Why Aren't My Muscles Growing? 5 Fixes for Women

Nikkiey: If you're not consuming enough calories or you're not consuming enough protein, your body may not have the necessary resources to build the muscle that you want.

What's up, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I'm your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to episode number 30 today. Dang, 30, let's go. We're climbing on up there.

Today we're going to talk about why your muscles aren't growing and how to fix it. I'm going to give you five tips, and we're going to dive right into it.

The first one is, most likely, you are incorporating inconsistent or ineffective training. This is one of the most common reasons for lack of progress, you guys, in building muscle and losing body fat. If you're not following a well-structured workout routine, or if you're not pushing yourself hard enough during your workouts, you probably will not see the results that you're looking for. Your muscles are not receiving the necessary stimulus to grow if you're not challenging yourself in every single workout that you do.

So a couple of things here. Losing body fat requires a consistent and effective workout routine that includes both cardiovascular exercise and strength training. Cardiovascular exercise, as you've maybe heard me say in previous podcasts, helps you to burn calories and increase your overall energy expenditure. But strength training helps to build muscle and to increase your metabolism.

So if you're not following a well-structured workout routine that includes both of these types... and I don't mean cardio like running or getting on the treadmill and doing X amount of miles, or spending hours on the Stairmaster. You can incorporate maybe three of those sessions into your week, like one on the Stairmaster and two on a treadmill at an incline, like five and a speed of like four. It's just fast-paced walking, zone two kind of stuff.

You don't have to go and kill yourself doing a shit ton of cardio, but it's important to incorporate some type of cardiovascular exercise, mainly for the health of your heart. You've got to remember that your heart is a muscle, and it matters for your overall well-being with your health lifestyle. So if you're not following that well-structured routine that includes both of these types of exercise, you may not see the fat loss results that you're looking for.

You need to incorporate some type of cardiovascular exercise, whether it be 10K steps a day, a couple of days on the treadmill, one or two days on the Stairmaster, whatever, plus doubling that with strength training and having four to five days of strength training in your routine. If you're not doing this, you probably will not see the fat loss results that you're looking for.

While we're speaking about strength training, you guys, it's also important to progressively overload your muscles over time. It is so important to focus on that. If you've never heard what progressive overload is, it means that you're gradually increasing the difficulty of your workouts to continue challenging your muscles. If you're not increasing the weight or the intensity of your workouts over time, your muscles may not continue to grow or adapt.

I actually dove a little bit deeper into progressive overload, what it is and how to incorporate it into your routine over a cycle period of time, like six to eight weeks, in episode number 16 of the podcast. So if light bulbs are going off and you're like, oh, I want to learn more about this, definitely go back to episode number 16 and check it out. You're going to learn from that episode exactly how to incorporate more progressive overload strategies into your workout routine. And that alone, you guys, can be one of the ways that you see more results with growing your muscles, building more muscle, and decreasing your body fat.

Okay, so that's number one. If your muscles aren't growing, then more likely than not you're inconsistent with your training or your training is ineffective. It's one of the most common reasons. People don't challenge themselves enough, and I'm calling you out here. The way you're going to have a successful, challenging workout is if you work the workout.

You go in there and you're not just going through the motions. You're putting weight on the bar that's pretty challenging, not sacrificing your form. By the end of a set, the last three reps of that set should be challenging to some extent. You're making some ugly faces, maybe you're grunting, and it's challenging to push up the bar, whatever you may be doing: shoulder presses, bench press, squats, deadlifts, whatever, even isolation movements. The last three reps should be challenging. If not, you're just going through the motions. So increase your weight.

All right. So number one, inconsistent or ineffective training. Number two is poor nutrition. If your muscles are not growing, you most likely have some type of poor nutrition routine. It is another major reason why people struggle to make any type of progress when they're trying to build muscle and lose body fat. Period. End of story.

In order to build muscle, you guys, you need to know this: your body needs a surplus of calories and nutrients, specifically protein, to repair and to grow the muscle that you're breaking down inside of your workouts. If you're not consuming enough calories or you're not consuming enough protein, your body may not have the necessary resources to build the muscle that you want.

Guys, you cannot expect to be eating 1200 calories if you're like 5'6" or 5'8". It's normal maybe for someone who's 5'2" or five foot to have a low calorie intake, because they don't need that many calories. But if you want to build muscle, you're 5'8" and you're eating 1200 calories or 1000 calories a day, dude, you are not going to build that muscle.

In a similar sense, if you want to lose body fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit, meaning that you're burning more calories than you're consuming in the day. But if you're not consuming enough calories, your body may enter into a catabolic state where it begins to break down muscle tissue for energy instead of burning more body fat. Guys, this can be completely counterproductive to both fat loss and building muscle.

So if you're not eating in a surplus, or at least at your maintenance level and doing a lean type of bulk, and you're not eating enough protein, you're not going to be able to repair and grow muscle tissue. In the opposite sense, if you're focusing on losing body fat and you're not putting yourself into a caloric deficit consistently over time, or you're not consuming enough calories to be in an appropriate deficit, dude, all of these things are counterproductive for fat loss and for building muscle.

