Becoming #1: Beginning Competitive Bodybuilding

If you are going to put a lot of time, effort, and money into training, you might wish to show off the end results in a bodybuilding fitness competition. These contests are held throughout the country and world and showcase some of the most physically fit bodies known to humankind. There are many levels of competition, so don't worry if you aren't Mr. Universe just yet-you can find a competition that is right for you. Any sort of contest does, however, require a dedication to training, including a healthy diet and lots of exercise.

The first thing you should do when you decide to begin competitive bodybuilding is to find a coach. It will be much easier to break into the competition world if you have someone with a little experience under his or her belt guiding you. With your coach, decide on a training schedule and diet, and choose whether or not you want to take supplements. Natural training is, of course, always best, but you may wish to take vitamins or other supplements to make sure your body is getting the nutrients it needs even if you cut some foods out of your diet.

Next, research some of the events held near you. Local events are a good place to start if you live in a big city. If not, you may have to travel some distance to find events, so plan accordingly. Some competitions have an entry fee, and all have different rules of conduct. In most cases, you will have an orientation session the day or morning before the event, but you need to be well prepared before this to avoid looking like a novice in front of the judges. Before the competition, you should not only train, but also learn to flex while you pose and still look relaxed. You may also want to tan, remove hair, and take other measures to help your body look as lean and sculpted as possible. Your coach, if he or she has participated in competitive bodybuilding, should be able to give you advice in these areas.

After the competition, evaluate your performance, good or bad. Nobody is perfect, but by learning from past mistakes, you can do better at future competitions. Keep your eyes peeled in the staging area-what are other competitors doing to help their performance? As soon as the winners are announced and the applause has died, head to the judges' table. They are the experts and can give you a quick verbal assessment of your body and give you advice for your next competition. Be humble and listen to everything they have to say, both positive and negative. In no time, it will be you in the winner's circle, and you can give advice to the new competitive bodybuilders in your area.

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Protein and bodybuilding (2)

Many body builders and weight lifters are overly concerned about what they eat and what food supplements they take. If you want to grow larger and stronger muscles, you should concentrate on lifting weights, but you can help muscles grow larger by understanding how what you eat affects how you recover from hard exercise. Just exercising will not make you strong and it will not help you to grow large muscles. If exercise made you strong, marathon runners would have the largest muscles. The only stimulus to make muscles larger and stronger is to stretch them while they contract. When you lift a heavy weight, your muscles start to stretch before they start to contract. This tears the muscle and causes soreness on the next day and beyond. If you rest and let the muscle heal, it will be stronger than before you stretched it lifting weights. This training principle of stress-and-recover is so strong that you can enlarge a muscle by lifting weights even if you are fasting, losing weight and all your other muscles are getting smaller. In one study, obese, un-athletic women were instructed to restrict food and lift weights. They averaged a weight loss of more than 35 pounds in three months and gained a lot of muscle. Training for sports is done by taking a hard workout and then having sore muscles on the next day. Then you take easy workouts or you take off until the muscle soreness disappears. You improve by taking hard workouts and your muscles grow and heal while you recover on your easy days. Of course, if you could recover faster from a hard workout, you could do more work and be a better athlete. Scientists have known for years that you recover faster by eating carbohydrates immediately after you finish your hard workout. Other studies show that eating extra protein on the day that you take hard workouts helps you recover even faster. Eating extra protein reduces muscle damage during hard exercise. Eating carbohydrates along with a protein building block called leucine helps you to recover even faster. Chronic muscle fatigue in athletes is associated with low blood levels of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The sooner you eat protein after you finish your hard workout, the quicker you will recover. The benefits of eating protein soon after you lift weights do not apply just too elite athletes. A study from the University of Arkansas shows that eating meat helps older people grow large muscles when they also lift weights. Muscles are made primarily from protein building blocks called amino acids. Muscles heal from a hard workout when amino acids and other nutrients travel from your bloodstream into the muscles. Eating food, particularly protein, immediately after you finish your workout helps muscles heal faster. This study shows that men between the ages of 51 and 69 recover faster and grow larger muscles when they include meat than when they eat only dairy, fruits, vegetable, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts. Most foods contain protein. Your stomach acids and enzymes in the stomach and intestines break down proteins into their building blocks, amino acids, which pass from the intestine into the bloodstream. If your body needs to build protein, your liver combines amino acids to form body proteins. Your body has no way to store extra protein. If you don't need all of the protein you have eaten, it is broken down into organic acids and ammonia, which can be used for energy or stored as fat. .

