Why is muscle gain so hard?

Growth takes patience, commitment and courage, and it deserves to be acknowledged. 

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I have recently been on a bulking phase. I completed that phase right after Christmas and now on a maintenance for a little while, preparing myself for another cut.

The benefits of bulking

I loved being able to lift heavy, move really well, eat lots of food, but the truth is, I also knew it was going to be hard emotionally. Gaining muscle means you have to be in a calorie surplus, that’s the only way to build muscle, but everyone’s too scared to do it. Why? Because being in a calorie surplus also means you’ll gain some fat.

The down sides to bulking though….

Do I like how I look now? No, but it’s a part of a process I’m happy to embrace in order to build strength and muscle. Building muscle isn’t as simple as lifting heavy so when people ask “how to build muscle fast”, there really aren’t any short cuts, you have to put in the work, and most importantly, you have to be willing to eat more food or enter a surplus especially if you’re already quite lean.

But what about ‘cutting?’

Going in a cut might give you that muscle definition you want (if there is already muscle underneath), but…. and this is a huge BUT….. it will also likely cause you to lose muscle and strength. Is there an in between? Well not really because you either want to lose fat or you want to gain muscle, you simply have to choose what your priorities are at that particular time and follow that path. Simply put, if you decide to cut, you have to accept some muscle loss and weakness, and if you bulk you have to accept some fat gain.

It isn’t the end of the world.

If you’re reading this and thinking how unfair the world is right now, I’m with you. Progress however isn’t linear. So if you look at some of my photos from when I first started cutting, I went so small, yes there was some muscle definition but looking that lean and that small really isn’t my thing, on the other hand I look plump right now, I’m actually wearing some of my maternity pants. Yup, you read that right. Im so big now I’m in super stretchy pants. Ugh. Its pretty uncomfortable. I feel like links of sausages when I wear some old clothes, not a good look.

Lift heavy weights, eat enough for fuel and all is coming.

The answer is to keep going, don’t give up.

Growth takes patience, work and in some cases courage. I know so many women who only care about being skinny and that’s ok as long as they aren’t jeopardizing their health but if you’re going for that lean look, then really what you are after is more muscle, and the best way to do that is to build it. 

Don’t be afraid of change, embrace it. Your goals this year might be to lose fat, eat healthier and move better. Working towards those goals at first will seem challenging, but if the pandemic has taught us anything, its that we are resilient and tough AF. So if you survived 2020, this year you can do even better. Lets go.