Friday, October 2, 2009

Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding
By James Jameson

So you're new to bodybuilding and you want to know where to start. Well, first you need to evaluate yourself. Gaining mass is not exactly easy, and it can actually be very difficult at times. If you think you're willing to commit to working out for a solid 6-8 weeks before seeing results, then read on. But know that once you do see results, you'll just want more and more. When that happens you know you're on the way to having the dream body you never thought you could inhabit.

I'm going to go over a few misconceptions that beginners have when it comes to bodybuilding. The first thing they think is that they only need to lift and do nothing else. This is very far from the truth. There are three main components needed to build a good body: exercise, a good diet, and lots of rest. If you do not get all three then you will see little to no gains.

Diet largely depends on what your goals are. If you're trying to lose weight then you're going to need to eat fewer calories than you burn. This means you're going to be hungry at times and you're going to have to ignore the urge to eat. It's still crucial that you maintain a good balance of carbs, proteins, and fats (40%-44%-15%), but you just need to scale it back a bit. If you're trying to put on weight, then you'll need to consume an additional 500 or so calories a day, which means you'll have to eat even if you're not hungry.

Exercise is self explanatory, well to an extent. You need to make sure that you're hitting the weights consistently and switching it up from time to time. If you keep the same routine for too long, you'll end up reaching a plateau where you won't see any more gains. You should also take regular breaks so that your body can recover. If you keep going at an exhaustive pace for weeks on end, then you'll just end up overtraining and actually losing muscle mass and overall energy.

Muscle is built through the reconstruction of microtears in the fibers. What this means, basically, is that your muscles get a bunch of little tears in them when you lift something heavy. After a few days the tears heal and your muscle is rebuilt stronger and larger. Your body, however, can not effectively heal your muscles unless you're resting. So you need about six to nine hours of sleep a night if you want to make any significant gains and progress.

This isn't all you need to know about gaining huge amounts of mass, however. It's really just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to find out more info and learn how I went from 130lbs to 180lbs in six months, then check out this fantastic resource.

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