Tip 1: Set the Right Goals It is important, especially in weight training, that the goals you set yourself are achievable.
There is no faster way to ruin your bodybuilding journey than to set unrealistic goals that you can't achieve and subsequently destroys your moral and momentum.
The goal you set is specific to you but it should revolve around something you want e.
g.
a lean muscular physique, but also something that you can measure, e.
g.
using photographs to show weekly/monthly gains or something you can measure e.
g.
bicep curl weight or bench press weight.
The key here is that the goals you set are realistic and measurable so they can become a source of confidence and help you gain momentum in training.
Tip 2: Warm Up and Down Effectively Warming up and warming down is key in any sport; it helps to prevent injury and also aids your long term muscle life.
Warming up before you workout is important it aids your performance during the workout and also helps to prevent injury while lifting.
Warming down afterwards is also important as it should help to decrease recovery time of the muscles while also increasing their long term life.
The important thing here is to make sure you effectively warm up and down which can be done simply by stretching and using lighter weights at the beginning and end of your workout.
Tip 3: Vary your Workouts Don't do the same thing every time your muscles will gain a memory of this and as such any workout you do will have a much decreased impact on your muscle gains.
It is best to swap round the exercises you do, e.
g.
change from bicep curls to hammer curls.
It does not have to be massive variety just as long as the movement is slightly different.
It can also be beneficial to mix up the muscle groups you exercise, e.
g.
change from biceps and back to biceps and triceps then biceps and chest.
The different mechanics of exercising each muscle impacts changes the routine and also how much your muscles can do, you can do more bicep work when you combine it with chest or triceps than with back because the chest and triceps are push movements but back and biceps are pull movements.
Tip 4: Recovery Recovery is key, this is the phase where the muscle growth happens.
The recovery phase is made up of two distinct elements.
Firstly you need to make sure your body gets the correct nutrients through a properly maintained diet.
The second element is the quality and quantity of sleep you get.
This allows your body to recover from the stresses of a workout and means you can do more exercise in a shorter amount of time and you can work out harder when you do without getting injured.
It is still important to not give your muscles sufficient time between your workouts to recover; it is really recommended that you do not work out the same muscle groups on subsequent days.
Tip 5: Get the Right Supplements As was mentioned in tip 4 you need to make sure your body gets the correct nutrients to make sure you get maximum muscle growth.
One of the best ways of doing this is to add sports supplements to your diet; importantly they are supplements and as such are not a replacement for food they are there to boost, say your protein intake.
As such it is important that you look at your goals and judge from that whether you need to boost for lean muscle growth or mass gain etc.
Bonus As a little bonus there are a couple more tips I have: Firstly in my opinion, cardio is key to fitness and when especially if you are looking to build a lean muscular physique then it is better to stay cut rather than to bulk up and cut down.
Stretching and yoga are also recommended.
These two exercises will aid your flexibility and help your muscle longevity as well as helping to prevent your muscles plateauing and keeping you injury free.
As a final word it is very important that you make sure you get out and do it, whether it is by joining a gym or at home or whatever as long as you spend the time doing the exercise you will reach your goal.
There is no faster way to ruin your bodybuilding journey than to set unrealistic goals that you can't achieve and subsequently destroys your moral and momentum.
The goal you set is specific to you but it should revolve around something you want e.
g.
a lean muscular physique, but also something that you can measure, e.
g.
using photographs to show weekly/monthly gains or something you can measure e.
g.
bicep curl weight or bench press weight.
The key here is that the goals you set are realistic and measurable so they can become a source of confidence and help you gain momentum in training.
Tip 2: Warm Up and Down Effectively Warming up and warming down is key in any sport; it helps to prevent injury and also aids your long term muscle life.
Warming up before you workout is important it aids your performance during the workout and also helps to prevent injury while lifting.
Warming down afterwards is also important as it should help to decrease recovery time of the muscles while also increasing their long term life.
The important thing here is to make sure you effectively warm up and down which can be done simply by stretching and using lighter weights at the beginning and end of your workout.
Tip 3: Vary your Workouts Don't do the same thing every time your muscles will gain a memory of this and as such any workout you do will have a much decreased impact on your muscle gains.
It is best to swap round the exercises you do, e.
g.
change from bicep curls to hammer curls.
It does not have to be massive variety just as long as the movement is slightly different.
It can also be beneficial to mix up the muscle groups you exercise, e.
g.
change from biceps and back to biceps and triceps then biceps and chest.
The different mechanics of exercising each muscle impacts changes the routine and also how much your muscles can do, you can do more bicep work when you combine it with chest or triceps than with back because the chest and triceps are push movements but back and biceps are pull movements.
Tip 4: Recovery Recovery is key, this is the phase where the muscle growth happens.
The recovery phase is made up of two distinct elements.
Firstly you need to make sure your body gets the correct nutrients through a properly maintained diet.
The second element is the quality and quantity of sleep you get.
This allows your body to recover from the stresses of a workout and means you can do more exercise in a shorter amount of time and you can work out harder when you do without getting injured.
It is still important to not give your muscles sufficient time between your workouts to recover; it is really recommended that you do not work out the same muscle groups on subsequent days.
Tip 5: Get the Right Supplements As was mentioned in tip 4 you need to make sure your body gets the correct nutrients to make sure you get maximum muscle growth.
One of the best ways of doing this is to add sports supplements to your diet; importantly they are supplements and as such are not a replacement for food they are there to boost, say your protein intake.
As such it is important that you look at your goals and judge from that whether you need to boost for lean muscle growth or mass gain etc.
Bonus As a little bonus there are a couple more tips I have: Firstly in my opinion, cardio is key to fitness and when especially if you are looking to build a lean muscular physique then it is better to stay cut rather than to bulk up and cut down.
Stretching and yoga are also recommended.
These two exercises will aid your flexibility and help your muscle longevity as well as helping to prevent your muscles plateauing and keeping you injury free.
As a final word it is very important that you make sure you get out and do it, whether it is by joining a gym or at home or whatever as long as you spend the time doing the exercise you will reach your goal.
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