Why do muscles stop growing eventually?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2014-11-10

It's no secret that when you gain muscle mass, the more you gain, the harder it becomes to add the next kilogram of muscle.

Often, the scenario is this: a novice comes to the gym (regardless of whether they are a guy or a girl), they are rather skinny and want to gain weight. The first month goes by, and they gain a whole 3 kg! Most of this is muscle. Not a bad result! But in the second month, they only gain 2 kg. In the third month, it drops to 1 kg. Then weight gain stops altogether. I think this scenario is familiar to everyone.

But why does this happen? What changes occur in the body that make it increasingly difficult to gain mass? Now, I will explain the "ceilings" that your muscle growth may hit.

1. Nitrogen Balance

It has long been known that a positive nitrogen balance is needed for muscle mass growth. Simply put, the body must receive more protein than it uses. And what does the body use the most protein for? Correct! For recovery, maintenance, and growth of muscle tissue.

The more muscle mass you build, the more protein your body needs. And as soon as the nitrogen balance becomes at least neutral (protein consumed equals protein used), muscle mass growth ceases.

But an astute reader might say, "Wait! That's too simple. So all you need is to buy a ton of protein, and muscle mass will grow almost indefinitely?” Unfortunately, the nitrogen balance is not the only factor limiting muscle growth.

How can you push back this ceiling?

Simply by eating more protein. That’s it. About 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day is quite sufficient.

2. Testosterone Levels

Testosterone stimulates our muscles to grow. Imagine your muscles as workers, while protein is their food. Generally, the better workers are fed, the better they perform. So, testosterone acts like a supervisor with a whip, which keeps them working even harder. The more testosterone, the stronger the supervisor compels them to work.

This means that the testosterone level, just like protein, directly affects muscle growth. To ensure your workers work even harder, you need to push them even more. Sooner or later, there comes a point when your muscles stop growing despite the fact that you are stuffing yourself with protein around the clock. The testosterone level is no longer sufficient for your muscles to grow even larger.

How to push this ceiling further?

It is obvious that you need to increase the testosterone level in your blood. All methods of increasing testosterone levels can be divided into three categories:

• Natural methods
• Testosterone boosters (tribulus, ekdystenone, ZMA, aspartic acid, etc.)
• Anabolic steroids

You can learn more about these methods by following the links, as they go beyond the scope of this article.

3. Bones and Tendons

You all know that if a building's foundation is designed for 5 floors, then it will never support a 10-floor building. So, the foundation for your muscles is the tendons and the bones to which these tendons are attached.

The thing is, the strength of a tendon must, by definition, be greater than the strength of the muscle. And when the force of muscle contraction approaches the strength of a tendon, the body gives the command to stop the growth of strength and mass of that muscle.

Thus, the thicker the bones and tendons, the larger muscles can be "hung" on them. Unfortunately, much of their thickness is genetically predetermined. There are people who grow stocky with thick bones and ligaments. For them, muscle growth comes easily, as they have a strong "foundation." Others may grow with thin bones, making it difficult to increase muscle mass. In general, the thickness and strength of bones and ligaments represent yet another "ceiling" that your muscle growth may hit.

How to push this ceiling further?

You need to die and be reborn with different genetics )) Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this "ceiling." If you start training at a young or teenage age, you may be able to make your bones and tendons a little thicker. If you start at an older age, changes will only affect the tendons. They will strengthen alongside the muscles, up to a certain point. So, you can say that you won't be able to significantly influence this factor.

4. Quality of Life

This is a very abstract and multidimensional concept. But its essence boils down to this: for your muscles to grow larger, you need to create increasingly greenhouse conditions for them. That is to say:

• Rest more
• Stress less
• Work less

And so on. In other words, you need to increasingly "sharpen" your life around your workouts. Of course, not many people can afford this. Well, ladies and gentlemen, your body does not care about your life difficulties and problems. Want even more muscle? Then be kind enough to provide even better conditions for their growth.

For example, to gain the first 5 kg of muscle, it is quite possible to get by with just seven hours of sleep a day. But for the next five kg, your body will require you to sleep 8 - 9 hours a day. And for the next 3 kg, it will want not only to sleep 9 hours but also to work not 10, but 7 hours a day. And to stress less. In short, something like that ))

Conclusions

1. It is no secret that to achieve increasing results in any area, you need to invest more of your time, effort, and money into that area. The same applies here. The difficulty also lies in the fact that you can influence some factors, while others you cannot.

2. For your muscles to stop growing, it is enough to reach at least one "ceiling." In most cases, this is either "quality of life" or "bones and tendons." However, it is often quite difficult to determine exactly which factor hinders the further growth of your muscles. Therefore, it makes sense to work on all factors simultaneously.

3. Let the specialists forgive me for exaggerating everything in my articles. But I do this so that "ordinary mortals" can understand their essence. Of course, there are several dozen other factors that hinder your muscles' further growth, but I highlighted the 4 main and most commonly encountered ones.

Lastly, I can recommend reading the article: What to do if you can't gain weight at all?. Good luck!