How To Start Bodybuilding

When I started bodybuilding during my teenage years, it was out of wanting to fit in with the sports crowd and being able to compete in various sports such as football. I was considered a skinny guy with little muscle tissue. My fitness was not very good either as I hated doing aerobic or cardiovascular training. They were boring in my opinion and I very much preferred playing ball games or team sports. But my physique, fitness and size contributed to little participation and caused much grief during my formative social years.

I then discovered weights training and how it promised benefits such as larger muscles, more strength, good looking physiques, greater fitness and even social positives like becoming more popular due to looking more like a stud. Some of these might be superficial, but tell that to a developing teen who was struggling to be part of the clique. Looking back it might have been awkward and hilarious, but there are long term benefits to taking up bodybuilding and I count myself lucky to have stumbled upon it despite having the wrong initial intentions.

For anyone looking to begin a bodybuilding regime, the first thing to do is to make sure you do not have any medical conditions that might be negatively impacted if such exercise were to be taken up, before finding out more on how to start bodybuilding. Looking good and being fit might be important for one's health, but not at the detriment of loss of limbs or lives!

Once that is cleared, look for a gym and an accompanying membership that will not only provide monetary savings (especially during these tough economic times) and value for money. I belong to the category of weight trainers who do not subscribe to the pretty fitness boys and girls of the modern era. So, to get your money's worth, make sure your gym actually has -weights-. This means a wide array of free weights like barbells and dumbbells. These are extremely critical and useful. Make sure the basic equipment is also available, such as a bench, squat rack (non-machine assisted), and other bare bones stuff like a chinning bar. If the gym has all these, sign up for it.

Stay away from machines as much as possible. Fitness trainers aplenty will tell you that I am wrong and that you need to use them to tone or target specific muscles like your biceps, triceps, shoulders and even thighs. But these machines usually force your body to move in a strict plane of movement which are ultimately going to cause you long term injuries. I suffered a bad back injury due to one such machine. There are definitely certain machines that are useful, such as the ones that target your hamstring, but generally, they are harmful and you are better off starting slowly on free weights.

Some of my kin do not recommend having trainers. But if you are able to find one who also swears by free weights, then there is no harm enlisting his or her help. Otherwise, you must either go at it alone or find a training partner who is willing to subscribe to your training beliefs. I almost always trained alone and the benefits are that you are likely to concentrate better and not get involved in long chats during a session.

Start studying bodybuilding exercises in detail. This might be where a partner or trainer might come in handy. However, there are more than enough videos and other people in the gym who are doing them. Observe them carefully. You can learn the exercises as well as what to avoid. When I started, I made all sorts of mistakes, used machines and did the wrong exercises. It was only when I discovered Hardgainer that I realised my mistakes and what really constituted safe, beneficial bodybuilding.

This includes using the right and safe exercises, such as the major movements like bench or dumbbell presses, squats, shoulder presses, chin ups and deadlifts. Many criticis have denounced some of these exercises are being dangerous and not to be taken on by beginners. But consider this. If you do the movements wrongly, ANY exercise would be dangerous. And if you do not start doing these big movements from the start, when would you start? Only after doing 5 years of bicep curls? These larger movements require strength and a balance of technique. You need to learn and practice them right from the start to avoid breeding bad habits.

Frequency of training is also important. I did what almost everyone did, by training 5 times a week, and sometimes twice a day. I figured if Arnie became an Olympian doing that, I would at least become the star quarterback following his routine. Boy, was I wrong! It is not the frequency that is important, but how well and productive your training session is. Each and every one of them. Make sure you stick to your exercise routine and schedule. Push yourself reasonably. If you stick to the major exercises, you will not have much energy left after one session to do another one the next day. In order to strengthen and grow your body and muscles, you need to first push them to work to levels never experienced before, and then allow them to rest while providing sufficient nutrition to aid in recovery and growth. So be sensible and listen to your body intelligently. Training once every three to four days, based on the routine below would provide you with strong progress with much less risk of injury or burnout.

Before I forget, ask yourself what you intend to achieve when taking up bodybuilding. I have already stated mine at the start, but they eventually evolved into something more realistic and practical, such as a stronger and healthier body.

My exercise routine:

Day 1:

Deadlifts - 2 x 10

Squats - 2 x 20

Hamstring curls - 1 x 10

Barbell curls - 1 x 20

Chin ups - 1 x 20

Day 2:

Chest Press - 2 x 10

Shoulder Press - 2 x 10

All exercises are done after warmup sets of very light weights and high reps. As you can see, Day 2 has only 2 exercises, and that is keeping in mind that Day 1 was a huge one. I normally take a 1 day rest in between Day 1 and 2, and 3 days between Day 2 and 1, which is to start the next cycle.

This is probably the part where most bodybuilders are interested in because they are constantly looking for the magic bullet. But everyone forgets that it is really hard work and discipline that gets you results. This does not mean that you should not eat well and properly. In fact, it IS very important and nutrition needs to be watched closely, coupled with a good training program, in order to achieve the best results.

I stick mostly to natural foods for my nutritional needs, although I do use a few supplements, mostly the bare essentials. I am not as disciplined as other fitness buffs and do treat myself to the occasional sinful delight. Afterall, I am not competing in anything and as long as there is no over indulgence, your body still needs fats and sweets from time to time.

Natural foods in my diet include mostly white meat like chicken (sometimes with the skin hey why not they are delicious) and fish. I like Japanese food so sushi is something I like and so far I have always found them quite healthy. The ones with mayonaisse might not be advisable but still delicious anyway. I do not like vegetables but eat my fair share of greens. Fruits make up for what I skip in terms of the former sometimes. I admittedly do not consume much sugar since I believe I get a good amount from fruits, and diabetes is hereditary in my family.

Protein is perhaps one of the most important part of your bodybuilding formula. To build bigger muscles, you need protein, period. Where can you get that? Many sources provide protein, including all kinds of meat. Vegetables like beans have it in them too, although you would likely have to consume huge quantities in order to get comparable amounts that you might get from a smaller portion of meat. That is why most weight trainees take protein supplements in order to provide sufficient quantities that will help the body recover and grow muscle tissue. To this end, I do buy and eat protein supplements, usually adding them to protein shakes. I tend to go for whey protein since my body digests them properly. However, I don't go overboard, since I am careful about triggering overdoses that might load my internal system and lead to diabetes.

What about other types of bodybuilding supplements that are available? I have tried a few but due to various reasons such as cost and lack of results, I have stuck mainly to protein supplements. From time to time I might add some amino acids which are simply the broken down components of protein, for faster and easier absorption. I have tried hgh releasers and supplements that stimulate the production of natural human growth hormones for greater results, but those were in the past and I no longer do them anymore, due to cost. Also, since I am not a competitive weight lifter nor am I A-Rod, there is really no need for me to use them. They might be useful for people who suffer from medical conditions that lead to them producing insufficient quantities of natural HGH in their bodies, but otherwise a person like me need not use them in any form.

A good way to eat your way into getting bodybuilding results is to eat small portions, but more regularly, such as six times a day. My daily regime now, partly due to age, has been reduced to about 4 meals a day. Most of it consists of natural foods such as chicken and vegetables like broccoli. I also eat a healthy amount of fish for the healthy omega 3 oils they contain. My love for sushi also gives me enough clean carbohydrates - I read that Japanese rice is supposed to be much healthier. One of my 4 daily meals is a protein shake, but even that I have reduced the amount of protein powder used. I no longer need to be huge and muscular, just muscularly healthy. Nobody's really into an old greying guy with a huge defined physique anymore!