Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

Building muscle is accomplished by using specific resistance training parameters to cause micro-trauma to the muscles, which when repaired will result in the building of extra muscle tissue. You are essentially breaking down muscle tissue so it can be built back for a net gain. Many factors play a role in building muscle including:

Frequency of TrainingResistance Exercises PerformedNutritionRestSupplementation

Frequency of Training

For building muscle, training each muscle group twice per week is ideal. This allows enough stimulation to cause micro-trauma and adequate rest time to recover and make gains. Dividing the muscle groups into two separate workouts and performing each workout twice per week is the easiest way to accomplish this. Beginners filled with zeal and motivation will sometimes train every day hoping to speed up their gains, but this strategy inevitably backfires, as the body cannot keep up with this training frequency.

Resistance Exercises Performed

Not all exercises were created equal, as some do a much better job at stimulating growth than others. Basic, compound movements are ideal for building muscle, so choose exercises like:

SquatsDead-liftsPressesRowsChin-ups

The ideal repetition range for adding new muscle is 6-12 repetitions per set. It is best to perform sets throughout this range rather than focusing on just performing sets of 8 reps, for example.

Nutrition

Nutrition is often overlooked for its role in facilitating muscle growth, but it is very important, and will have a significant impact on your results. You must eat 500-700 calories over maintenance each day to give your body the raw materials it needs to grow. Choose healthy, nutritious foods like lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Some beginners just load up on junk food thinking they will gain a bunch of muscle, but are disappointed when it all goes to their gut.

Rest

Your body doesn’t synthesize new muscle tissue while you are working out it is build while you are resting. This means you must get adequate sleep each night and take adequate breaks between workouts. It is best to never workout more than two days in a row before taking a day off, and to limit the training of each muscle group to twice per week. It may seem like more would be better, but this is often not the case. Too much training will hamper your body’s ability to adequately recover between workouts, and the result will be stagnant progress.

Supplementation

According to the muscle magazines anyone trying to build muscle should be taking twelve different supplements each day, but this is far from the truth. Most of what you need to build muscle will come from your diet. Using a quality protein powder is recommended, and perhaps a vitamin D supplement and some fish oil, but beyond that you can easily do without all of the overpriced products the supplement companies are trying to sell you. Keep it simple and you will not be disappointed.

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Bodybuilding Exercises

Bodybuilders head to the gym each day and perform various weight training routines with the hopes of adding more muscle to their frames. There are literally thousands of different routines one could follow, but many of the key exercises in them remain the same. Strength athletes have realized over the years that there are a few bodybuilding exercises that are just better than the others, and result in faster gains. Below are a few of these “money” exercises, as they are colloquially referred to.

Barbell Squat

The barbell squat is the king of all bodybuilding exercises, and works a number of different muscle groups. This one exercise involves all of the following muscles:

QuadricepsHamstringsGlutealsAbdominalsLower backCalves

The quadriceps muscles are thought to be a rate limiting factor for other muscle groups, so it is very important to work them hard and heavy to encourage their growth, and hence the growth of all of the other muscle groups.

Bench Press

The bench press is the unofficial measure of upper body strength, and most guys are judged by their peers by how much they can put up on this compound upper body lift. This is one of those bodybuilding exercises that everybody does, as it is not only effective, but fun and challenging. It can be done with dumbbells as well as barbells, and an incline or decline bench can be used to add some variety to the lift.

Dead lift

The dead-lift is one of the favorite bodybuilding exercises for athletes and power-lifters to perform. It works all of the muscles of the posterior chain, which include:

HamstringsGlutealsCalvesLower backLatsTraps

The dead lift also helps people develop incredible grip strength and strong forearms, so this is not a lift you want to skip out on.

Barbell Row

The barbell row is the equivalent of the bench press for the back of the upper body. While the bench press works the pectorals, shoulders and triceps, the barbell row works the lats, traps and biceps. It helps build a wide, thick back and impressive rear deltoids. There are a number of variations to this old favorite including:

Dumbbell rowsT-bar rowsLandmine RowsLawnmower rowsSkull crushers

Skull crushers are ideal for building strong, thick triceps, as they isolate this muscle group much more than the bench press does. They are usually done with an easy curl bar, as it makes the hand position less stressful on the wrists.

Barbell Curls

Every bodybuilder want nice, big biceps, and barbell curls are one of the best bodybuilding exercises for building them. The movement is simple, but as you get stronger with it you will notice not only your biceps but your forearms and your entire upper arms getting bigger.

