughout the day. There are still quite a few people who skip some of that meal and then eat twice as much. In fact, if you don't supply your body with energy and necessary substances regularly, it will draw energy by consuming your muscle mass. Overeating after 5-6 hours won't help. If you are unable to keep to a schedule of one of your meals for some reason, at least use the quicker option of supplementing with a gainer shake.

8. Excessive use of machines

Machines give an excellent opportunity to add muscle definition, but they should not be used primarily for building mass. Free weights suit far better. Of course, you will include machines. But at the beginning of your workout, give preference to free weights on a large barbell.

9. Obsession with the weight scale

When you focus on gaining muscle mass, it's easy to become obsessed with your body weight machine. Some people fall right off the scale and are able to weigh themselves every hour. This results in trying to overeat to get the needle of the device to move upwards. The problem with this is that by doing so, you will put on much more fat than necessary. Better than weighing yourself will be watching your form in the mirror. But try not to fall into the same obsession as when you weigh yourself. Taking your shirt off every time you pass a mirror is not the goal.

10. Training too often

Once you become obsessed with adding volume, you may tend to train more often. As a result, you allow your body too little time to recover between workouts. Paradoxically, you rob yourself of potential progress in your efforts.