Tag: Bodybuilders

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Beginner Bodybuilding Workouts: Setting Your Goals


There are plenty of beginner bodybuilding workouts available online but which is the best? The answer depends on your situation – not just your current state of body fitness, but what you want to achieve.

Most beginner bodybuilders are impatient to get started and skip the most important step – setting goals. As a result, they soon lose focus and motivation. The first burst of energy that starts us on the road to building a great body soon fades away, especially since most beginners quickly wear themselves thin by overtraining. If you do not have clear goals to keep up your motivation at this point, you can easily lose your way.

So take some time right now to write down your goals. Like any goals that you might set in work or life, your goals in bodybuilding should be S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Let’s look at what each of these means in terms of bodybuilding workouts.

1. Specific

A specific goal is one that clearly says what you want to accomplish, along with how, when and where you will do it. ‘Get a great body’ is not a specific goal. ‘Go to the gym 4 days a week after work and train to build muscle mass’ is a more specific goal.

Even better, say exactly which muscles you will work on which days, and note down your routine. The routine for your bodybuilding workouts will change as you make progress but the overall goal of going to the gym 4 days a week to build muscle mass will remain the same.


2. Measurable

When you are working toward goals, it is very important to have some way to measure your progress.

If your goal is going to the gym for bodybuilding workouts 4 days a week, you can easily track that in a diary. But with a goal like ‘get a great body’, there is nothing to measure. So if you want to set goals in terms of the physical result, do it in terms of inches gained or weight that you can lift.

3. Attainable

It is important to know when you have reached your goal. That way you can plan a reward or celebration, have a sense of achievement and start thinking about your next bodybuilding workouts goal.

This means that the goal itself, as well as your progress toward it, must be something that you can measure and know whether or not you have achieved. So your goal is to go to the gym 4 days a week – but for how long? The rest of your life? If you think that way, you will never be able to congratulate yourself on having achieved the goal. A month would be good for a beginner. Then set a new goal.

4. Realistic

Your goal needs to be something that it is possible for you to attain in a reasonable period of time. Remember that goals can change. You do not need to start out with the goal of winning the Mr. Universe contest. If contests are your thing, start with winning your division in a local contest. However, if you believe you can win Mr. Universe, then go for that. It is all a matter of believing you can do it.

5. Timely

Whatever type of goal you set, it is good to give it a timeframe. Are you going for this year’s contest, next year’s or two years from now? Be specific about how much time you have to achieve your goal, and you will be set for success in any of the beginner bodybuilding workouts that you choose.

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How To Build Upper Body V Shape


How to build upper body V – that V-shape taper from huge shoulders to a small waist – is the first thing that many bodybuilders want to know. It is often what sets bodybuilders apart from others in the gym and makes them stand out on the beach or even in the street. It is what makes a guy look like a comic book superhero about to save the world!

There are three main muscle groups that you need to consider when you are planning how to build upper body to an impressive degree. Let’s take them one by one.

1. Lats

The lats (latissimus dorsi) are the muscles that cover the sides of the middle back, reaching up to the armpit. As a bodybuilder, you will always want to keep building bigger and wider lats.

There are two types of exercise that you need to use if you want to work and build the lats. The first involves chin-ups and pulldown moves. These build width. The second is rows (e.g. cable rows and barbell rows) and deadlifts, which build thickness. You will need to cover both.

2. Deltoids


The deltoids are the muscles that cover the shoulder joint, forming the rounded shape of the shoulder. Your aim when you are considering how to build upper body V will be to build a strong, round ball shape on the shoulder. This gives the shoulders that massive, wide look.

The way to build deltoids is to use both a heavy pressing action and leverage raise exercises. Take as much weight as you can without sacrificing form. Raises should always be performed with full control, never by swinging the weights.

Exercises that you might want to include are: seated press, dumbbell lateral raises, bent over lateral raises, and cable lateral raises both in front and behind the back.

3. Abdominals

While they might seem out of place in an article on how to build upper body, the abs are just as important as the other two muscle groups. Having a tight midsection sets off the shoulders and contributes to the appearance of width at the top.

If you are interested in how to build upper body V shape, you will want to tighten rather than build the abs so that you do not develop a thick waist. For this reason, some experts recommend that you avoid using weights in your abs workout and do not do side bends. This may go against what others tell you but give it a try if you want to increase the contrast between weights and shoulders.

Exercises to concentrate on here include crunches, leg raises, sit-ups and hanging knee raises. For the hanging knee raise, hang from the chin-up bar and bring the knees up as high as possible toward the chest. Lower and repeat.

Of course, you also need to follow a good bodybuilding diet with plenty of protein and complex carbs at the right times. Drink plenty of water too. Soon it will be very clear when you hit the beach that you know how to build upper body!

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Weight Loss Exercise

A Body Building Routine That Works


Finding a body building routine that works is not as easy as many beginner bodybuilders think. First, there is such a huge number of possible routines. This is not surprising when you consider how many muscle groups there are to work and how many possible exercises there are for each one. When you think about all the combinations you could make, you can see that the number of possible workout routines for body building is almost infinite.

Copying somebody else’s routine is not usually the best way to go. You are not going to develop the same body as the current Mr. Universe by reading up on his routine and doing the same thing yourself. It is very unlikely that your body is ready for exactly the same workout that he does right now.

A Starting Body Building Routine

A Body Building Routine That Works

Starting Body Building Routine

So what do you do? If you are just starting out, then probably any standard beginner body building routine will do fine. It is true that what works for one person will not necessarily work for anybody else but in the beginning it is okay to figure out your best plan by trial and error.

However, you do need to be sure that your workout routine covers all of the bases. Check it out against the following scheme. And if you want to plan your own body building routine, this is a good way to go.

First, note down all the muscle groups that you need to work. That is pretty much all the muscles in the body. Do not forget the core and especially the muscles of the back. It is dangerous to overdevelop the chest, shoulders and abs while neglecting the back because you can so easily cause an injury there.

Then choose an exercise that works each group. This could involve dumbbells, a barbell, or gym machines such as the bench press. Some exercises will work out more than one muscle group.

Now you are ready to plan your body building routine so that each muscle group is worked around twice a week with at least one full day of rest between. It is good to give yourself a couple of days of complete rest from working out, too.

Watch Your Results – Is your Body Building Routine Working?

What if nothing seems to be working? First, consider whether you are giving your muscles enough rest. Bodybuilders who do not get the results they expect are often guilty of overtraining. Remember that the muscles are broken down during your workout. The time that they build mass is during the recovery time. So do not be tempted to overtrain.

Second, look at other factors such as your diet. Are you getting the right amount of protein and carbs at the right times? Have you looked into possible supplements that you might take?

Lastly, keep in mind that it is good practice to change your routine around from time to time. This counters boredom and more importantly, works the muscles a little differently than what they may be used to. You will often find that changing out one ab exercise for another or using a different press at the gym will be the catalyst that you need to start gaining muscle mass again. All of these tips will help you figure out a body building routine that works.