These six bodybuilding exercises are great choices if you want to get the most “bang for your buck”, and add pounds of lean muscle to your frame as quickly as possible. Add them to your routine today to push your results to the next level.

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Bodybuilding Diet

Bodybuilders spend several hours in the gym each week pushing their bodies to the limit, but without following a proper bodybuilding diet this would all be for naught. Weight training causes micro-trauma to the muscle, and when it is repaired the muscle gets slightly larger. This process can only take place if the body has adequate nutrients to work with, so a good diet is crucial for success.

Young trainees often overlook the importance of how they eat, and simply stuff their faces with extra calories hoping to get huge. This inevitably leads to disappointing results, as most of the weight gained with this method is fat. You have to eat a lot to build muscle, but you have to eat clean, healthy, nutrient dense food to do it efficiently without putting on a bunch of extra fat in the process.

The Ideal Bodybuilding Diet

Many people get confused about how to eat appropriately to gain muscle, but it is actually quite simple. All you really need to do is consume a healthy balance of lean proteins, complex and simple carbohydrates and essential fatty acids. A good bodybuilding meal would be roasted chicken breast with brown rice and sautéed spinach. Eating this way does not have to be complicated, and you do not necessarily have to weight your food or count every calorie.

Customizing Your Nutrition Plan

When creating a smart bodybuilding diet you must consider your unique individual needs and body type. If you are naturally skinny and have a hard time gaining weight you will need to eat more calories and carbohydrates. However, if you tend to get chunky easily you may have to go in the other direction and reduce your calories a bit. There is a lot of trial and error in bodybuilding both in the gym and the kitchen.

Your diet will always be a work in progress as well, as you will be making small adjustments based on your results. If you are not making gains you will have to add some protein and extra calories to your daily meals. If you are putting on a layer of fat along with your lean muscle gains you will have to cut back a bit. Think of it as a continuous experiment in which you are the guinea pig.

Eat for Success

Any effective bodybuilding diet will require you to make some sacrifices. You will not be able to wolf down ice cream and cookies on the weekends, and you will have to make sure you are getting enough protein each day to support muscular growth. This takes a lot of will power at times, and you will likely have to skip some social functions if you do not trust yourself to resist the temptations on the buffet table.

When you commit to a bodybuilding diet you are making a decision to eat for fuel, not for pleasure. You will not be eating what tastes good in your mouth, but what will look good on your body.

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Female Bodybuilding

When most people think of female bodybuilding they picture an overly muscular woman who looks like a linebacker in a bikini. While there are women who decide to take male hormones and blur the gender lines, plenty of female trainees just want to have a lean, toned physique.

When it comes down to brass tacks there is not much difference in the way a female would approach building muscle as compared to a male. The results will be different, as men produce ten times the amount of testosterone, the hormone responsible for secondary male sexual characteristics and muscle growth, but the approach to training and nutrition is fairly similar.

Female bodybuilding requires a serious commitment. It takes a ton of work, solid planning, restrictive dieting and perseverance to build the type of body you would expect to see on a fitness magazine cover. It takes a lot more than an hour on the elliptical every couple days to get those kinds of results.

Weight Training

A lot of ladies shy away from weight training, as they imagine it will make them too muscular and bulky. The truth is it is extremely hard for women to build lots of muscle, and it is certainly not the type of thing that happens by accident. Aside from that, a proper diet prevents any fat gain along with the added muscle, so women who are into female bodybuilding usually will not have to worry about getting too thick or overly muscular.

As far as exercises go the same ones that work for men work for the fairer sex as well. Compound joint exercises like rows, presses, and squats are still the best movements to perform, as they stimulate the most growth. A balanced approach to training is also necessary, as most women will have weak muscle groups that need extra work to bring them up.

A Lifestyle, Not a Hobby

Women who have committed themselves to the female bodybuilding lifestyle are usually very serious about their training, and are always striving to improve. They trade hot fudge sundaes and buttered popcorn for morning cardio and skinless chicken breast. They trade sleeping in on Saturday morning for waking up and running hills at the park. It takes an incredible commitment to succeed in this sport, and it is not for the weak or the lazy.

Men and women will both tell you that bodybuilding is not something you do it is something you are. If you are not somewhat obsessed with the sport, it is unlikely that you will excel at it. In this respect there is little difference between female bodybuilding and male bodybuilding. Those who take part in the sport are a rare breed, and work tirelessly to perfect their physiques. They have to have considerable knowledge of nutrition and weight training techniques, and are always studying to learn more about the body and how it responds to training stimuli.

Not everybody thinks women look good with muscle, but the ladies who body build do not seem to care. They do it for themselves, and love every minute of it.

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