My Story - How I Became a Bodybuilder

My Story - How I Became a Bodybuilder
By Alan Tolchin, M.D.

Hello there, let me tell you about how I became a bodybuilder. Like most medical students I had little time or interest in going to a gym on a regular basis. I did want to lose some weight but the thought of exercise left me uninspired. Then I discovered aerobics and how you could burn body fat by raising your heart-rate to a level in the 70-80% range of your maximum cardiac output. I started to do the "StairMaster" machine at a local gym and with headphones on a 20-30 minute session at an aerobic heart-rate was no problem at all; in fact I ended up doing aerobic training almost every day for several months. I did lose 10lbs or so of weight that was mostly body-fat and I was down to 145lbs.

One day while on the stairmaster, I noticed all the dumbells, barbells and free-weights that were in another area of the gym and I asked one of the staff what that was all about. He told me that there were two ways to go: either a lean slim compact body or a body with curves and rounded muscles. The second way, he said, was accomplished by weight-training while still keeping body fat down with aerobic exercise after the weight-training session. This, of course required spending more time at the gym but I was very curious about what effect weight-lifting would have on my now flat but lean body. In fact someone in the locker room looked at me and told me that I looked like a teenager.

So with help from the staff trainers I began to exercise with weight 3-4 times a week. What I didn't realize was that I had great genetics for muscle-building and it soon was quite obvious that my shoulders and chest were getting rounder and larger. I started to learn to isolate my muscle groups and started reading everything about bodybuilding that I could lay my hands on. After several months I was hooked and couldn't wait to get to the gym and try out new and different exercises. The trainers told me to give up the aerobic exercise and I would build muscle more easily. I changed my diet to a high-protein/low fat/moderate carbohydrate one and began eating 4-5 smaller meals during the day. The results were amazing and real; my self-esteem started to grow and in the first year of bodybuilding I gained 10lbs of muscle. Now I was definitely hooked.

During the next 4 years my training became more intense as I developed different exercises that helped me to isolate a particular muscle and feel the contraction as I worked out with weight. I spent one entire summer learning how to isolate and train my back which was lagging behind my chest according to one of the senior trainers at the gym. I switched to a more hard-core bodybuilding gym and added 10 lbs of muscle every year for the next 3-4 years at which time I weighed 185 lbs with a body fat of only 7%. I had reached my genetic potential and I plateaued at that weight watching my diet and downing loads of amino acid tablets for extra protein.

I was getting ready to compete as compliments and stares came my way. I felt like a transformed person and I actually have much greater self-esteem and self-confidence now that I have become a successful bodybuilder.

Should you be interested in obtaining further information about bodybuilding workouts and weight-training routines please visit my blog: http://www.customizedbodybuildingworkouts.blogspot.com as I continually post different aspects about my experiences with bodybuilding. My email address for this article is ajtolchin@gmail.com where I will personally evaluate your bodybuilding workouts and suggest changes in your routines as well as recommend various ways to isolate targeted muscle groups that you may need to use to enjoy a more intense and personally satisfying workout either in the gym or at home.

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