Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding
Introduction
Ok so you have decided that you want a better looking body the big guns of biceps to make your pecs dance, the washboard stomach with the 6pack showing. Does that sound like you ? Well you have come to the right place, you have found Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding which has a metric shitload of information and a great number of members who are willing to help you on your journey. With the great source of info at the forums and this guide you have all the knowledge you need the rest is up to you , you need to put in the hard work and dedication to reach your goals. Along with the hard work and dedication you need to make a few lifestyle changes. If you are like most people you are wanting shred a few kilo and gain a bit of extra muscle am i right ? In the follow guide i will cover these 2 areas. But before we dive in we first need to get a few of the bodybuilding myths out of the way
Part 1: Myths
I am sure you have heard many myths relating to bodybuilding , when you mention to a friend that you are wanting to take up bodybuilding/weight lifting they start reciting stories that a friend of a friend who's uncle told them that ..... Lets debunk some of these myths
Spot reduction
Contrary to what the infomercial's suggest there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body it seems the first area to get fat, or the last area to become lean, is the midsection (in men and some women, especially after menopause) and hips and thighs (in women and few men). Sit-ups, crunches, leg-hip raises, leg raises, hip adduction, hip abduction, etc. will only exercise the muscles under the fat.
Turning fat into muscle
Fat and muscle are made up of entirely different tissues so "turning fat into muscle" is more than just a 1 step process.
Fat is used by your body to store energy while muscle is used for movement and some involuntary functions (pumping blood, digesting food, breathing). Muscles are made out of protein while fat stores are made up of fat. There is no mechanism to turn fat into protein, it just isn't possible. Turning fat into muscle is a 2 step process which requires you to burn fat and build muscle in it's place
Losing fat while gaining muscle
Building muscle requires eating more calories than you burn while losing fat requires eating less calories than you burn. When you're trying to lose fat and reducing calories, you won't be taking in the number of calories your muscles would need to grow larger.
Higher reps + Light weight = Muscle toning
You get "toned" from having low bodyfat, not from lifting light weights for multiple rep. However routines based around high reps can be beneficial to endurance and thus are useful to some athletes.
The more the better
One common mistake beginners make when hitting the gym is that they frequent it too often. They are under the belief that to gain muscle they need to pump iron daily , which isn't the case, your muscles don't grow while lifting weight they grow when you do nothing when you are resting. So adequate rest time is just as important as the workout itself
Without diving into too much detail about muscle growth but your muscles grow by getting damaged and injured, your muscle get micro tears which when repaired make your muscles grown
I only want to work my upper body
For your upper body to grow you also need to train your lower body there is no way around it. The body keeps itself balanced so that no body part becomes out of proportion to the rest of the body. Which means that if your legs are too small your upper body wont grow
That concludes the bodybuilding mythbusting section, there are countless number of bodybuilding myths out there the above is small selection of them.
Part 2: Gaining Muscle (Diet)
The 3 key factors involved in gaining muscle are:-
Diet
Workout
Rest
Not one is more important then the other , they are all equally as important as the other. If you neglect any one of the 3 you will be hinder your gains and in the severe case of not looking after your diet you ca ruin your gains. I can't stress enough about how important diet is , which is why we will discuss this first.
Like any mechanic device your body needs fuel to perform exercises and also to allow your muscles to grow. 2500 is the average calorie intake that you need for daily maintenance. What this means is that with a 2500 calories diet per day you will neither gain weight nor lose it. So in order for any growth be it fat or muscle you need to eat more than your daily maintenance calorie level. There is no getting around this , it's just something that needs to be done.
In order to grow you need to eat more than your maintence level but that doesn't mean that you can eat whatever you want. Here are some examples of good foods to eat while attempting to gain lean muscle mass:-
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Turkey
Tuna
Salmon
2% milk
Eggs
Cottage cheese 2%
Yogurt 2% plain
Whey protein powder (post workout drink)
Asparagus
Broccoli
Green beans
Cauliflower
Pasta
Potatoes
Rice (short & long grain)
Sweet potatoes
Egg noodles
Brown (& wild) rice
Oatmeal, rolled oats (slow cooked)
Multi grain bread
Olive oil (extra virgin)
Butter (unsalted)
These foods should get you started there are many more good foods that you can add to your diet (why not stop by the forums and check out some of fadi's diets ). In the world of bodybuilding eating more than your daily maintenance level of calories in order to gain muscle mass is known “Bulking”.
