Becoming a bodybuilder takes more than just big muscles. If you have an interest in fitness and muscle growth, you can learn to start exercising and eating right to build muscle in a targeted and regular way, as well as how to enter the competitive world of professional bodybuilding.
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Part 1 of 5: Getting Started
Step 1. Find a good gym
You can start getting fit and building muscle at home, with the basic setup of a home gym, but without access to the facilities of a professional gym, it's impossible to become the bodybuilder that graces the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine. If you want to be a competitive bodybuilder, then it's important to find a good gym in your area where you can train. Some of the best bodybuilding gyms in the world are:
- Gold's Gym in Venice, California
- Original Temple Gym in Birmingham, England
- Bev Francis's Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, New York
- Metroflex in Arlington, Texas
- Oxygen Gym in Kuwait
Step 2. Identify important muscle groups and basic anatomy
Bodybuilders are half athletes and half artists. Just as a sculptor uses clay or marble, a bodybuilder uses sweat and purpose to train muscles and shape his body into a certain stature. Planning what you want from the benefits of bodybuilding and how you get in shape, is a big part of this process. Get the following textbooks to do body research:
- Grey's Anatomy
- Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach
Step 3. Prioritize goals
If you want to be a bodybuilder, then when you start it will take some planning, depending on where you are with your body. Planning and shaping is an ongoing process, so it's great to sit down and meet with other bodybuilders and trainers to talk about what body parts to build.
- If you are a little overweight, then in the early stages you need to focus on doing calorie burning exercises to lower your fat percentage, before starting to concentrate on building your chest muscles to become a sculpted work of art. Start doing cardio and circuit training (resistance training using high-intensity aerobics) to lose weight.
- If you are already thin and want to build muscle, start developing a strength training routine, focusing on compound movements (exercises that involve more than one muscle group) first, then proceed with isolation exercises (exercises that only require one muscle group) by targeting at least one muscle group. specific muscle groups that have been identified as required.
Step 4. Learn the proper form for each exercise
It's important to learn how to lift weights properly, try different exercises with an empty barbell, then switch to barbells with weights to make sure you're getting the basics started.
- Consider consulting a personal trainer for guidance, at least when you're just starting out. It is very possible and in fact very likely that you will go wrong with your training without guidance, resulting in not only injury, but a lot of wasted time and effort.
- It's also important to go to the gym to learn from other bodybuilders. Join a bodybuilding community and learn from more experienced weight lifters about the right way to train.
Step 5. Consult a nutritionist
Everyone has a different metabolism and requires different additional nutrients to build muscle. It's a good idea to meet with a nutritionist or health counselor at least once to come up with a diet plan specifically tailored to your body and what you want to do with it. It is impossible to provide a general diet plan for everyone, so you will need a diet plan that is specific to your needs.
Step 6. Find out how to pay the bill
Bodybuilders don't make a lot of money, so the idea of becoming a professional bodybuilder is a lot like the idea of becoming a professional poet or professional painter: it takes your heart and soul, but you also need to figure out how to take care of the practical details. You'll need to support bodybuilding with other types of work to pay the bills.
- Consider becoming a licensed personal trainer, if you are a person who enjoys spending time at the gym. This allows you a lot of free time, and you even get paid to discuss weight and exercise issues with other people. A win-win solution for willing bodybuilders.
- Bodybuilders often have easy opportunities to land jobs that require a large body. Consider finding a job as a bouncer (a nightclub clerk who gets rid of troubled visitors), security guard, mover (one who works for a moving company), or in a warehouse.
Step 7. Be prepared for a lengthy process
It's important to know that you're not going to start deadlifting (lifting a barbell up to your groin, then releasing it) one day and waking up the next day as big as the Hulkster. Bodybuilding takes a long time to see the desired results, but with the right time and dedication, you will start to see those results. This isn't a field for weekend geeks who love action movies, it's a 24 hour 7 day lifestyle. Thinking about the abilities you now have? Do the exercises.
Part 2 of 5: Practice
Step 1. Develop a strength training routine
The exercises you do will depend on the goals for the body and the period in the training process. However, it is generally recommended that you stick to the same major compound movement exercises that most bodybuilders use, so that these exercises become an important part of strength training. Later you can incorporate isolation exercises and exercise equipment into your routine, but now you should focus on losing weight and building muscle, by doing the following exercises:
- Squats (exercises to increase the strength and size of the legs and buttocks and build body strength)
- Deadlift
- Overhead press (lifting barbell from chest to head) while standing
- Bench press (lifting the barbell from the chest to the top of the head in a sitting position, but the body is lying on the bench)
- Pull-ups (pull the body up until it exceeds the bar used by the hands to hold on)
- Dip (exercise by holding the bar, arms in a straight line, then lower the body until the arms bend 90 degrees, then raise the body back up)
- Row (practice by holding a piece of equipment, pulling it forward, then pulling it away)
Step 2. Start with a fairly heavy weight
Choosing the right amount of weight to lift is important for building the right types of muscles and avoiding injury. First, you need to determine your maximum load: the heaviest weight you can lift, at least once. Use a spotter (a person who helps lift weights to be safe) and find your maximum load. Ideally, a beginner bodybuilder should be able to lift 70-80 percent of maximum strength for 6-10 repetitions of 3-4 sets of exercises. This is the optimal set of exercises and range of repetitions for muscle growth.