And most importantly, you guys, when you're doing both of these things, the quality of the food that you eat is just as important as being in a caloric deficit or being in a little bit of a surplus to build more muscle. You have to have a balanced diet of good quality protein, good quality healthy fats, and good quality carbohydrates. That is so important for fueling your workouts, for repairing and building muscle tissue, and supporting overall health. But most importantly, have quality food in your day.

Please don't be that person who says, I need to get more protein in, and you're downing three protein shakes and a protein bar in a day. Dude, that is not quality food. I don't remember what episode this was, but it was an earlier episode where I explained how all protein is not created equally. There are processed proteins, there are unprocessed proteins, and there are protein bars that don't have all the nutrients you're going to get from having chicken, meat, and all of those other foods that give you those types of nutrients.

So you've got to make sure that your nutrition is on point, that you're being consistent and effective with your nutrition, and that you're eating enough for whatever type of goal you're trying to accomplish. Because if you're not, that's why you're not seeing your muscles grow. That's why you're not seeing your body composition change.

Okay, so that's number two. Number three is a lack of sleep. I've talked about this recently on the podcast, in episode number 25. Getting enough sleep is critical. It is crucial for recovery and muscle growth. If you're not getting at least seven to eight hours of quality sleep each night, your body may not have enough time to repair and to rebuild muscle tissue.

I went a little bit deeper inside of episode number 25 around sleep, giving you specific strategies to implement into your nightly routine to help you get better quality sleep. So definitely check out episode number 25. But I want to explain a little bit more about why lack of sleep may be hindering the muscle-building process for you and keeping you from seeing the change you want in your body.

During sleep, your body releases hormones that help to repair and rebuild muscle tissue, including hormones like growth hormone and testosterone. If you're not getting enough sleep, you guys, your body may not have enough time to produce those hormones, which can slow down your progress in building more muscle.

On top of this, lack of sleep can disrupt your hormone levels, particularly cortisol, which is a stress hormone that can break down muscle tissue and increase your fat storage. It's deemed the fat-storing hormone in the fitness space. So when you're sleep deprived, your cortisol levels may increase, which can have a negative impact on your body composition goals.

That's why I talk about sleep so much. I did a whole podcast on it, and I also talked about it in the top five strategies for implementing self-discipline and flexing your self-discipline muscle. Sleep is a form of self-discipline: policing yourself to go to bed and wake up at the same time, getting quality sleep, shutting things down, and not paying attention to things that will trick your eyes into thinking the sun is up, like light and screen time.

On top of all of this, poor sleep can affect your energy levels and your motivation to even want to go and exercise. Obviously, if both of those are low, it's going to impact the quality of your workouts daily. If you're feeling tired and sluggish, you will probably not perform at your best during your workouts, which can hinder your progress in building muscle and losing body fat. Point blank.

So make sure that you're getting good quality sleep. It is essential for achieving your fitness goals, you guys. It's essential for building muscle, for changing your body composition, for decreasing body fat, all of the things. Aim for at least seven hours. I say seven to eight, but at least seven. If I'm pulling teeth asking that of someone who only gets five, please focus on at least getting seven.

You also want to make sure it's uninterrupted. You have control over setting up some things that will help it be uninterrupted, and that starts with your whole nightly routine before you rest your head on your pillow. Will it totally fix everything? Probably not. There may be some things you have to dig a little deeper into to find out why you're not getting good quality sleep. But some of the things I've shared here and in previous podcasts are things you can be in control of before going to bed. Having uninterrupted sleep is going to support muscle growth. It's going to support hormone balance. It's going to support your overall freaking health.

Okay. Hey, I just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you're enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons, and it would also help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show.

Okay, so let's get into number four: stress. Stress is probably a reason why you aren't seeing your muscles grow, and why you're not seeing the results you want with changing your body composition and losing body fat. Chronic stress has a negative impact on your body's ability to build muscle and to lose body fat.

When you're stressed, your body releases cortisol, the same way I just mentioned it does when you have poor quality sleep. Cortisol is a hormone that increases fat storage and can also break down muscle tissue. One major way that stress impacts your body composition goals is by increasing your appetite and your cravings for unhealthy foods. And when you have poor quality sleep too, you may notice the next day that you're craving the things you know you shouldn't have, or you're feeling more hungry. I talked about this in the sleep episode as well.

When you're stressed, your body may crave high-fat foods and high-sugar foods, which can lead to you indulging in that impulse and overeating, which is then going to cause more fat gain.

And two, stress, oh my God, I've seen this so many times in clients, causes your body to have digestive problems, which can obviously impact your body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. When I've worked with people, and with our coaches, when people are stressed out, dude, they have inflammation all throughout their body just because they're stressed out and all of these things are kind of out of whack. Hormones are going crazy. Cortisol is elevated. And you can tell that nothing in their nutrition or workouts has changed. We haven't adjusted macros in a couple of weeks. Their workout program is still the same. Yet in their weekly check-in, they're inflamed because they had a stressful week. I can't tell you how many times I have seen this.