When planning your bulking diet here is guidelines for you to follow:-
1. Split your daily food intake into 5-6 meals. Never go for than 3hours without eating. This will ensure that your muscles get the nutrients they require all day long.
2. To get a good rough starting figure for the amount of calories you should be consuming use the following formula
The Harris-Benedict Equation for calculating calorie needs.
Use the appropriate formula for men or women.
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - (6.8 x Age) = Daily calories required
Women: BMR = 665 + (9.6 x W) + (1.8 x H) - (4.7 x Age) = Daily calories needs
Where:
W = weight in Kg's Convert body weight here!
H = Height in cm's ( 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 inch = 2.54 cm's)
Age = Years
An example for a 30 year old women weighing 80 (176 pounds) Kg's and 5 foot 6 inches tall would be.
665 + (9.6 x 80) + (1.8 x 168) - (4.7 x 30)
665 + 768 + 302 - 141 = 1594 calories per day!
If you find you are not gaining then up the calories. Aim for 1.5-2lb’s weight gain per week. Any more than this and you are likely gaining more fat than you need to be so cut back the calories slightly.
3. Initially advised at 1g per lb of bodyweight...2.2lbs = 1kg.Therefore 2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight. Some people do not need quite this much; by all means adjust to suit yourself as you begin to learn your own body’s requirements.
4. Strength training/weight lifting/bodybuilding break down muscle, burn calories and make you sweat. You need food post workout for muscle recovery & rehydration. Post workout shakes can take care of all of that. A whey protein shake is a good idea straight after your workout. Your muscles are literally begging for protein at that time so feed them. Try to get in a full meal about 30 minutes to 1 hour after your workout also.
5. Do not under any circumstances skip breakfast. Aside from your post-workout meal this is the most important one of the day. You have been fasting for 8 hours while sleeping so your body will be craving food when you awake.
6. Each of your 5-6 meals per day should consist of a good helping of protein along with some carbohydrates and a little fat. For breakfast something like Porridge along with some scrambled eggs is very good to start with.
The above is rough guide for you to follow , we have only covered the basics so that we don't bombard you with too much jargon and to make for some light reading , if you have any more questions drop by the forums
Part 3: Gaining Muscle (Training)
So now that you have an understanding about a correct diet and that you need to eat plenty of healthy foods and consuming calories than that of your maintence level?I can not stress enough that if your diet is not up to scratch whatever you do in the gym will be a waste
First of all lets discuss routines. There are many types of routines you can follow.Many times beginning bodybuilders make the mistake of using the routines of professional bodybuilders featured on magazines, when instead they should be using a routine that is geared towards their level. In this guide i will be referring to what is known as a split routine which is a basic routine for the beginners to learn what suits them
Along with the split routine other routines that you might want to look into are Full body routines and similarly HST(Hypertrophy-Specific Training) routines.
In your research you may come across some jargon that you don't understand .Here is an explanation of the most commonly used terms in exercise routines:-
REPETITION (REP)- Each individual count of an exercise that is performed.eg: when peforming a bicep curl, 1 rep is one complete lift of the dumbbell/barbell including the negative (putting the weight back down).
Set – A grouping of repetitions that is followed by a rest interval and usually another set. Three to five sets are usually performed of each exercise. Many routines will state things like, Bench Press 3x8. This is telling you to perform 3 sets of 8 reps on the Bench Press.
Superset – Series of two exercises performed with no rest between sets and a normal rest interval between supersets. Supersets increase training intensity by reducing the average length of rest interval between sets. This can be extremely useful for inducing muscle growth in some routines. .
