Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 5: Getting started
• Part 2 of 5: Training
• Part 3 of 5: Eat well
• Part 4 of 5: Working on your appearance
• Part 5 of 5: Becoming a professional

It takes more than big muscles to become a bodybuilder. If you have an interest in fitness and muscle growth, you can learn to get started exercising and eating, develop your muscles in a focused and organized way, as well as how to break into the competitive world of professional bodybuilding.

To step

Part 1 of 5: Getting started

1. Find a good gym. You can start to get in shape and build muscle at home (with some basic fitness equipment), but without access to the facilities of a professional gym, it is not quite possible to become a bodybuilder of the kind that the cover of Muscle & Fitness honors. If you want to participate in competitions as a bodybuilder, it is important that you find a good gym in your area, where you can train. Some of the best bodybuilding gyms in the world are:
   • Gold's Gym in Venice, CA
   • Original Temple Gym in Birmingham, UK
   • Bev Francis’s Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, NY
   • Metroflex in Arlington, TX
   • Oxygen Gym in Kuwait
2. Familiarize yourself with major muscle groups and basic anatomy. Bodybuilders are part athletes and part artists. As a sculptor uses clay or marble, a bodybuilder uses sweat and determination to train his muscles and sculpt his body into a particular shape. Planning what you want to get out of bodybuilding and how you want to shape your body is an important part of the process. Try getting yourself the following textbooks to learn more about the body:
   • Grey's Anatomy
   • Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger
   • Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach
3. Set priorities in your goals. If you want to become a bodybuilder, you will have to start planning right from the start, depending on your fitness level. Planning and sculpting is an ongoing process, so it is good to talk to other bodybuilders and trainers about those areas of your physique that you will need to work on.
   • If you are a little overweight, then you should focus on calorie-burning exercises in the beginning to get your fat levels down before you start worrying about sculpting your chest muscles. Start with cardio and circuit training for weight loss.
   • If you're already lean and want to build muscle, start by putting together a strength training routine, focusing on compound movements first, then working towards isolation exercises, targeting the specific muscle groups that need extra attention.
4. Learn the correct form for each exercise. It is very important to learn to lift correctly, to try the different exercises you do during your workout with the bar only (and then with weight on the dumbbells), to make sure you have mastered the basic movements.
   • Consider consulting a personal trainer for guidance, at least in the beginning. It is very possible and even likely that you will train incorrectly if you do this without guidance, which can not only result in injury, but is also a huge waste of time and effort.
   • It's important to go to a gym and learn from other bodybuilders. Consult others and learn from more experienced bodybuilders how to do the workouts properly.
5. Consult a nutritionist. Everyone has a different metabolism and needs a slightly different supplemental diet to build muscle. It is a good idea to consult with a nutritionist or other health advisor at least once about a diet plan that is specifically tailored to your body and what you want to do with it. It is impossible to provide one comprehensive diet plan that works for everyone, so you need one that is specifically tailored to your needs.
6. Decide how you will pay your bills. Bodybuilders don't make a lot of money, so the idea of ​​becoming a professional bodybuilder is a lot like the idea of ​​becoming a professional poet or professional painter: you will have to do it with your heart and soul, but also figure out how to get the practical details can handle. You have to support your bodybuilding with other work to pay the bills.
   • Consider becoming a licensed personal trainer if you are always around the gym. This gives you a lot of free time in the gym, and you even get paid to talk to others about weights and training. Win-win for an ambitious bodybuilder.
   • Bodybuilders can often easily start doing heavy work. For example, you can become a bouncer, security guard, mover or warehouse worker.
7. Prepare for the long haul. It's important to understand that you can't start deadlifts one day and wake up like a Hulk the next. Bodybuilding takes a long time to see the kind of results you hope for, but with enough time and dedication, you will start to see those results. This is not territory for weekend athletes who like action movies, it is a lifestyle. Do you think you have what it takes? Then start your workout.

