5 Noticeable Benefits that You can Get Out of Bodybuilding

The Benefits of Bodybuilding

When taking up bodybuilding for the first time, you may notice some benefits after a few months. You may feel more energetic and seem to have more self-confidence. You will have the resolve to complete task that seemed impossible just a few months ago. Below is just a short list of the many benefits that can be gained by taking up bodybuilding.

Increased Strength

When you take up bodybuilding, you will start to carry weights to build up your muscles. Your muscle strength also increases as you steadily increase the poundage. As a result of the stress placed on your muscles, they become more efficient and stronger. An increase in strength also helps prevent muscle atrophy as you become older. Muscle atrophy is defined as the wasting or loss of muscle tissue that results from disease or the lack of use.

Prevent injuries

Having stronger muscles will lead to a better control of your reflexes, balance and body coordination. You can perform daily more efficiently and effectively. Having stronger muscles, bones and tendons that is provided by taking up bodybuilding, will lessen the risks of injuries.

Helps Control Your Weight

When you take up bodybuilding either to put on mass or to lose weight, you will be following a proper diet. You will avoid junk foods and foods that are high on sugar and calories. When training regularly, you will increase your metabolic rate. This will cause your body to burn more calories throughout the day.

Improves Appearance

One of the most noticeable effects of bodybuilding is that your appearance will change for the better. As you train regularly, you will notice that your muscles will become bigger and more defined. After a few months, people around you will start making comments, as they will be able to see the marked changes in you. Your posture, the way you walk will all change for the better, as you will feel more confidant of your body.

Strengthens Bones

Osteoporosis is a disease where bones become brittle. This usually happens when you grow older. Bodybuilding delays the onset of this symptom. This is because, when you carry weights, stress is placed on your bones. This causes the bones to become stronger.

In conclusion, this is just a few of the many benefits that can be derived from taking up bodybuilding. To find out more on how to get started without spending months on instructions and guides that do not work, visit the link below now.

Cutting Exercises: A Bodybuilding Myth?

One of the most common goals of fitness enthusiasts is to have low levels of body fat covering their hard-earned muscles. Whether the individual is an athlete that wants to look good in and out of uniform or a fitness instructor that wants to have ?toned? arms, everyone is looking for the most effective exercises to reach their goals.

There is certainly no shortage of opinions when it comes to training programs and exercises that trainers and magazines seem to promote to reach these goals, so it is understandable that many bodybuilders and gym-goers can be overwhelmed by information. But what really confuses me is the claim made by gym employees and fitness authors that certain resistance training exercises are for definition and ?cutting up?.

Believe it or not, but no strength coach or exercise physiologist has been able to prove that one exercise rather than others can promote more ?definition? or ?toning?! Can someone explain how leg extensions are a better exercise for muscle definition than squats? This article will dispel these myths and will reveal the best exercises for meeting the goals of increased muscle definition, which is the correct term for ?toning?, ?cutting up? or ?getting ripped?. In fact, let?s just eliminate ?toning? from our vocabulary all together.

First a little background for those without a long history of weight training experience. Bodybuilders (that includes any man or woman that is seeking to improve their body?s appearance!) traditionally perform a number of exercises for a body part during a single resistance training session. For example, in a chest workout one might start with bench presses, move to incline dumbbell press, and finish with dumbbell flyes or the pec-deck.

Now according to many personal trainers and fitness magazines, the rationale behind this type of program is that the pressing exercises are best for strength and mass development and the pec-deck would provide for definition. Also, people believe that these ?definition? exercises should be emphasized in order to develop a ?ripped? body (that is, low levels of body fat). Unfortunately, it seems bodybuilders and fitness buffs alike have been led astray, and the end result is a poorly planned program that does not lead to the desired results.

Next we need a brief, yet simplistic, review of human anatomy and physiology to reason why these ?cutting? exercises (i.e. pec-deck) do not do the job. For our purposes there are 2 components determining body composition, muscle and fat. For most people it is the amount of fat that is the limiting factor for them in the development of muscular definition and not the ?quality? of their muscle. If an overweight individual were to be stripped of all their fat, they too would have muscle definition.

On the other hand, a skinny individual can increase their muscle definition by lifting weights and increasing muscle hypertrophy (growth). The body cannot tell the difference between exercises! It responds according to the demands applied to the body. If you lift weights the muscle will grow so that it is stronger and can lift the weight easier the next time. If you eat too much and do not exercise, the energy is deposited as fat and your muscle definition will be lost. It is a very simple equation!