Compound exercise – A lift that stresses two or more bodyparts. For example, bench presses are a compound lift because they stress the chest (pectorals), shoulders (front deltoids) and upper arms (triceps). These exercises are the ones that will put on the mass and make you grow. Always give priority to these exercises. Examples of compound exercises are: Bench Press, Squat, Dead lift.
Isolation exercise – A lift that stresses only one bodypart. For example, dumbbell flyes are an isolation exercise because they work only the chest, and leg extensions work only the quad. These movements generally do not add much overall mass to your body. Examples of isolation exercises are: Bicep Curl, Tricep Extension, Calf raise.
So now that you have an idea about some of the basic bodybuilding terms, we will now move onto talking about the split routine and why you do it . Here is an example of one such split:-
Monday – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Wednesday – Back/Biceps
Friday – Legs/Abs
This is just a classic example of a split routine, some people prefer to do their Chest and biceps together on the same day and while some people prefer a 4 day split or a completely different kind.
With the above routine you are working each major muscle group once per week, some of the other routines that you may come across will hit muscles more often. But as a beginner it is best to start with something basic as it very easy to over-train when starting out. The idea is that you overload your muscles on one day then give them enough rest time to heal and to grow. This is why we split the routine up. Remember what i said above " YOUR MUSCLES GROW WHEN THEY ARE RESTING" so make sure to have adequate rest between workouts
If you train a muscle group too often or if you are not eating enough you will find yourself overtraining.Over training is simply when muscles are being repeatedly worked without adequate recovery,nutrition and rest. When it comes to bodybuilding less is more when it comes to bodybuilding Overtraining will prevent any muscle growth from occurring and it is even possible to lose muscle mass if overtraining severely.
With weight lifting/ bodybuilding routines you need to continuously up your weights as your stronger and bigger. if you can do 15-16 reps without a problem it is time to up your weight. If you lift the same weight for a year you will see very little growth. In summary you need to lift heavy to damage your muscle to induce hypertrophy.
Here are some workout routines points for you to remember to help you on your track:-
1. You should be concentrating on heavy compound lifts.Make compound lifts the basis of your routine. Do not neglect them in any way or you won’t grow.
2. As a good rule aim for 9-12 sets maximum for the larger muscle groups (Chest/Back/Legs) and 6-8 sets maximum for the smaller muscle groups (Biceps/Shoulders/Triceps/Calves)
3. A good start set for beginners is around 8 reps in each set. This number varies with people some like to do as little as 5 reps and other like to go as high as 12. 8 reps is a good starting point.
4. When you can perform 8 reps with very good, strict form then try upping the weight a little.
5. Forget the machines at your gym and use free weights(barbell, dumbbell) Free weights provide overall muscular strength and power gain.With Free Weights such such as dumbbells ,you can perform quite a variety of different exercises targeting different areas of the body and different muscle groups. Free weights will give you a far better workout since you activate many more stabilizer muscles. There are certain exercises for which machines can be a useful addition but in general you should ignore them and get straight to work with the free weights.
6. I can not stress this enough make sure you use correct form and technique! If you can’t lift your weights with perfect form then lower the weight .
To help get you started I will post a sample routine based on the 3 day split I mentioned above:-
Monday (Chest/Shoulder/Triceps)
Flat Bench Press – 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3x8
Skull Crushers – 3x8 (similar to lying tricep extensions)
Close Grip Bench Press – 3x8
Seated Dumbbell Military Press -3x8
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3x8
Wednesday (Back/Biceps)
Dead lifts – 3x8
Bent over one arm Dumbbell rows – 3x8
Chin Ups 3x8 (Or Lat pull downs if you can’t do chins yet)
Barbell Bicep Curl -3x8
One arm Dumbbell hammer Curls – 3x8
Friday (Legs/Abs)
Barbell Squats – 3x8
Dumbbell Lunges – 3x8
Calf Raises-4x10
Abdominal workout (Crunches, leg raises, whatever)
After a different 3 day split? Why not drop by the forum and ask around. The above is just a rough idea. As you can see this sample routine is heavily based around a 3x8 plan. I definitely think this set/rep range is best for beginners. No workout is perfect for everyone it's a matter of listening to what your body is telling you
The leg workout will also work your core out. Many people find there is no need to do any further ab work. By all means throw in some crunches or whatever you like on that day.