Part 2 of 5: Training

1. Develop your strength training routine. The exercises you perform depend on your goals for your body and the phase in the training process. However, it is generally suggested that you stick to the same general moves that most bodybuilders do, making them the cornerstone of your strength training. Later you can start doing isolation exercises and work with equipment, but at this point you should focus on getting stronger and building muscle mass by doing the following exercises:
   • Squats
   • Deadlifts
   • Standing overhead press
   • Bench press
   • Pull-ups
   • Dips
   • Rows
2. Start with moderate weights. Choosing the right weight to lift is important to build the right kind of muscle and avoid injury. First you need to determine your maximum weight - the heaviest weight you can lift, at least once. Use a spotter and find out your maximum weight. Ideally, beginner bodybuilders should do 70-80% of that one rep (one rep) 6-10 in 3-4 sets. This is the optimal set and repeat range for muscle growth.
   • When you hit a limit, it's important to stick to 1-5 reps of a heavy weight (85-90% one rep maximum or 1RM) occasionally during your weekly schedule. Do not force anything and do not want to go too fast, otherwise you risk injury.
   • Use progressive resistance. Once you have gotten to the point where the weight you are using seems light at the end of the 10th rep, it is important to increase the weight gradually to avoid hitting your plateau (the point where you no longer see progress) runs up.
3. Train beyond the plateaus. All bodybuilders will hit a plateau, the point where you stop noticing the rapid results you noticed weeks or even days earlier. Learning to recognize and correct these plateaus will help keep you safe from injury and keep moving toward the results you want.
   • If you want to strongly develop a particular muscle group, you need to increase the weight you train and reduce the number of repetitions.
   • If you want a muscle group to gain definition (tighten), you need to reduce the weight and increase the number of repetitions.
4. Focus on specific muscle groups on certain days. Serious bodybuilders will almost all target a few muscle groups on certain days of the week when exercising. Maybe one day you just train your legs and abs, the next day your chest muscles and arms, the next day you do your shoulders and back, and then a workout for your abs. On your last day of training, you may be doing cardio, then give yourself two days off to recover.
   • Bodybuilders should do about 6-10 sets per body part per week, consisting of 6-10 reps for a compound workout and 8-15 reps for isolation movements, working on specific muscles.
   • Use a regimen that works for you. There is no single "set" way to organize your weekly training schedule, but a schedule helps many people to keep it fairly consistent.
5. Also, do calorie burn with cardio. Many bodybuilders think that cardio "breaks down muscle mass" which is partly true, but it is also necessary to get the lowest body fat percentage possible. Bodybuilders need to balance cardio with developing big muscles, which can be quite a challenge.
   • Cardio does not make your muscles smaller, but makes them grow more slowly. However, no one will be able to see those rock hard abs if you don't burn off the fat on your muscles first. Train away the fat and then build the muscles.
   • Do interval training, such as sprinting at 10 mph for 30 seconds, then jogging at 5 mph for 30 seconds. Do this for at least five minutes, or as long as you can keep it up.
   • Do cardio after you do your workout and exercise the entire time you do cardio. Stop the cardio when you notice that you are thin enough and can feel your arm muscles without a layer of fat.
6. Let the muscles rest and recover before the next workout. It's critical to also integrate recovery time into your workouts. You cannot constantly train and think that you will build muscle faster that way. That's the way to injure yourself. You should take at least two days off a week without exercising at all.
   • For many bodybuilders, that is the day when you can do other things: tan, go out, do your laundry. Use those days to get other things done so that you can focus more on exercising during the days you are exercising so that you stay focused.

Part 3 of 5: Eat well

1. Getting calories in the right way. Nutrition is one of the greatest and most important facets of bodybuilding. You can lift seven days a week, train hard and do all the cardio in the world, but if your nutrition is poor, you will not see a rapid and massive increase in muscle mass and strength. Learn to eat the right amount of the right calories to gain muscle the way you want.
   • To find out the daily calories you need for massive muscle gain, multiply your body weight in pounds by 10 to get a rough estimate of what you need each day of exercise.
2. Eat a lot of lean proteins. Protein helps build muscle quickly and must be present in large amounts in your diet if you want to become a bodybuilder. Multiply your body weight in pounds by 0.4 to find out how many grams of protein you should consume per day. Your daily protein intake should be around 20-35% of your calories.
   • Chicken (skinless), beef, eggs, and legumes should make up a significant part of your diet.
   • Most bodybuilders will be quite fed up with chicken breast and broccoli after a few months, so it's a good idea to get a cookbook to help you keep things interesting. Food is fuel. Take it seriously.
3. Eat slow-digesting carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are vital for maintaining muscle glycogen stores that generate maximum exercise energy and should make up about 60% of your daily calorie intake. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin, a powerful tissue growth agent.
   • Eat most of your carbs on workout days, especially after workout. It is an excellent way to promote lean mass gain and limit unwanted fat. You should also eat a full meal with both carbohydrates and proteins for 1.5 hours after your workout.
   • Simple carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bananas and whole grains are excellent during this time. They deliver a rapid insulin peak and maximize muscle anabolism.
   • Limit carbohydrates to small portions of low GI carbohydrates such as oats or a piece of fruit at other times of the day to control blood sugar and support lean muscle growth.
4. Consider supplementing whey proteins with whey proteins. Protein supplements such as whey powder are widely used by bodybuilders and can be helpful for a wide variety of weightlifters, especially if you are struggling to get your daily protein intake.
   • Protein supplements are most effective within 30 minutes of a workout so that the muscles can recover quickly and thus grow. Another time to include a protein shake in your diet is about an hour before your workout, which can help boost protein synthesis.
   • It is recommended that you do not take more than three servings of protein supplement in a day to avoid wasting a protein supplement and to avoid consuming excess protein.
5. Use healthy fat to boost testosterone. Healthy fats are an essential part of a hardcore muscle mass plan and a healthy diet. Healthy fats such as nuts, olive oil, avocados, butter and eggs (which support testosterone production) will help you grow and recover faster.
   • On days when you rest your muscles and not exercise, it is good to alternate your carbohydrates and fats. Take more fat on rest days and limit your carbohydrates because you are not exercising, so you don't need the energy from carbohydrates to perform.
   • Avoid trans fats and other preservatives with fats. Baked foods, cheeses, and anything high in fructose corn syrup should be avoided during exercise.
6. Stay well hydrated. Bodybuilders usually carry bottles of water, and with good reason - you need to stay extremely hydrated to get in shape. During workouts, you should drink at least 300ml of water for every 10-20 minutes you exercise.
   • Avoid sugary sports drinks and other liquids during your workouts. Stick to plain water. After your workout, you can drink some coconut water to replenish your electrolytes, or add some electrolyte tablets to your own water to make a homemade sports drink.
   • Eat bananas and dates after your workout to replenish your electrolyte levels so that your potassium levels remain high and you recover smoothly.