The pec-deck can still be incorporated into workout designs, but it is not the best exercise for promoting a better body composition. In fact, this isolation exercise recruits only the chest muscles and ignores the triceps and deltoids, unlike the previously mentioned presses. And remember that more muscles result in greater energy expenditure and a greater overall training stimulus.

Another myth that seems to propagate is that sets performed for a very high number of repetitions are most effective for ?cutting up?. Refer back to the basic anatomical principle that the body?s appearance is determined by the amounts of both muscle and fat, and most importantly that low levels of body fat are necessary for muscle definition. Using a lightweight to do a huge number of repetitions might not ?show off? your muscles better than using a moderate weight and performing a moderate number of repetitions.

Why not? Because there would likely be no difference in the amount of total calories burned between the two workouts provided each performed a similar exercise volume in the workout. The greater number of repetitions in the one workout would be offset by the greater intensity (weight) used in the other workout. However, a heavier weight will stimulate more muscle growth. More muscle results in a faster metabolism and theoretically greater energy expenditure at rest. So over the long haul the more intense (heavier lifting) workout may be the optimal choice for reducing body fat. In addition, larger muscles are easier to see!

Okay, so what is going to bring you the results (i.e. definition) that you want? Keep the exercises basic and intense (i.e. moderate to heavy weight). Most bodybuilders are better off to do 4-5 sets of bench and incline presses (for a total of 8-10 sets) rather than including 3 sets of pec-deck in the traditional manner. The volume of exercise will be the same but the difficulty of exercise will be harder and the cumulative effects will greater.

Aerobic exercise is not essential for low levels of body fat but can certainly promote greater cardiovascular fitness and help prevent excessive weight gain. Interval training has now been shown in 2 studies to be more effective than slow cardio.

So stick with multi-muscle strength exercises and interval training to burn more calories out of the gym. It really adds up to more calorie burn and less body fat. That is a far better approach than relying on cutting exercises.

And finally, make the proper dietary changes to promote muscle gains and body fat reductions. Nutrition is the #1 factor for fat loss. If you don't have good nutrition, no exercise program will help you lose fat. In the end you will be healthier and will achieve superior muscle definition!

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men?s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Ingredients of Bodybuilding Supplements

With the number of discount bodybuilding supplements available to the public now, it can be confusing to know which supplements are the best for your particular goals. One way to help choose a supplement is by considering the ingredients.

Creatine is a common ingredient found in discount supplements. It exists naturally in your body and can be found in foods such as tuna and red meat. However, you can?t get the creatine amounts you need simply by eating more of these foods, because they are also high in saturated fats. Creatine based products help give your muscles energy. It is especially effective in providing energy for muscle movements that are quick, making it ideal to help increase the efficiency of your workouts. If you have just started taking creatine, you will notice that it helps you put on weight rapidly, especially during the first month.

L-Glutamine is another popular ingredient in bodybuilding supplements. Glutamine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in your muscles. During training, glutamine levels drop dramatically, and it can take almost a week for them to return to the levels that they were prior to the workout. L-Glutamine supplements work to stop this depletion. Glutamine also plays a role in maintaining the immune system and the health of the small intestine. Because it is so often depleted by bodybuilders, they are more susceptible to illness. Taking a glutamine supplement can not only help maintain muscle mass, but can also help to keep you healthy.

Ribose is another naturally occurring ingredient that helps with muscle energy. Supplementing with ribose will help you recover quicker from intense workouts, allowing you the opportunity to make rapid improvement. Ribose is taken in large doses initially in a process called ?loading.?

These are only a few of the active ingredients that you might find in supplements. Most supplements also have some sort of flavoring that makes them more pleasant to take. When selecting a supplement, you will need to do a careful evaluation of what you are hoping to gain by taking it. You should investigate whether the particular ingredients bring with them any side effects and determine whether the benefits outweigh any negatives. Many gyms or body building associations have trainers who can provide guidance on which are the best supplements to take. With a little bit of research, you should be on your way to increased muscle mass and optimal performance.

Natalie Aranda writes about health and fitness. With the number of discount bodybuilding supplements available to the public now, it can be confusing to know which supplements are the best for your particular goals. One way to help choose a supplement is by considering the ingredients. Creatine is a common ingredient found in discount supplements. It exists naturally in your body and can be found in foods such as tuna and red meat.