Why YOUR Muscles Aren't Growing (And How to FIX IT)

“Why am I not building muscle?”—have you ever asked that? Well, building muscle is easy…. If you’re a brand new beginner. Past the “newbie gains” stage, building muscle becomes disproportionately harder, especially as a natural. This is why many people, no matter how hard they work in the gym or how well they eat, just seem like they’re not making gains anymore. Unfortunately, you can’t brute force your way past this. Beyond basic fixes like “eat enough food” or “get enough sleep”, you not gaining muscle comes down to 1 reason. Here, I reveal what the no.1 reason why you’re not gaining muscle and how to build muscle by modifying your training to instantly make it far more effective at building muscle (i.e., winning tips to build muscle).

Click below to find a step by step program that uses science to help you build lean muscle and burn off fat:

Click below to subscribe for more videos:

First, we have to understand how a muscle actually grows in order to take advantage of it. Historically, there were 3 mechanisms that everyone conceived as driving muscle growth. However, as more research was conducted over time, it became evident the science and reasoning behind some of these mechanisms was quite flawed. Unfortunately, most people, including many trainers, weren’t made aware of this. As a result, many people still train ineffectively, resulting in them not gaining muscle in the long-term. So what are these 3 mechanisms? And which of them are no longer reliable?

The first mechanism, muscle damage, represents actual damage, known as microtrauma, that training can cause to muscle cells. This damage causes a reactive inflammatory response in the body which can create muscle soreness, and in theory, causes the muscle to grow bigger in response. The second mechanism is called metabolic stress. This mechanism represents the chemical demands placed on your muscles during training. As you work harder and create more and more build up, your muscles become more acidic, creating a burning sensation in your muscles. The hormonal environment and swelling of the muscle caused by this is theorized to cause muscle growth. Thus, explaining the various tips you’ll see on “chasing the pump” to build muscle. The third and final mechanism is mechanical tension. This represents the tension that’s placed on your muscle as it lengthens and then contracts under load. Generally, the heavier the weights you lift and the greater the range of motion you use to lift them, the more mechanical tension is created.

All 3 mechanisms sound great on paper, but recent research has revealed that we’ve been undermining the importance of 1, way overestimated 1, and- well- were totally wrong about the other. Let’s start with muscle damage. As it turns out, research shows that although muscle damage and soreness will be a byproduct of hard training, trying to get more of it does not lead to more growth, and can in fact hinder it. As for metabolic stress, the available research on shorter rest periods, training to failure, and faster lifting tempos suggest that it simply doesn’t seem to be strongly correlated with hypertrophy. Finally, mechanical tension. This mechanism has withstood the test of time and recent research has only served to reiterate that it is the most important driver for muscle growth. So, if you’re not making gains, you’ll want to structure your workouts such that they maximize mechanical tension. There are 4 modifications you could use.

First, don’t prioritize ‘feeling’ like you made progress, prioritize ACTUALLY making progress. You can do this by sticking with the same exercises week to week and slowly adding more weight and reps to them as you get stronger. Second, rest with purpose. Although optimal rest time highly depends on how taxing the exercise is as well as your training status, a good recommendation is to spend at least 1.5-2 minutes of rest between sets for most of your exercises, with 3 minutes of rest being a good idea for heavy compound movements. Third, increasing mechanical tension is NOT just about going from point A to point B or how much weight you can lift. It’s about HOW you lift that weight from point A to point B. Pay attention to proper form rather than let your ego get the best of you. In addition to that, another thing explaining why you’re not gaining muscle is the lack of mind to muscle connection, so be sure to develop that.

Even if you feel stuck right now, thinking, “Why am I not building muscle?”, apply those 4 modifications to your workouts and you’ll very quickly notice the gains picking back up again. That’s the true power of science.

[JeremyEthier]

Hope you enjoyed this one! See below for a link to the main studies used in the video. Let me know what you'd like to see next! Cheers!

[xerxes]

Rest is the most important part of working out, that is why i rest 7 days a week.

[KavakLPs]

1. Take longer rests between sets
2. How you lift>How much you lift
3. Focus on muscle you are training
4. Training to failure is not as effective as not training to failure

[TonyCanones]

Jeremy, I am 57 year old and have been working out for decades. The gym shutdowns gave me time to reassess my workouts and my approach to fitness. That’s when I found your channel. I replaced my routines with the ones you provide and changed my mindset about working out, including working out 5-6 days a week at 6 am, instead of 45-50 minutes 3 days a week at the end of the day after work. At 57 years of age, I added an inch and a half to my arms and am more muscular and stronger than I had been before. Folks, Jeremy’s recommendations work. Commit to the work and results will follow.

