Why You’re Not Gaining Muscle—And How to Fix It in 90 Days
We’ve made it.
Football is back. There’s a crisp in the air. And you don’t have to think about smearing that smelly, oily sunscreen on your face for another six months. Pumpkin spice is flowing. Thanksgiving is around the corner. And soon, it’ll be socially acceptable to watch Elf on repeat.
Glorious.
But my favorite part of this season? It’s the perfect time to build muscle.
The weather’s cooler, which means more hoodies and fewer swimsuits. And between Halloween candy, Thanksgiving stuffing, and Christmas cookies, there’s no shortage of calories to help you train hard and recover even harder.
The best part?
If you put in the work now and roll into January feeling strong, you’ll be set up for success—whether your goal is to get leaner or keep pushing strength.
If you want to gain more muscle in the next 3 months than you have in the past 3 years, don’t miss these 5 keys.
Before we dive in…
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Start before the holidays, and you get both: 🎃 $500 off when you commit to at least 6 months of coaching.
This is the season most people lose momentum. But you? You’ll have structure, accountability, and a plan that actually moves you forward—right through the chaos.
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1. Strength Train with Purpose
If you want to grow, you need to send your muscles a signal loud enough to force adaptation. That means lifting heavy-ish weights, using repeatable movements, and getting better at them over time.
👉 What Actually Drives Muscle Growth
The basics still win:
Compound lifts like squats, hinges, presses, and rows should form the backbone of your program.
Prioritize large muscle groups (quads, glutes, back, chest) using moderate to heavy loads.
Don’t confuse entertainment with effectiveness. Progress comes from execution and consistency, not variety for variety’s sake.
You don’t need to shock the body. You need to train it with precision, over and over, until it’s forced to grow.
🧠 A Session Structure That Works
Muscle doesn’t care how fancy your workout looks. It responds to effort and progression.
A simple and effective plan:
Train 3–5x per week, 45–60 minutes per session
Keep most sets within 1–3 reps in reserve (RIR)—hard, but not maximal
Use repeatable lifts so you can track and improve them over time
If your workouts feel too random to measure, they’re probably too random to grow from.
🚫 What to Skip
If your goal is muscle, stop training like it’s bootcamp.
High-rep circuits, sweat-drenched classes, and “pump-only” sessions have their place—but they shouldn’t be your foundation.
Don’t chase soreness as proof of progress. Chase performance.
Muscle growth is driven by mechanical tension, not how exhausted you feel when you leave the gym.
2. Progress or Plateau
If you’re not getting stronger, you’re probably not getting bigger. Muscle growth is an adaptation to stress—and that stress has to increase over time.
This is the principle of progressive overload. Without it, you're just exercising. With it, you're building.
📈 The Principle of Progressive Overload
Your body doesn’t respond to effort alone. It responds to increased demands.
That means gradually increasing at least one of the following over time:
Weight on the bar
Reps per set
Total sets per week
Range of motion
Control and tempo
This doesn’t need to happen every week. But if nothing is trending upward across weeks or months, your results won’t either.
🛑 What Stagnation Looks Like
You’re lifting the same weight for the same reps with the same effort… every week.
You’re training hard—but not progressing.
That’s not growth. And worse, it often leads to frustration or burnout.
🧠 Practical Tactics
Progress doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you track and target it.
Here’s how:
Log your lifts. Track weight, reps, rest, and RIR.
Cycle rep ranges. For example: 8–10 → 6–8 → 4–6 over a training block.
Repeat key movements for at least 4–6 weeks—don’t swap just to “keep it fresh.”
Prioritize form under load. PRs are great, but quality PRs drive sustainable gains.
3. Eat Enough to Support Growth
You can train perfectly—but if you’re not eating enough, you won’t grow.
Muscle is expensive tissue. Building it requires energy, and your body won’t prioritize muscle gain if you’re barely scraping by on maintenance calories.
🍽️ Calories: Small Surplus, Big Difference
Maintenance is the floor—not the target.
To build muscle, you need a calorie surplus. But smaller is smarter:
Aim to gain 1–2 pounds per month to keep it lean and minimize fat gain.
Eat with intention. More food = more recovery = more growth.
🥩 Protein: Non-Negotiable
Protein isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.
Hit at least 0.8g per pound of bodyweight daily
Going up to 1g/lb can be even better during a bulk to support lean mass
Protein powder helps, but isn’t magic—use it to fill gaps, not as your foundation
Make it easy on yourself: front-load protein early in the day and anchor meals around lean sources.
⚠️ Big Mistakes to Avoid
Trying to “recomp” (gain muscle while losing fat) unless you’re a true beginner or coming off a layoff
Undereating during high-output weeks (extra cardio, more volume = more fuel needed)
“Clean eating” that’s too low in total calories—quality matters, but quantity still counts
Remember: fat loss requires precision. Muscle gain requires permission—to eat, recover, and grow.
✅ How to Implement
Set a weekly weight gain target and track averages, not day-to-day spikes
Pre-log or prep high-protein meals to remove guesswork
Eat more frequently if large meals kill your appetite—3 meals + 2 snacks often works well
You can’t out-train under-eating. Fuel the growth you’re working for.