Part 4: Cutting (Losing Fat)
So now you have been training hard packed on some muscle and eaten like a pig So there you are. You have now found out that your stomach is protruding. You have a layer of fat covering your perhaps once visible abs, maybe you are even looking a little chubby around the face.
That is why this section is here to give you the advice and understanding to lose that extra bodyfat that that you put on while bulking. The bodybuilding cutting phase is just a term given to the process of shredding the extra body fat you have accumulated whilst bulking ,so as to reveal the muscle definition you have worked so hard for during the bulking up phase. The cutting phase is rather easy compared to that of the bulking up phase because .During bulking up you need to put on muscles where as during the cutting phase, you are reducing your body fat until your hard earned muscles are exposed.
If you remember in Part 2 of this guide I explained to you that to add muscle you needed to eat more calories than you burned up each and every day , eating above your maintence level. As you may have guessed to lose fat you do the opposite that to of bulking. You consume less than that of your maintence level , less calories than what you burn up.
So you understand that to lose fat you need to eat less, right? However, one the mistakes that a lot make is to cut the calories intake too much or worst yet , starving themselves during the day . Without diving into the technical background , to put it simply, when you eat too little your bodies metabolism slows down. When your metabolism slows less calories are burned just by simply being alive. When you eat too little you put your gains at risk not only will your metabolism slow down but your body will begin to feed off your muscle tissue. . As your metabolism slows down you will find it difficult to get rid of the last layer of fat surrounding your abs.
After you have starved yourself and begin to eat normally you will find that all the fat that you lost comes rushing back. The reason this happens is that your metabolism takes some time to adjust. After a period of starvation it will be incredibly slow. Therefore as you begin to eat normally again you will be consuming more calories than you actually burn up in a day until your metabolism finally speeds up to its normal rate.
So if a six packed is what you are after don't cut your calorie intake too much.
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies have proved that obese people actually have the fastest metabolisms of all. Not the skinny kids who constantly go on about how fast their metabolism is. The reason for this is that they eat a lot of food regularly; therefore their metabolism is constantly active and speeds up.
The speed of ones metabolism is not determined genetically. It changes speed depending on your eating habits. There are of course exceptions but for the most part this is true. Everyone has the potential for a fast metabolism. So if you are overweight you can no longer use the excuse “Oh but I just have such a slow metabolism.”
Lets move on to some basic guidelines that should be followed whatever type of diet you decide to partake in:-
1. Just like when you were bulking when you are cutting, eat regularly 5-6 meals a day this will keep your metabolism high.
2. Use the above calorie intake found in Part 2: Gaining Muscle (Diet). Adjust if need be after a couple of weeks.
3. Don’t drop your calories over night drop your calories gradually. Once you find yourself losing fat keep your calories at that level. Remember it is extremely important to keep your metabolism as high as possible when entering a calorie deficit.
4. To help with your fat loss along with your diet throw in some Cardio workout. It also helps if you do this on an empty stomach maybe first thing in the morning before breakfast. Also check out doing a workout such as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) HIIT training is a method where you go all out for a few minutes (about 15 minutes) and then rest. HIIT will cause fat to be burned for longer after the exercise is performed than regular cardio. Also it takes far less time to do and is arguably better for keeping muscle mass than regular cardio. .
5. When dieting you not only need to think about what you are eating but also what you are drinking. Having 6 cups of coffee a day with 2 sugars in each cup is going to seriously mess up any diet you have. If you need sugar in your coffee consider switching to sweeteners. Cut out alcohol it is extremely calorific and full of carbs. . Drink plenty of water and save alcohol for the odd celebratory occasion if you really want to have a good body.