[arshpreetsingh]

5:40 lol, that muscle shock video was gold

[henrylovespies]

Jeremy is the man. No ego, no hype, no false promises or bro science. Just calmly delivered, insightful, and well researched great advice.

[HillySamar]

1. Same excercise, week after week. But keep increasing weights and reps regularly

2. Rest around 2 minutes between sets, may be 3 or more minutes for heavy compound excercises like squats, dead lifts

3. Focus on the negative to increase duration under tension for the muscle. Don’t rush through sets .

4. Mind muscle connection, mentally visualise the expansions and contraction of the targeted muscle

[DanDascalescu-dandv]

Great video! Here's the summary:

What works: (time under) mechanical tension
1. Prioritize progress in weight and reps. Stick with the same exercises. No soreness is good.
2. Take 3+ minutes between compound sets, and 1.5-2 minutes between other sets
3. Always practice good form. Don't bounce. Control the weight down. Don't cut reps short.
4. Focus on the mind-muscle connection

Debunked research / what doesn't work: muscle damage and metabolic stress.
* training to failure
* short rest periods
* fast reps/tempo
* training to muscle damage (the growth is only temporary swelling; true muscle growth only happens after the damage is repaired)

[tristangourdet]

This has to be, probably, the most important and best video that Jeremy has ever done. It’s a video that you may have to watch over and over to remind yourself, throughout the journey of exercising. I know the saying is cliché but trust the process!

[clickyknees]

"If im not sweating everytime I'm working out, im not building muscle" told to me when I was younger. 43yrs old now and this still pops in my head from time to time during my workouts. Reverse ego my brain out of that mind set now days.

[Simon-talks]

Because. I’m laying up, eating Andy Capps hot fries, while watching Jeremy.

[earncredible]

I'm grateful to have seen this video because I felt like I didn't work hard enough yesterday since I don't feel any soreness now. I'll definitely continue working and attain consistency. Thanks Jeremy 💪🏻

[jackywacky]

When I started working out, my two main mistakes were lack of sleep and not eating enough (not being in a caloric surplus). I always thought I was eating enough and was disappointed because my weight stagnated. Then I got my first diet plan created (I think it was from NextLevel Diet). I realised that my previous food intake was way below my needs, although I thought I'm good. At the beginning it was hard to eat 3200 kcal in a day, but I got used to it. I started noticing real gains and it felt amazing. I wish I'd understood the importance of diet earlier.

[eloffski]

Content quality getting better and better bro. You’re videos are so informative and helpful. You got me to 10 pull-ups from 6 in 2 weeks. I’ll be sure to keep watching. 👍

[albyfregoso]

i have been following most of these exact principles since the beginning and i’m glad to hear leaving the gym rather unsatisfied was not due to me simply not working hard enough. i’m only guilty of training to failure, i tend to train to failure during every workout. i’ve been working out for 3 months everyday and i’ve made some noticeable progress. i’ve been struggling with my chest though.

[MarianWLF]

I'm doing calisthenics, and as a rocky, I've made some rocky mistakes, from now on, i will focus quality, and let the high reps for some day in the future, maybe this is the reason why my reps didn't change much in push ups. Thank you man!

[lucyl]

I'm a woman and I love your videos. Each video you post is worth watching. I have learned so much from watching most of your videos. Thank you so much. ❤️🇨🇵

[djtaz]

I'm glad I watched this video. I am in my 3rd well of 4 on 3 off Adding more weight each week. I wasn't sure if we doing this right but you confirmed I'm on the right path. Thanks dude! Keep the videos coming!

[TheMaroth]

I feel like its quirte simple. Train hard enough to get to failure but dont train into it. If you feel like your currept rep doesnt make it, stop it. Dont hurt yourself and you already hit the max at that moment. Finishing that rep just to proove yourself but hurting yourself doesnt benefit anything. I love my legs wobbling after a good legday but do i need it if i know i hit my limits today? No.

[julian]

Progressive overload is what drives the bulk of muscle growth within that 8 to 20 rep range, ur also getting the 40 to 60 seconds of mechanical tension which is optimal. Also with training to failure most guys who say it takes to long to recover from is code for its to hard and i cant do it 😃. Low Volume failure hit training works for me, high volume 3 reps short works for others, do what makes u look forward to training