Bodybuilding Tips
1. Bodybuilding requires commitment.
It is a totally different lifestyle that entails letting go of old habits and adopting new ones. You cannot go into bodybuilding and be half- hearted about it. It is a test of strength, self-discipline and willpower. Start only when you are sure you can commit time, effort and energy.
2. Your decision to start on muscle training must come from a sincere desire for a healthier and a more developed body.
Do not go into it just because it’s your New Year’s resolution. People who decide to change something in them when the calendar flips on January 1st are most likely to stray from this discipline.
3. Make an assessment of your body.
Decide what kind of attention goes to which part of your body. Some people have flabbier arms while others have most of the fat collected in their midsection. This way, it is easy for you to create a program that addresses your problem areas.
4. Set your goals and create a plan accordingly.
How much body fat do you want to lose? How much muscle weight do you intend to gain? Are you after gaining strength? Are you after developing speed and endurance? What about power? Give yourself a deadline of when these goals should be attained.
5. Manage your expectations.
One month is a good start in losing weight but it isn’t enough to get you ripped. Make a realistic visualization of the progress you can achieve in a certain period. Do not set yourself for disappointment. Most beginners get discouraged because of the unrealistic goals they set for themselves.
6. Assess your lifestyle.
How many hours a week do you intend to devote to working out? How much energy do you still have after work/school? Is it best to go before your daily duties or after? What habits must you get rid of? Alcohol? The weekend buffet? Nightly parties?
7. Create a journal.
Document your progress from day 1. Write down your current weight. Measure your body fat using a fat caliper. Take photos of your body, especially the problem areas. Compare measurements as you go along your bodybuilding efforts. This shall serve as your motivation in reaching your goals.
8. Hormonal profile plays a significant role in muscle mass gain.
Testosterone is responsible for developing muscles while estrogen is responsible for the womanly curves. Hence, men grow muscle mass faster than women. This should not be a problem to women since they are more concerned with toning and shaping rather than gaining bulk.
9. The ability to gain differs from person to person so progress cannot be tracked by comparing it with your training buddy, even if both of you started at the same time.
You can check your development only by taking note of your present measurement and comparing it with your previous measurement.
10. Do not be discouraged if you do not see a change in your weight during your strength training.
While you lose weight by burning fats, you also keep or even increase poundage as you build muscle. Evaluate your progress by keeping track of your strength gains and measuring your body fat against muscle weight.
11. Know the difference between setting up an in-home gym versus getting a gym membership.
Many people find it easier to stay faithful to their routine in a gym setting. An in-home setting is convenient but poses temptation to slack off. The presence of other bodybuilders is a motivating force.
12. If you intend to get a bodybuilding partner, choose someone who has strict exercise habits and is most unlikely to flake on you.
Working out is an activity that can be enjoyed with someone, especially because you have someone who can spot on you. However, make sure that you don’t go lazy once your buddy drops the routine.
13. Prepare yourself physically, mentally and psychologically for the task at hand.
Condition your mind that you are capable of achieving a better physique. Remind yourself your reasons for wanting a better body – be it for strength, confidence or for physical attractiveness. A good warm-up routine lets your brain condition your body to the rigors of the training ahead.
14. Be creative in your strength-training program.
The more fun that you have in your workout, the bigger chance that you are going to stay in the program long-term. Aside from tips from your trainer, maximize the wealth of information available in the World Wide Web. Search for tips, watch videos and exchange ideas on online forums.
15. Warm-up is not an option but a crucial part of every work out session.
It allows your body to adjust from rest to exercise mode. It increases the body temperature, which regulates the flow of blood to the muscles to be worked out. It lessens the occurrence of injury when performed properly.
16. Warm-up has three levels.
Always start your workout session with a five- to ten-minute general body warm-up. Light exercise such as the treadmill conditions your heart and body for what is ahead. Body-specific warm-up conditions the flexibility of the muscles by getting exercised at light intensity before going on full blast. Exercise-specific warm-up introduces the exact exercise technique to your muscle and lowers resistance.
17. Stretch after warming up.
The benefits of stretching must not be taken for granted. It increases flexibility and enhances agility. This enables ease of transition from one position to another. Stretching encourages muscle growth by extending the body’s capacity to hold one exercise position after another. Allot 15 seconds of stretching before performing sets.
18. No matter what the myths say, you can never turn fat into muscle.
You cannot work out fat. It is not flexible nor does it control any movement. All it does is cushion your muscle and hinder it from developing. You have to lose the fat first to give way to muscle building.
19. Burn fat through cardio exercises.
Fat burning takes place once you get your heart rate to the correct level. Target heart rate can be calculated using the Karvonen Formula. Target heart rate depends on one’s age, resting heart rate and low end of heart rate. Most gyms use target heart calculator for this purpose.