Part 4 of 5: Working on your appearance

1. Start posing after training. The best time to pose and admire your artwork? Immediately after you train your muscles. If you're feeling jacked up and pumped, it's because your muscles are full of blood. It is the best time to see your progress and appreciate the gains you are making and practice your poses.
   • Practice contracting your entire body, trying to tighten each muscle at the same time, even if you're mainly contracting your chest muscles alternately. It is a training in itself.
2. Determine which specific muscles you hope to build. While you are posing, it is a good opportunity to check your symmetry, your muscle gain, and to identify areas to isolate or increase strength for next week's training sessions. What needs to be ironed out? What needs to be firmer? What exercises do you need to do to get the desired results?
   • It is usually a good idea to ask for feedback from other trainers and bodybuilders in the gym. Much of the bodybuilding culture will take place at this stage, posing in the weight room and asking others what you need to exercise.
3. Get the right equipment. While it probably isn't the most important thing if you want to become a bodybuilder, you might as well get some clothes and gear that will help emphasize how heavy you are getting. Buy some good posing pants, tight fitting muscle shirts, and a good training belt to support your workouts. Training gloves are also common.
4. Shave or wax all of your body hair regularly. It may be the trickiest part to talk about, but bodybuilders like to keep those bulging muscles visible. That means you should regularly shed body hair from your body, especially before competitions. You don't have to do this all the time, but to maintain the temple called your body, it's usually common to shave your body a few times a month (to keep your hair from getting out of hand), and wax you completely before performing.
5. Ensure an even tan. If you have pale skin, it is simply more difficult to see your muscles. Tanning helps to create greater contrast, creating shadows and making your muscles pop. It is simply easier and more aesthetically pleasing to see your muscles if your skin is slightly darker. For that reason, you need to tan yourself safely on a regular basis to keep your muscles looking their best.
   • Don't forget your armpits. White underarms are a classic beginner's mistake.

Part 5 of 5: Becoming a professional

1. Start competing in regional competitions. Open, regional bodybuilding competitions are the best way to enter the world of competitive bodybuilding. Everyone starts at the local level and gradually works towards the national level.If you are in good shape and want to gain experience, try to compete and see if you have what it takes to move on to the next level of the competition, and maybe even become a professional. For a list of matches in the Netherlands, click on [1].
2. Register with the IFBB to compete nationally. The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) regulates all national and international bodybuilding competitions, including the Arnold Classic, Mr. Olympia, and various regional championships. If you want to become a pro and compete nationally, you must register with the IFBB and enter the competition.
3. Keep exercising. The world of competitive bodybuilding can be hectic, star-studded and strange, but there's one constant at the center: you in the gym, clattering and banging. You have to keep making the time and making the effort to keep building that body and maintain the image you create.
4. Attract sponsors to become a professional. The more competitions you win and the more your physique starts to speak for itself, the more you have to start attracting sponsors, which means becoming a pro. This means you can make money exercising full time, without worrying (at least not that much) about other things to fund your bodybuilding. This is the dream every bodybuilder is working towards, and it will only be available to a select few, with the genes and the effort to develop their bodies to Olympia level. Keep working towards that.
5. Make sure you have various skills. The bodybuilders who really took it to the next level - we're talking the Arnolds, Lou Ferrignos, Jay Cutlers, Ronnie Colemans - are or were not only super defined, but super talented in other areas. With charisma and diverse talents to do other things, you will be able to distinguish yourself, improve and make yourself more interesting for sponsors.
   • Consider taking acting classes, participating in strong men's competitions, or even something like "pro wrestling" or sports entertainment - all areas where your unique size and skills will show off.