For me, bodybuilding has mostly been a trial and error thing, and that’s not necessarily been a bad thing because I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes. It’d however have been a whole lot easier if I knew some truths and didn’t have to make some of those mistakes.
I feel the responsibility to share a few of the things I’ve learned that’ll surely come in handy for beginners who are vulnerable to being misled by the many confusing information out there. Below are some bodybuilding advices I would give to a beginner:
- Enjoy the honeymoon but be prepared for the storm
There is usually that period when everything is simple: You lift and you pack on muscles. You watch yourself make progress at a rapid rate and you may be tempted to think things will keep going that way. This is usually experienced by beginners or trainers lifting again after a while off.
When this period ends- and it will, you have to be ready to device more creative ways to get your body to react appropriately to your training.
- Don’t put a timeline on your progress
The easiest way to sabotage yourself is to put a timeline on your progress. Doing this could threaten to derail you when things are not going exactly the way you have projected. As I’ve mentioned earlier, things will get complicated on the way. It’s simply better to make up your mind from the outset to give it all the time it would take to reach your goal. Period.
- Start small to perfect your form
Form is important!!! It’ll help you prevent injuries and ensure that you’re doing the exercises right, gaining maximally from them and not cheating through the reps.
Don’t let your ego get in the way of you progress. Keep in mind you’re not in the gym to impress anyone with the amount of weights you can lift. Lift small first to perfect your form, and then work your way up!
Training with good form includes going the full range of motion. This refers to going all the way while moving the body part you’re training.
- Embrace body-weight
Don’t get discouraged whenever you can’t access the gym. Do body-weight exercises too and avail yourself to the benefits.
The cost of registering at a gym is the sole reason some people haven’t been working on their bodies. Guess what, body-weight exercises remedy all that.
Even if you go to the gym, you should still do some body-weight exercises to increase your agility, coordination and endurance, plus you’d be increasing your chances of building muscles or reaching your bodybuilding goals by doing some body-weights too!!
- Nutrition is critical
Whatever your fitness or bodybuilding goals are, Nutrition is KEY!! What you eat determines whether your time in the gym goes to waste.
- Keep it simple; consistency is underrated
Keep at the simple things!! Many of the workout ideas on the internet are for show (yeah, you read that right!). Most of these “instructors” built their own bodies by doing the simple, age-long and if you like, the cliché things consistently.
Just keep it simple and prioritize consistency.