So You Want to Become a Bodybuilder?
Bodybuilding is one of the most interesting and most controversial physical activities out there. The term activity was not random since there are still some debates going on about whether it is a sport or an art form.
While you engage in physical activity in order to compete against other people, the evaluation works on a pretty much subjective visual appearance.
In other words, what a bodybuilder does is sculpting his body in order to reach its ultimate form. As for all those dreaming to become bodybuilders themselves, here are few things they should know.
Holistic Training Regimen
Hitting the gym in order to lose those few extra pounds is one thing, but working on becoming a bodybuilder is something else entirely.
First of all, you need to find exercises with the best result-to-energy ratio and include them in your regimen. Every exercise you do needs to hit at least two muscle groups at once.
This is why deadlift, squats, shoulder press and bench press are flagship exercises for every serious bodybuilder.
Sure, as a bodybuilder you need to work on every single muscle so occasionally you will have to use a specific exercise in order to isolate a smaller muscle group.
Still, at least 70-80 percent of your regimen should consist of holistic exercises that most of your body will benefit from.
Care for Your Body
When you become a bodybuilder, you need to invest some serious work on your body even outside of the gym. After all, you will be evaluated based on what you look like which means that you need to care for your skin tone and complexion as well.
Spending time in a tanning salon is not uncommon amongst bodybuilders and neither is using moisturizers for your skin. Furthermore, in order to make your muscles more visible, you might even want to consider hair removal for men.
Finally, appearance isn’t everything so when your muscles get sore from all the hard work you should probably get a massage.
Diet Makes a Difference
As we already stated several times, a bodybuilder is an artist, which means that it is not a job but a life calling. This is why you cannot give bodybuilding 99 percent of your life; you need to put everything on the table.
What you eat is extremely important and every professional bodybuilder will agree that what is on your plate matters at least as much as what is on your weight bar.
Seeing how your body will endure much more stress than most people, it won’t be able to maintain itself on the same amount sustenance.
The core of your diet should be highly caloric foods like egg whites, lean meat, fish and beans. Some make a mistake of believing that proteins are all that matters, when in truth, you need carbohydrates and fats as well.
Never Avoid Rest
In the end, one of the greatest mistakes that people new to bodybuilding make is skipping rest. Without giving your body a chance to recuperate, you will do more damage than you will do good.
As the competition gets closer, you will feel the urge to train like never before and this is completely fine. The worst idea one can have in such situation is to try and squeeze in one more training in the period when they are supposed to rest.
One of the tricks most bodybuilders use is to make a schedule of which muscle groups they exercise on which day. In this way, muscle groups have at least one or two days to recover.
Another important thing is to know when to let it go. For instance, many people are tempted to hit the gym even with a mild cold, but working out when you are sick should be approached with caution. It’s much better to pause for one week than to damage your health in the long run.
Conclusion
From all of this, it is easy to see that there is much more to bodybuilding than just working hard at the gym. Bodybuilding is a lifestyle and as such it is requires intense dedication from anyone trying to succeed in this art form. Few people are willing to put in the hard work it requires.