And that brings us to the end of this beginners guide to bodybuilding. While it didn't cover everything but i hope that it at least gives you a better understanding and some good starting points. Another thing to look into is the science of supplements but that is a bit out of scope for this beginners guide to bodybuilding. If you have any more questions drop by the forums and ask one of the helpful members for assistance
Introduction
Ok so you have decided that you want a better looking body the big guns of biceps to make your pecs dance, the washboard stomach with the 6pack showing. Does that sound like you ? Well you have come to the right place, you have found Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding which has a metric shitload of information and a great number of members who are willing to help you on your journey. With the great source of info at the forums and this guide you have all the knowledge you need the rest is up to you , you need to put in the hard work and dedication to reach your goals. Along with the hard work and dedication you need to make a few lifestyle changes. If you are like most people you are wanting shred a few kilo and gain a bit of extra muscle am i right ? In the follow guide i will cover these 2 areas. But before we dive in we first need to get a few of the bodybuilding myths out of the way
Part 1: Myths
I am sure you have heard many myths relating to bodybuilding , when you mention to a friend that you are wanting to take up bodybuilding/weight lifting they start reciting stories that a friend of a friend who's uncle told them that ..... Lets debunk some of these myths
Spot reduction
Contrary to what the infomercial's suggest there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body it seems the first area to get fat, or the last area to become lean, is the midsection (in men and some women, especially after menopause) and hips and thighs (in women and few men). Sit-ups, crunches, leg-hip raises, leg raises, hip adduction, hip abduction, etc. will only exercise the muscles under the fat.
Turning fat into muscle
Fat and muscle are made up of entirely different tissues so "turning fat into muscle" is more than just a 1 step process.
Fat is used by your body to store energy while muscle is used for movement and some involuntary functions (pumping blood, digesting food, breathing). Muscles are made out of protein while fat stores are made up of fat. There is no mechanism to turn fat into protein, it just isn't possible. Turning fat into muscle is a 2 step process which requires you to burn fat and build muscle in it's place
Losing fat while gaining muscle
Building muscle requires eating more calories than you burn while losing fat requires eating less calories than you burn. When you're trying to lose fat and reducing calories, you won't be taking in the number of calories your muscles would need to grow larger.
Higher reps + Light weight = Muscle toning
You get "toned" from having low bodyfat, not from lifting light weights for multiple rep. However routines based around high reps can be beneficial to endurance and thus are useful to some athletes.
The more the better
One common mistake beginners make when hitting the gym is that they frequent it too often. They are under the belief that to gain muscle they need to pump iron daily , which isn't the case, your muscles don't grow while lifting weight they grow when you do nothing when you are resting. So adequate rest time is just as important as the workout itself
Without diving into too much detail about muscle growth but your muscles grow by getting damaged and injured, your muscle get micro tears which when repaired make your muscles grown
I only want to work my upper body
For your upper body to grow you also need to train your lower body there is no way around it. The body keeps itself balanced so that no body part becomes out of proportion to the rest of the body. Which means that if your legs are too small your upper body wont grow
That concludes the bodybuilding mythbusting section, there are countless number of bodybuilding myths out there the above is small selection of them.
Part 2: Gaining Muscle (Diet)
The 3 key factors involved in gaining muscle are:-
Diet
Workout
Rest
Not one is more important then the other , they are all equally as important as the other. If you neglect any one of the 3 you will be hinder your gains and in the severe case of not looking after your diet you ca ruin your gains. I can't stress enough about how important diet is , which is why we will discuss this first.
Like any mechanic device your body needs fuel to perform exercises and also to allow your muscles to grow. 2500 is the average calorie intake that you need for daily maintenance. What this means is that with a 2500 calories diet per day you will neither gain weight nor lose it. So in order for any growth be it fat or muscle you need to eat more than your daily maintenance calorie level. There is no getting around this , it's just something that needs to be done.
In order to grow you need to eat more than your maintence level but that doesn't mean that you can eat whatever you want. Here are some examples of good foods to eat while attempting to gain lean muscle mass:-
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Turkey
Tuna
Salmon
2% milk
Eggs
Cottage cheese 2%
Yogurt 2% plain
Whey protein powder (post workout drink)
Asparagus
Broccoli
Green beans
Cauliflower
Pasta
Potatoes
Rice (short & long grain)
Sweet potatoes
Egg noodles
Brown (& wild) rice
Oatmeal, rolled oats (slow cooked)
Multi grain bread
Olive oil (extra virgin)
Butter (unsalted)
These foods should get you started there are many more good foods that you can add to your diet (why not stop by the forums and check out some of fadi's diets ). In the world of bodybuilding eating more than your daily maintenance level of calories in order to gain muscle mass is known “Bulking”.