- If you're experiencing a stagnant stage, it's important to stick to 1-5 repetitions of heavy weights (85-90 percent of maximum strength), occasionally interspersed during a weekly schedule. Don't push too hard or go too fast, as you could risk getting injured.
- Use progressive power. As you progress to a point where your weight seems light by the end of the 10th rep, it's important to increase the load gradually to avoid stagnation.
Step 3. Fix the previous stagnant stage
All bodybuilders will go through a stagnation stage, which is the point where you don't see the quick results that you saw weeks or even days before. Learning how to diagnose and correct these stagnant levels will help keep you safe from injury as well as move you forward towards the desired outcome
- If you want a muscle group to grow, then you need to increase the weight you train and reduce the repetition of the movement.
- If you want to strengthen a muscle group, you need to lower the weight and increase the repetition of the movement.
Step 4. Set targets for specific muscle groups on certain days
In general, serious bodybuilders will separate certain muscle groups to train on certain days of the week. You may have one day you're working your legs and abs, then the next day you're working your chest and arms, then the next day you're working your shoulders and back, and the next you're working your abs into stripes. The last training day can be for cardio, then give yourself two days of rest and recovery.
- Bodybuilders should do 6-10 sets per body part, per week, consisting of 6-10 repetitions for compound movements, and 8-15 repetitions for isolation movements by training specific muscles.
- Use a routine that works for you. There's no way to set a weekly workout schedule, but it's helpful to keep it fairly consistent.
Step 5. Also do cardio exercises to burn calories
Many bodybuilders think that cardio can "lose weight," which is partly true, but it's also necessary to lower your body fat percentage if you're just starting out. Bodybuilders need to balance cardio workouts and build big muscles, which can be a challenge.
- Cardio training will not make your muscles smaller, but will make them grow more slowly. However, no one will be able to see a rock hard belly if you don't burn the upper part of it first. Lose fat, then build muscle.
- Try doing the exercise with pauses, namely a 30 second pause when running 16 kilometers per hour, then a 30 second pause when running 8 kilometers per hour. Do it for at least 5 minutes, as long as you can.
- Do cardio after your workout and do the exercise for the entire time you're doing cardio. Stop doing cardio when you feel thin enough and can feel your arm muscles without the fat layer.
Step 6. Allow the muscles to rest and recover before performing the next exercise
It is also very important to incorporate recovery time into training. Not only can you train constantly and think you can build muscle faster that way. This will injure you. You need to rest at least two days each week, during which you don't train at all.
For most bodybuilders, those are days when you can do other things: tan, go on a date, or do the laundry. Use those days to get other things done so you can focus more on your workout during your workout days, helping you stay focused
Part 3 of 5: Eat Right
Step 1. Meet calorie needs in the right way
Nutrition is one of the biggest and most important aspects of bodybuilding. You can lift weights seven days a week, train hard, and do any type of cardio workout in the world, but if you're nutritionally deficient, you won't see rapid, big increases in muscle size and strength. Learn to eat the right amount with the right type of calories to build the muscle you want.
To meet the daily calories you need to build large muscle, multiply your body weight in pounds by 20, to get an estimate of what you need each day to train
Step 2. Eat lots of lean protein foods
Protein helps build muscle quickly and you need it in high amounts in your diet if you want to become a bodybuilder. Multiply your weight in pounds by 0.8 to find out how many grams of protein you should consume in a day. Daily protein intake should be around 20-35 percent of calories.
- Lean chicken, meat, eggs, and legumes should make up a significant portion of your diet.
- Many bodybuilders feel good about chicken breast and broccoli after a few months, so it's a good idea to buy a cookbook to turn a variety of ingredients into interesting meals. Food is fuel. Treat it like a business.
Step 3. Eat a slow-digesting carbohydrate diet
Carbohydrates are vital elements for maintaining muscle glycogen stores that provide maximum exercise energy and should make up 60 percent of daily caloric intake. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin, which is a very powerful substance for tissue growth.
- Eat a majority of carbohydrate foods on exercise days, especially after exercise. This is a great way to promote massive lean muscle growth and minimize unwanted fat. You should also eat a whole meal consisting of carbohydrates and protein 1.5 hours after your workout.
- Simple carbohydrate foods such as rice, pasta, bananas, and whole grain cereals are especially good during this period. These foods deliver a rapid increase in insulin and maximize muscle anabolism.
- Limit carbohydrates to small portions of low glycemic index carbohydrates such as oats or a piece of fruit at other times of the day to control blood sugar levels and support lean muscle building.
Step 4. Consider adding whey protein
Protein supplements such as curd powder are a common food among bodybuilders and are of great benefit to weightlifters, especially if you are struggling to get your daily amount of protein.