So if this is you, and you're not seeing the progress you want because you're chronically stressed out, you need to figure out some ways to manage it. Some ways you can manage it are prioritizing self-care activities: going to get a massage, taking a relaxing bath, being alone with yourself for a little bit of time, putting on some relaxing meditation music. Meditating is very good.

I know you're probably thinking, dude, I can't sit alone for five minutes. I challenge you to sit alone for five minutes. You totally can if you put your mind to it. You can do anything you put your mind to if you're willing to at least try it. Is it hard? Yes. Your mind is probably going to wander for the five minutes. You're probably going to be uncomfortable for the five minutes. But the more you do it, the better you will get at it. And studies have shown that it can help to reduce stress levels.

Going to do yoga can help to reduce stress levels. Deep breathing exercises throughout the day, too. If you're stressed, just take a deep breath. Take a couple of deep breaths. Studies have shown it will help relax you and alleviate some of the stress you may be experiencing, immediately, in the moment. Spend some time out in nature. Go for a hike. If you have a dog, get outside and go for a hike with them. Dude, all of these things are so important when it comes to reducing stress levels.

Like I said, if you're not seeing the progress you want, yet nothing has changed with your macros and nutrition or your workouts, and you lead a chronically stressed lifestyle, this is what's hindering your progress. Point blank. A hundred percent. So find some things that will help you manage this. I promise you it'll help. You're in control. You have to implement that kind of stuff.

Okay. The last reason you're probably not seeing your muscles grow is lack of recovery. You're probably overtraining. I've talked about this in previous podcasts as well. If you're training and doing too much, you're overstimulating the body. You're stressing out the body even more, which ties back to the stress point I just talked about. You're not giving your body the ample recovery time it needs.

For example, you could be training six days a week. I don't even recommend people train six days a week anymore. But if you're training six days a week and you're not seeing the progress you want, you're probably doing too much. You're overtraining. You're spending three hours inside the gym. You're doing five cardio sessions per week for 30 to 45 minutes. If that is you and you're not seeing the progress you would expect, you're doing too much. In this case, I'd love to say less is more.

You need to schedule rest days. I know the concept of rest days is sometimes very hard for some people to incorporate into their routine. But if I can drill this into your head more than I've already done in previous podcasts: you're breaking down muscle inside the gym. The time outside of the gym, the rest periods, the 24 or 48 hours in between workouts, your scheduled rest days, that's when you're building back the muscle. You're building the muscle that you want to have.

So if you're not seeing the progress you want and you're overtraining, or you find yourself doing too much, lifting too much or doing too many cardio sessions, you're not giving yourself the recovery time your body needs in order to build and grow the muscle you want to have. Recovery, you guys, is just as important as training. Your body needs time to repair and build muscle, and time to rest so that it can heal and grow.

Okay? So if you're not seeing the progress you want in building muscle and you're trying to figure out how to fix it, those are five ways you could fix it. If your muscles aren't growing and you're not progressing the way you want to be, make sure you have a consistent and effective training program to follow. Make sure your nutrition is on point for whatever goal you may be in. Make sure you're getting good quality sleep, at least seven to eight hours each night.

Make sure you're managing your stress. I can't stress that one enough, because like I said with those examples, you could be doing all of the other things the right way, but if you're chronically stressed out, your progress will be hindered. So find ways to manage your stress: deep breathing, yoga, meditation, getting outside, getting a massage, taking a relaxing bath.

And the last one is recovery. Make sure you're giving your body ample time to recover. If you are chronically stressed out, you should only be training four times a week. If you have a lower stress level, then you can train four or five times a week and maybe do a little bit more. I talked about this too: if your stress reserves are full and you're not getting enough sleep or you're not eating right, you're tipping your body over, and that's why you're not seeing progress. So if your stress levels are a little lower, you can do a little more. But if you're stressed, less is more in this case.

All right, so those are the five things, you guys. If you're not seeing your muscles grow the way you want them to, and you think you should be progressing a little more, really self-check yourself in these five areas. Which one could you get better at, and how can you implement being better at it? I promise you, you will see the results you want to see.

All right? I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Again, if you could please rate or review this podcast, I would appreciate that so much, because we don't run any ads for it. You guys are what make it grow naturally. We've been sitting in the top 20 for fitness podcasts in the US, and I want to keep us there. I want to get a little bit higher. By rating or reviewing, you could easily help this podcast get in front of somebody else who needs to hear these messages too. You could easily be positively impacting another woman's life while she's on this journey of getting more toned, building more muscle, and changing her body composition. I would so appreciate it if you took two minutes to write a review. All right, guys. Thanks so much, and I'll see you in the next podcast.

Real quick. The only ask I could ever have of you is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. The only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask is that you leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, it will mean the absolute world to me, and it may change the world of someone else.