When planning your bulking diet here is guidelines for you to follow:-
1. Split your daily food intake into 5-6 meals. Never go for than 3hours without eating. This will ensure that your muscles get the nutrients they require all day long.
2. To get a good rough starting figure for the amount of calories you should be consuming use the following formula
The Harris-Benedict Equation for calculating calorie needs.
Use the appropriate formula for men or women.
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - (6.8 x Age) = Daily calories required
Women: BMR = 665 + (9.6 x W) + (1.8 x H) - (4.7 x Age) = Daily calories needs
Where:
W = weight in Kg's Convert body weight here!
H = Height in cm's ( 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 inch = 2.54 cm's)
Age = Years
An example for a 30 year old women weighing 80 (176 pounds) Kg's and 5 foot 6 inches tall would be.
665 + (9.6 x 80) + (1.8 x 168) - (4.7 x 30)
665 + 768 + 302 - 141 = 1594 calories per day!
If you find you are not gaining then up the calories. Aim for 1.5-2lb’s weight gain per week. Any more than this and you are likely gaining more fat than you need to be so cut back the calories slightly.
3. Initially advised at 1g per lb of bodyweight...2.2lbs = 1kg.Therefore 2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight. Some people do not need quite this much; by all means adjust to suit yourself as you begin to learn your own body’s requirements.
4. Strength training/weight lifting/bodybuilding break down muscle, burn calories and make you sweat. You need food post workout for muscle recovery & rehydration. Post workout shakes can take care of all of that. A whey protein shake is a good idea straight after your workout. Your muscles are literally begging for protein at that time so feed them. Try to get in a full meal about 30 minutes to 1 hour after your workout also.
5. Do not under any circumstances skip breakfast. Aside from your post-workout meal this is the most important one of the day. You have been fasting for 8 hours while sleeping so your body will be craving food when you awake.
6. Each of your 5-6 meals per day should consist of a good helping of protein along with some carbohydrates and a little fat. For breakfast something like Porridge along with some scrambled eggs is very good to start with.
The above is rough guide for you to follow , we have only covered the basics so that we don't bombard you with too much jargon and to make for some light reading , if you have any more questions drop by the forums
Part 3: Gaining Muscle (Training)
So now that you have an understanding about a correct diet and that you need to eat plenty of healthy foods and consuming calories than that of your maintence level?I can not stress enough that if your diet is not up to scratch whatever you do in the gym will be a waste
First of all lets discuss routines. There are many types of routines you can follow.Many times beginning bodybuilders make the mistake of using the routines of professional bodybuilders featured on magazines, when instead they should be using a routine that is geared towards their level. In this guide i will be referring to what is known as a split routine which is a basic routine for the beginners to learn what suits them
Along with the split routine other routines that you might want to look into are Full body routines and similarly HST(Hypertrophy-Specific Training) routines.
In your research you may come across some jargon that you don't understand .Here is an explanation of the most commonly used terms in exercise routines:-
REPETITION (REP)- Each individual count of an exercise that is performed.eg: when peforming a bicep curl, 1 rep is one complete lift of the dumbbell/barbell including the negative (putting the weight back down).
Set – A grouping of repetitions that is followed by a rest interval and usually another set. Three to five sets are usually performed of each exercise. Many routines will state things like, Bench Press 3x8. This is telling you to perform 3 sets of 8 reps on the Bench Press.
Superset – Series of two exercises performed with no rest between sets and a normal rest interval between supersets. Supersets increase training intensity by reducing the average length of rest interval between sets. This can be extremely useful for inducing muscle growth in some routines. .