20. Determine which cardio workout approach suits you well.
Low intensity cardio workout, also known as slow and steady, requires 45 minutes to 1 hour of low intensity workout. This burns fats but not carbohydrates. High intensity cardio requires 20 to 30 minutes of high intensity workout. This fires up metabolism and burns fats and carbohydrates.
21. Choose from a variety of cardio exercises.
Better yet, combine one form with another so you do not get bored with your routine. Low intensity cardio workout includes aerobics, walking, biking, swimming and rock climbing. Calorie burn ranges from 180 to 400 in 30 minutes. These activities also exercise different parts of the body.
22. High intensity interval training burns serious calories in a short period of time.
It also improves the body’s overall endurance. Among the favorite HIIT routines are the jump rope, spinning and sprinting. Pay attention to how your body adapts to the change in pace for you to know the highest intensity it can go.
23. Total body workout is a combination of cardio exercises and strength training.
Cardio exercises burn fat while strength training develops muscle. The mistake of some people is focusing on only one form of training. Pure cardio leads to muscle loss while pure strength training builds bulk without whittling away fat.
24. Strength training, more commonly known as weightlifting, improves muscle tone by conditioning the musculoskeletal system through resistance to weights.
Beginners should start with least resistance, working their way up to heavier weights in time. Muscle pain is a normal result of weightlifting; the absence of contraction signifies no resistance, which necessitates heavier weights.
25. Women are scared to dabble in strength training, thinking that doing so will cause them to bulk up and lose their femininity.
Experts advise that there is no need to worry since a woman’s body is not biologically designed for bulking up. It takes more than just weightlifting to get a body like Lisa Bavington’s.
26. Do not work out your whole body in one day.
This is okay on your first day ever as an introduction but as you progress, you should divide your muscles into three or four groups. Whole body workout is effective only on the first few days but as you go along, effects will dwindle as the body gets used to the exercises it is subjected.
27. Allot a day of workout to a certain muscle group.
Take this schedule for example: Day 1 – chest, shoulders and triceps; Day 2 – quads, calves and abs; Day 3 – back, biceps and forearms. This enables you to give enough attention to each body part for maximum stimulation.
28. Do not abuse your body by subjecting it to more weights than it can handle.
You should feel your muscle resist the weight but not too much that you couldn’t perform your routine properly. You should be able to lift the weights in the right manner from start to finish.
29. As a beginner, it is easy to overlook signs of overtraining due to eagerness.
Overtraining must be avoided at all costs since it negatively affects testosterone levels and leads to lower immunity to sickness. Signs to watch out for: weak appetite, heightened blood pressure, drastic weight loss, irritability and higher heart rate even at rest.
30. At the onset of your strength-training program, allot only 2-4 days a week for muscle training.
Limit your session to one hour to 1 ½ hours, just enough to introduce the weight lifting to your system. Anything in excess doesn’t result in significant muscle gain, but in muscle fatigue.
31. Your trainer may know the best in muscle building but when it comes to your body, only you should decide.
People sometimes get embarrassed to inform their trainer that they can lift only lighter than what their trainer suggests. Following your limits doesn’t make you a wimp; it means you’re wise enough to listen to your body’s capacity
32. Respect your body’s ability to recuperate.
Do not force yourself to work out while your muscles are still sore. Doing so doesn’t result in a better physique, only injuries. As much as you’d wish to stick to your Day 1, 2 and 3 routines, schedule is only secondary to recovery.
33. Rest your muscles and let them recuperate.
Optimal muscle growth happens when it is given enough time to rebuild the fibers that were torn during the exercise. If you do not your body heal, you’d just keep tearing down your tissues, which is the opposite of your objective - muscle gain.
34. In every exercise you perform, make sure that your observe proper posture.
This lessens the possibility of an injury while amplifying the results. There is a tendency to cheat when the training gets difficult by slouching or shifting a leg’s position for assistance. This should be avoided as improper posture leads to serious damage such as breaking the spine.
35. Bench press works out most of the upper body – chest, anterior deltoids and triceps.
How to do: lie on the bench with both feet on the ground and your back firmly placed on the bench. Un-rack the barbell, lift it across your chest until your elbows lock then bring it close to your chest. Your hands should be two to three feet away from each other.
36. Do not let the barbell bounce off your chest when you do the bench press.
This lowers the resistance and bruises your chest muscles. Use your strength to control the downward motion. Put rhythm into your exercise. Count to two as you lower the barbell and one as you lift.
37. Incline bench press isolates the upper chest muscles while also working out the anterior deltoids and triceps.
The angle of incline should be within the range