4. Sleep to Grow: The Most Underrated Muscle Builder
Training hard and eating right won’t matter much if you’re cutting sleep short. Sleep is where the real gains happen.
Your body builds muscle, balances hormones, and restores your central nervous system while you sleep—not while you’re scrolling at midnight or grinding through another “late-night grind” session.
🧬 Why It Matters
Testosterone, growth hormone, and other anabolic hormones surge during deep sleep.
Poor sleep reduces strength, impairs recovery, and increases injury risk.
Chronic sleep deprivation leads to worse body composition outcomes, even with proper training and diet.
Put simply: less sleep = less growth.
⏱️ How Much You Need
8–9 hours per night is ideal for maximizing performance and recovery.
Can’t swing that? Lock in at least 7, consistently, with good quality.
Sleep isn’t just about time—it’s about consistency and depth.
🛏️ Sleep Hygiene Basics
Think of your bedtime routine like a training program for recovery.
Same sleep and wake time, even on weekends
Cool, dark room: 65–68°F with blackout curtains
No screens an hour before bed
Caffeine cutoff: 8–10 hours before bedtime
Limit alcohol—even a couple drinks can trash your REM sleep
Start small. Nail one habit, then stack another.
🧠 Tactics if Sleep Is Limited
Life happens. But you still have options.
Power naps (20–30 mins) can help bridge the gap
Wind-down rituals like mobility work, journaling, or light reading cue the brain to relax
Avoid high-intensity training late at night if it revs you up
You wouldn’t skip training and expect progress. Don’t skip sleep and expect results.
5. Use What Works (Ditch What Doesn’t)
Supplements and recovery tools can help, but they’ll never replace training hard, eating enough, and sleeping well.
The key? Double down on what’s proven. Ditch the rest.
💊 Creatine Monohydrate: King of Muscle Support
Take 3–5g per day, anytime
Boosts strength, recovery, and lean mass
Safe, cheap, and backed by decades of research
If you only take one supplement, this is the one. No loading phase. No gimmicks. Just results.
💧 Hydration: Simple But Critical
Aim for half your bodyweight (lbs) in oz of water daily
Add more on sweaty training days or in hot climates
Use electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) during long sessions or high sweat loss
Even mild dehydration can reduce strength, delay recovery, and fry your focus. Fix it and everything gets better.
🧠 Stress: The Silent Progress Killer
Chronic stress = elevated cortisol, worse sleep, lower appetite, slower recovery
It also crushes motivation and messes with your hormones
Tactics that work: daily walks, unplugging, breath work, or 5 minutes of mindfulness
🚫 What to Ignore
Fat burners, testosterone boosters, and random pre-workouts with zero evidence
Biohacks and fad protocols that promise shortcuts without substance
Any supplement that tries to replace real training, sleep, or nutrition
Like Novacaine. Just Give It Time. It Always Works.
If you're not gaining muscle, it's not your supplements or genetics.
It’s because one of these five things is missing:
Effort — You train, but you're not actually pushing hard enough to create a stimulus.
A Real Plan — You work out, but it’s random. No structure. No progression. No direction.
Enough Food — You think you’re eating enough, but you're not consistently in a surplus—especially not with enough protein.
Recovery — You stay up late, skip sleep, or grind through constant stress. Your body never gets a chance to grow.
Time + Consistency — You expect visible change in 4 weeks. Real muscle takes months—often 6 to 12+—to see major results.
If even one of these is off, progress stalls. If more than one is missing? You're spinning your wheels.
You can make powerful changes in 90 days. But if you want real, head-turning transformation—something that sticks—you need to think in terms of 6–12 months of consistent work.
And yes, that’s a long time
But if you think of it as an investment that alters the trajectory of your health, confidence, and energy for the rest of your life, that’s well worth it, right?
Want all five locked in? Apply for coaching, and save $500.
👻 Spooky Season Coaching Deal (Good Until Halloween)
Right now is the best time to start a new fitness routine. Not in January. Not “when things slow down.” Now.
Because if you wait until the new year, you’ll be playing catch-up. But if you start now, you’ll hit January with momentum, strength, and a plan already in motion.
That’s why I’m running a simple—but massive—Spooky Season deal:
🎃 Commit to 6 months of coaching, and you’ll get $500 off your plan—instantly.
No tricks. No gimmicks. Just a treat for those ready to put in the work.
$500 off is sweet. But feeling strong, confident, and in control before the holidays? Even sweeter.
Offer ends Halloween night.
Best,
John
P.S. Dog-sitting Piper (certified goodest girl) + nonstop college and NFL football = pretty much the perfect weekend.
3 Steps You Can Take
Apply for coaching - If you’re ready to start, you can fill out a coaching application here (it takes 90 seconds or less). Best case, you change your life. Worst case, I’ll help you draw up a road map to get closer to your goals.
Sign up for my newsletter - If you’d like to hear more, sign up for my mailing list here.
Keep learning - You can check out my other articles here. Nobody asked me to, but I’ve spent a ton of time researching everything from artificial sweeteners to saturated fat to testosterone and more, so you don’t have to.
