Last Updated on October 31, 2019
The bodybuilding is a progressive regimen that you can start at any age. Good health, fitness, attractive appearance and above-average strength – these are some of the positive effects of being in good shape.
If you want to achieve success in bodybuilding and enjoy these benefits for a long time, you should never forget about the basic principles associated with bodybuilding training.
- Take a look at 11 tips that will guarantee your success in bodybuilding
- 1. Correct mental attitude
- 2. Proper warm-up
- 3. Focus on technique and get the right muscles to work
- 4. Listen to your body and body reactions
- 5. Focus on doing compound movements
- 6. Always draft a training program and adhere to it
- 7. Take training notes
- 8. As you begin with big weights, consider using safety belts
- 9. Ensure a rich and balanced diet
- 10. To build muscle mass ensure that you eat more calories than you burn
- 11. Ensure to rest sufficiently
Take a look at 11 tips that will guarantee your success in bodybuilding
1. Correct mental attitude
Focusing on training is often overlooked activity.
During the workout, pay all your attention to achieving your training goals. Don’t distract your attention. Do not pay attention to what other people do or try to imitate other bodybuilders workout. Focus on your training plan. This will allow you to complete a fully planned workout.
Drop all your worries before entering the gym. After training, most of your problems may appear to you not being worth worrying about.
To ensure you improve your results and avoid injury, focus on the muscle groups that you want to work on, and on the correct technique.
2. Proper warm-up
Warming up is another often overlooked aspect of training.
Muscles that are not prepared for exercise are more prone to injury. Preventing injuries is one of the most important factors in achieving success in bodybuilding. Always start training with a general warm-up.
Spend 8-10 minutes of a light jog, fast walking or other aerobic activity – to warm up the body and increase heart rate. Then switch to a specific warm-up and emphasize the muscles and joints that you are planning to train.
3. Focus on technique and get the right muscles to work
When you focus on the correct technique, it activates the right muscles to work. This will provide you the expected results.
When exercising, do not use momentum to lift the weight. Instead, pay attention to use the right muscle for your exercise.
A common mistake is to swing your body to lift the weight. Avoid this mistake to activate more muscle fibers when lifting and lowering weight.
Control weight over the full range of motion. If you can’t lift the weight without swinging your body – it means it’s too heavy and you should reduce it.
Beginners should choose a weight so that they can do 15 correct reps.
Another very important part of the technique is proper breathing. A good breath ensures that the right amount of oxygen reaches the muscles during the first phase of the eccentric movement. Brief air hold and exhalation during the hard part of the exercise help you to finish the movement.
4. Listen to your body and body reactions
Don’t go to the gym if you feel any intense pain. Nothing will happen if you miss one training session. Your body will have more time to recover. Your success in bodybuilding does not depend on one or two training sessions. Weightlifting training is a long-term process.
But, if you get injured, you may need to take a break for weeks or even months, which can ruin your earlier progress.
Try to distinguish joint pain from muscle fatigue. Watch your heart rate during the day and exercise. Pay attention to how you feel the day after training.
To achieve good health, you should work on the entire body system, not only the muscles you see. Do not skip exercises for core muscles. Core muscles are responsible for body posture, strength, and balance. This will help you avoid injury and enjoy health and training for a long time.
5. Focus on doing compound movements
Focus on basic movements and avoid trying any other possible exercise you see. Compound exercises target one or several muscle groups together. Complex movements involve the straightening or bending of at least two joints. Some of the best exercises to try are bench press, squat, deadlift.
The bench press works on your shoulders, triceps, chest and to a small degree, biceps. Squats work on hamstrings and the quads at the same time. The deadlift works on hamstrings, glutes and many other muscles like abs, adductors, lats, lower back, quads, traps, and upper back. Shoulder press works on your triceps and shoulders.
Free weights will help in building a solid foundation for your success in gaining more muscle mass. Barbells and dumbbells will help you build your muscle mass.
6. Always draft a training program and adhere to it
Following a strict routine and sticking to it is a ‘must’ step on your way to succeed in weightlifting. Your personal trainer or coach in bodybuilding can help you come up with a program. Proper training plan should contain the exact exercises you need to do and the number of sets and reps per set.
It’s crucial to train each muscle group every week. Learn the correct form of each exercise and try to improve it any time you repeat it. Begin with lower weights and progress as you learn the right form of each exercise. Then start increasing the weights.
7. Take training notes
Take notes about the weights and the number of repetitions of each exercise. It allows you to watch your progress. Thanks to the notes, your workouts will not be casual, which is a very common mistake in the gym.
Watching your progress also increases extra motivation. Progress is built on what you have achieved before. If you do not keep notes, soon you will get confused about your sets, repetitions, and weights. Your muscles will not receive a gradual overload which is crucial for the increase in strength and muscle mass.
8. As you begin with big weights, consider using safety belts
Some of the exercises increase the pressure in the abdomen. The pressure increases, at the same time there is a temporary holding of breath and a feeling of pressure. This is to compensate for pressure on the spine exerted by the load applied during training. This reaction is natural and necessary to protect the intervertebral discs from injury.
The training belt is a tool that additionally increases the pressure generated in the abdomen. The same time belt stiffens the body, creating a sort of corset that supports muscles during exercise.
This results in two basic advantages of using bodybuilding belt. The first is extra protection of the spine, and the second – the possibility of increasing the load.
9. Ensure a rich and balanced diet
There is no secret that big part of success in bodybuilding is hidden in the kitchen.
Your diet should consist of a large amount of protein and carbohydrates. Do not forget about fruits and vegetables. You can get protein from fish, chicken, eggs, nuts and dairy products. You need to get 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight for the best results. If you have difficulty taking enough protein a day, you can supplement your diet with a protein shake.
Make sure you avoid junk food and eat fast-absorbing carbohydrates right after exercise. Avoid hunger and eat as often as possible with 4-5 meals a day every 3-4 hours. Drink a lot of water.
10. To build muscle mass ensure that you eat more calories than you burn
Check your BMR with the BMR calculator. The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the smallest amount of energy necessary to maintain basic life functions while resting in physical and mental calmness and thermal comfort.
If you have an active lifestyle, you need more calories, but if your lifestyle is sedentary then you need fewer calories.
You can also check your caloric demand depending on your daily activity or type of training.
11. Ensure to rest sufficiently
Rest is another key point on the way to success in bodybuilding. Be sure you sleep enough. Allow your body to have enough time to repair and build muscles.
When sleeping, your body releases the HGH (Human Growth Hormone) during the REM part of sleep. This initiates muscle growth. Aim for 10 hours of sleep, and sleep for at least 8 hours a night. Do not exercise every single day.
Your routine should consist of 3-4 workouts per week. Spend the rest of the days resting and recovering. Alternatively, you can do some low cardio activity like walking or light biking.
Keep in mind that if you don’t provide enough recovery time, your muscles will experience improper healing and you will not achieve your goal in increasing muscle growth.
Self-massage with a roller, static stretching or low-intensity activity at the pool are very helpful in the regeneration and preparing the body for the next workout.
If you want to train a lot and often – that’s good. Although, remember that if you want to be able to cross your limits and enjoy great health, you must remember and follow all these rules!
Good luck!
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