- Protein supplements are most effective within 30 minutes of a workout, so muscles can recover quickly and grow. Another time to drink a protein shake is about an hour before a workout, which can help stimulate protein synthesis.
- It is recommended not to take more than 3 servings of protein supplements in a day, as you will only be throwing out protein supplements, and to avoid consuming too much protein.
Step 5. Use healthy fats to increase testosterone
Healthy fats are an important component of a great muscle building plan and a healthy diet. Healthy fats including nuts, olive oil, avocado, butter and eggs, which support testosterone production, will help you build muscle and recover faster.
- On days where you allow your muscles to rest and not exercise, it is important to repeat the consumption of carbohydrates and fats. Increase fat on rest days without exercise and limit carbohydrates because you're not training so you don't need energy from carbohydrates.
- Avoid trans fats and other fatty foods that contain preservatives. Fried foods, cheese, and anything containing fructose corn syrup should be avoided during exercise.
Step 6. Stay hydrated
Bodybuilders usually carry a large drinking container filled with water for one reason: your fluid needs must be met in order for the body to be healthy. During exercise, you need to drink at least 300 ml of water every 10-20 minutes during exercise.
- Avoid sports drinks and other liquids that contain sugar during exercise. Keep drinking water. After your workout, you can drink coconut water to replenish electrolytes or use electrolyte tablets for drinking water, to make your own sports drink.
- Eat bananas and dates after your workout to help replenish electrolyte levels, keep potassium levels high and make recovery work better.
Part 4 of 5: Developing Appearance
Step 1. Start posing after practice
When is the best time to pose and admire your art? As soon as you train the muscles. When you feel strong and energized, it's because your muscles are full of blood. This is the best time to see your progress and appreciate the muscle building you are making, as well as practicing your poses.
Practice full-body flex (bending or contracting), while trying to keep each muscle tense at the same time, even if you bend your abs more often. This is also an exercise
Step 2. Identify the specific muscles you want to build
When you're posing, this is a good opportunity to check your body proportions, improve muscle tone, and name areas of muscle that you need to isolate or work harder for next week's training session. What is needed to stabilize it? What needs to be raised? What exercises need to be done to get the results you want?
It's also a good idea to seek input from other trainers and bodybuilders at the gym. A lot of bodybuilding habits will occur at this stage, posing in the workout room, and asking other people what you need to work on
Step 3. Get the right gear
While it may not be the most important thing, if you're trying to be a bodybuilder, you'll also need to get clothes and gear that will help accentuate how strong you are. Buy some posing trunks, tight T-shirts that accentuate muscles, and a good training belt to help keep you safe during your workout. Gloves for lifting weights are also common equipment.
Step 4. Shave all body hair regularly
This is probably the weirdest part to talk about, but bodybuilders like to make things unusual with regards to bulging muscles. This means scheduling regular body shaving, especially after contests. You don't have to do this all the time, but you also need to leave the temple area, it's common to shave a few times a month to keep things in check, then do a thorough shave before entering the contest.
Step 5. Get an even dark skin
If you have pale skin, it is more difficult to see the position of the muscles. Darkening the skin tone helps create a bigger difference, creating shadows where muscles stand out. It is easier and more aesthetically pleasing to see the muscles if the skin is a little darker. Therefore, you need to safely darken the skin on a regular basis to make sure the muscles look their best.
Don't forget the armpits. White underarms are a common mistake beginners make
Part 5 of 5: Becoming a Professional
Step 1. Start participating in regional contests
Open regional bodybuilding contests are a way to get into the world of competition. Everyone starts at the local level and gradually builds his way up to the national level. If you're in good shape and want to gain experience, try competing and see if you have the skills to take it to the next level of competition, and maybe even go professional. For a list of amateur competitions in the United States, visit this site.
Step 2. Register with IFBB to compete at the national level
The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) regulates all national and international bodybuilding competitions, including the Arnold Classic, Mr Olympia, and various regional championships. If you want to go professional and compete at the national level, you need to register with the IFBB and compete.
Step 3. Keep practicing
The competitive world of bodybuilding can be hectic, star-studded, and foreign, but one thing stays in it: you're in the gym and working out. You have to keep finding the time and working on getting into shape and maintaining the work you create.
Step 4. Attract sponsors to enter the professional stage
The more competitions you win and the more visible your body becomes, then you need to start attracting sponsors, especially to get into the professional stage. This means that you will be able to make money to train fully, without worrying (at least that way) to do other things to fund your bodybuilding. This is a dream that every bodybuilder strives for and it is only available to a select few bodybuilders, with genetics and the effort to make a body fit for Olympia competition levels. Strive to achieve this.
Step 5. Expand your capabilities
Bodybuilders who really want to take it to the next level-we're talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrignos, Jay Cutlers, Ronnie Colemans-are not only incredibly stylish, but incredibly talented in other arenas. Having the charisma and diverse talents to do other things will help you stand out, as well as make you easier to sell to sponsors.
