Why you’re not getting ripped

You treat McDonald burgers as if it were your nemesis, and booze is only reserved for social gatherings. You grind hard in the gym and use a mixture of both cardio and resistance training, yet you still wondered why you don’t look like Adonis.

What has gone haywire actually? Is it because your diet is not clean enough? Or is it because you didn’t win the genetic lottery? Believe it or not, none of the reasons listed above are to be blamed, as the way you train might be the major culprit that’s preventing you from achieving an aesthetic physique.

Reason 1 : Excessive Cardio

Most people choose to perform steady bout of cardio exercises to help them burn fat. It’s partly due to the fact that they’ve overheard people around them saying that the body used more fat when exercising at a slower pace compared to an intense workout.

The idea itself isn’t wrong, but we have to look at the bigger picture: High intensity exercises help elevating the metabolism and keeps it high throughout the day, so even though you are burning more fats while jogging on a treadmill, the afterburn effect that you get from intense bout of interval training will burn more calories in the long run.

The elevated metabolic rate can last up to 24 hours after the HIIT session, even while you’re not doing anything. However, keep in mind that doing it too often will burn you out quickly, so remember to take your daily dose of amino acids to help speed up the recovery process.

Reason 2 : Too Many Isolation Exercises

If the majority of the exercises in your workout routine consist of isolation movement, it’s time to take a step back and redesign your workout.

Heavy compound movements should be the staple of your workout routine, as it allows you to use a much heavier weight compared to isolation exercises. Doing so will stimulate more muscle fiber, allowing you to pre-fatigue the muscles before finishing them off with isolation movements.

On the contrary, if you were to prioritize isolation exercises, smaller muscle groups will be exhausted before you attempt to lift heavier weights, which translates into a less efficient workout.

Our bodies are designed to move as an integrated unit in all planes of motion, and central nervous system (CNS) can only properly recruit the agonist, antagonist, synergist, and stabilizer if the training is geared towards functional strength and neuromuscular efficiency.

Reason 3 : Not Lifting Heavy Enough

How heavy you lift is correlated to which type of muscle fiber that’s being stimulated.

Our skeletal muscles can be divided into 2 types: fast-twitch muscle fibers and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers provide the power needed to sustain a longer period of activities. It also creates a lower force output and contracts slower compared to fast twitch muscle fibers.

On the other hand, fast twitch muscle fibers can be further divided into 2 groups – also known as type IIx & IIa. Type IIx contains a high number of glycolytic enzymes, which are useful to power your body under anaerobic capacity. They’re also the largest and fastest type of muscle fibers found within the human body.

The second type of fast twitch muscle fibers is known as IIa fiber. These muscle fibers are between slow twitch and type IIx fibers. They’re mainly used for activities that involve the display of strength and power for a longer period – up to 3 minutes in well-trained athletes.

The optimal rep range to stimulate fast twitch muscle fiber is in the range of 6 – 12 reps. Ideally, there should be little to no energy left in your tank to pump out one more rep, and you should feel tired but not exhausted after exercising.