Compound exercise – A lift that stresses two or more bodyparts. For example, bench presses are a compound lift because they stress the chest (pectorals), shoulders (front deltoids) and upper arms (triceps). These exercises are the ones that will put on the mass and make you grow. Always give priority to these exercises. Examples of compound exercises are: Bench Press, Squat, Dead lift.
Isolation exercise – A lift that stresses only one bodypart. For example, dumbbell flyes are an isolation exercise because they work only the chest, and leg extensions work only the quad. These movements generally do not add much overall mass to your body. Examples of isolation exercises are: Bicep Curl, Tricep Extension, Calf raise.
So now that you have an idea about some of the basic bodybuilding terms, we will now move onto talking about the split routine and why you do it . Here is an example of one such split:-
Monday – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Wednesday – Back/Biceps
Friday – Legs/Abs
This is just a classic example of a split routine, some people prefer to do their Chest and biceps together on the same day and while some people prefer a 4 day split or a completely different kind.
With the above routine you are working each major muscle group once per week, some of the other routines that you may come across will hit muscles more often. But as a beginner it is best to start with something basic as it very easy to over-train when starting out. The idea is that you overload your muscles on one day then give them enough rest time to heal and to grow. This is why we split the routine up. Remember what i said above " YOUR MUSCLES GROW WHEN THEY ARE RESTING" so make sure to have adequate rest between workouts
If you train a muscle group too often or if you are not eating enough you will find yourself overtraining.Over training is simply when muscles are being repeatedly worked without adequate recovery,nutrition and rest. When it comes to bodybuilding less is more when it comes to bodybuilding Overtraining will prevent any muscle growth from occurring and it is even possible to lose muscle mass if overtraining severely.
With weight lifting/ bodybuilding routines you need to continuously up your weights as your stronger and bigger. if you can do 15-16 reps without a problem it is time to up your weight. If you lift the same weight for a year you will see very little growth. In summary you need to lift heavy to damage your muscle to induce hypertrophy.
Here are some workout routines points for you to remember to help you on your track:-
1. You should be concentrating on heavy compound lifts.Make compound lifts the basis of your routine. Do not neglect them in any way or you won’t grow.
2. As a good rule aim for 9-12 sets maximum for the larger muscle groups (Chest/Back/Legs) and 6-8 sets maximum for the smaller muscle groups (Biceps/Shoulders/Triceps/Calves)
3. A good start set for beginners is around 8 reps in each set. This number varies with people some like to do as little as 5 reps and other like to go as high as 12. 8 reps is a good starting point.
4. When you can perform 8 reps with very good, strict form then try upping the weight a little.
5. Forget the machines at your gym and use free weights(barbell, dumbbell) Free weights provide overall muscular strength and power gain.With Free Weights such such as dumbbells ,you can perform quite a variety of different exercises targeting different areas of the body and different muscle groups. Free weights will give you a far better workout since you activate many more stabilizer muscles. There are certain exercises for which machines can be a useful addition but in general you should ignore them and get straight to work with the free weights.
6. I can not stress this enough make sure you use correct form and technique! If you can’t lift your weights with perfect form then lower the weight .
To help get you started I will post a sample routine based on the 3 day split I mentioned above:-
Monday (Chest/Shoulder/Triceps)
Flat Bench Press – 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3x8
Skull Crushers – 3x8 (similar to lying tricep extensions)
Close Grip Bench Press – 3x8
Seated Dumbbell Military Press -3x8
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3x8
Wednesday (Back/Biceps)
Dead lifts – 3x8
Bent over one arm Dumbbell rows – 3x8
Chin Ups 3x8 (Or Lat pull downs if you can’t do chins yet)
Barbell Bicep Curl -3x8
One arm Dumbbell hammer Curls – 3x8
Friday (Legs/Abs)
Barbell Squats – 3x8
Dumbbell Lunges – 3x8
Calf Raises-4x10
Abdominal workout (Crunches, leg raises, whatever)
After a different 3 day split? Why not drop by the forum and ask around. The above is just a rough idea. As you can see this sample routine is heavily based around a 3x8 plan. I definitely think this set/rep range is best for beginners. No workout is perfect for everyone it's a matter of listening to what your body is telling you
The leg workout will also work your core out. Many people find there is no need to do any further ab work. By all means throw in some crunches or whatever you like on that day.
Part 4: Cutting (Losing Fat)
So now you have been training hard packed on some muscle and eaten like a pig So there you are. You have now found out that your stomach is protruding. You have a layer of fat covering your perhaps once visible abs, maybe you are even looking a little chubby around the face.
That is why this section is here to give you the advice and understanding to lose that extra bodyfat that that you put on while bulking. The bodybuilding cutting phase is just a term given to the process of shredding the extra body fat you have accumulated whilst bulking ,so as to reveal the muscle definition you have worked so hard for during the bulking up phase. The cutting phase is rather easy compared to that of the bulking up phase because .During bulking up you need to put on muscles where as during the cutting phase, you are reducing your body fat until your hard earned muscles are exposed.
If you remember in Part 2 of this guide I explained to you that to add muscle you needed to eat more calories than you burned up each and every day , eating above your maintence level. As you may have guessed to lose fat you do the opposite that to of bulking. You consume less than that of your maintence level , less calories than what you burn up.
So you understand that to lose fat you need to eat less, right? However, one the mistakes that a lot make is to cut the calories intake too much or worst yet , starving themselves during the day . Without diving into the technical background , to put it simply, when you eat too little your bodies metabolism slows down. When your metabolism slows less calories are burned just by simply being alive. When you eat too little you put your gains at risk not only will your metabolism slow down but your body will begin to feed off your muscle tissue. . As your metabolism slows down you will find it difficult to get rid of the last layer of fat surrounding your abs.
After you have starved yourself and begin to eat normally you will find that all the fat that you lost comes rushing back. The reason this happens is that your metabolism takes some time to adjust. After a period of starvation it will be incredibly slow. Therefore as you begin to eat normally again you will be consuming more calories than you actually burn up in a day until your metabolism finally speeds up to its normal rate.
So if a six packed is what you are after don't cut your calorie intake too much.
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies have proved that obese people actually have the fastest metabolisms of all. Not the skinny kids who constantly go on about how fast their metabolism is. The reason for this is that they eat a lot of food regularly; therefore their metabolism is constantly active and speeds up.
The speed of ones metabolism is not determined genetically. It changes speed depending on your eating habits. There are of course exceptions but for the most part this is true. Everyone has the potential for a fast metabolism. So if you are overweight you can no longer use the excuse “Oh but I just have such a slow metabolism.”
Lets move on to some basic guidelines that should be followed whatever type of diet you decide to partake in:-
1. Just like when you were bulking when you are cutting, eat regularly 5-6 meals a day this will keep your metabolism high.
2. Use the above calorie intake found in Part 2: Gaining Muscle (Diet). Adjust if need be after a couple of weeks.
3. Don’t drop your calories over night drop your calories gradually. Once you find yourself losing fat keep your calories at that level. Remember it is extremely important to keep your metabolism as high as possible when entering a calorie deficit.
4. To help with your fat loss along with your diet throw in some Cardio workout. It also helps if you do this on an empty stomach maybe first thing in the morning before breakfast. Also check out doing a workout such as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) HIIT training is a method where you go all out for a few minutes (about 15 minutes) and then rest. HIIT will cause fat to be burned for longer after the exercise is performed than regular cardio. Also it takes far less time to do and is arguably better for keeping muscle mass than regular cardio. .
5. When dieting you not only need to think about what you are eating but also what you are drinking. Having 6 cups of coffee a day with 2 sugars in each cup is going to seriously mess up any diet you have. If you need sugar in your coffee consider switching to sweeteners. Cut out alcohol it is extremely calorific and full of carbs. . Drink plenty of water and save alcohol for the odd celebratory occasion if you really want to have a good body.
And that brings us to the end of this beginners guide to bodybuilding. While it didn't cover everything but i hope that it at least gives you a better understanding and some good starting points. Another thing to look into is the science of supplements but that is a bit out of scope for this beginners guide to bodybuilding. If you have any more questions drop by the forums and ask one of the helpful members for assistance