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Natural Bodybuilding Superior To Steroids

Bodybuilding enthusiasts and athletes looking to gain an inside competitive advantage constantly battle with the temptation to take steroids or not. Deciding to body build naturally is much better than taking the steroid route. There are a number of good reasons to support this statement.

First off, have you ever seen what happens to a bodybuilder when they go off muscle enhancing anabolic steroids? Two words that muscle building enthusiasts never want to hear, atrophy (get small), and strength lose. The fact is a steroid induced bodybuilder shouldn't stay on steroids day in and day out for years on end. It is suggested to cycle your administration, say, 6-10 weeks at a time, and then go off for an extended period of time before starting again. Weeks following going off tend to equal muscle atrophy, decreased strength, and even depression.

Natural bodybuilding may not elicit that huge, rapid spike in muscle growth in a super short time, but illustrate a long term, stable growth curve. It may take longer to develop muscle strength and size, but when you have it, you have it as long as you keep training at an intense level. However, as witnessed many times by former steroid users, a rapid shrink in size and strength occur to levels sometimes below the natural bodybuilder's production. How much fun is that?

Take, for instance, a professional baseball player who administers generous amounts of steroids one year and hits 58 home runs, but is only able to hit 16 during his next, steroid free season.

Since we all want instant results, steroids may be attractive, but the medical side effects don't quite seem worth it.

Is adding ten pounds of muscle more important than increasing heart disease risk, cancer risk, or manipulating your natural hormonal balance? This question is only for you to answer, not me. In my opinion, the risks far outweigh the benefits which are only visible when you are taking steroids. Size and strength quickly decrease after ceasing steroid use.

Steroid users seem to have a greater risk of injury from the muscle tissue growing faster than the, trying to adapt, connective tissue. The workloads are more aggressive, more frequent, and with faster muscle building recovery times. Once again, do you want the injury prone "quick fix," or the slow, but steady wins the race approach? Just remember, the natural bodybuilder will probably show better results compared to the steroid user who has not used steroids in years. Are all the health risks worth it?

Anabolic steroids are illegal if not administered by a physician. I known people who have died, and even been thrown in jail for using, and selling anabolic steroids. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.

There can also be a sense of addiction for the non-natural bodybuilders. The performance enhancing, drug user gets a very good feeling when their bodies are pumped up and buff. However, the opposite happens when they stop the steroids, and the muscle shrinking process begins. Imagine the feeling these athletes get. Their body image quickly erodes, and thoughts of the next muscle producing cycle are rolling around in their heads.

Aside from the health, and legal risks, it also costs quite a bit of money to take muscle enhancing drugs.

Hopefully, I convinced you to not take the performance enhancing pathway, but to use your resources, and energy into training smarter. If you are a natural bodybuilder, and want an advantage, you must train in an intelligent manner. That means providing the proper intensity of muscle producing stimulus, followed by adequate rest. The natural bodybuilder must pay extra close attention to sound training practices, in order to continue that gradual, continuous climb up the muscle development ladder.

Just remember to be patient and think long term results, not quick, short term, hi-risk muscular development. If you make a chart listing all the positives versus the negatives when it comes to natural bodybuilding versus steroid induced training, the natural bodybuilding positives far outweigh the drug induced positives. Therefore, in my eyes, natural bodybuilding is a much better training system than anabolic induced bodybuilding.

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Jim O'Connor- Exercise Physiologist

Wellness WORD, LLC 9461 Charleville Blvd. #312 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 1-866-935-5967 http://www.naturalbodybuildinginfo.com/bodybuildingfeatures.html

Jim O'Connor is a Beverly Hills celebrity fitness trainer who teaches the natural bodybuilding lifestyle. Discover all his training secrets by visiting http://www.naturalbodybuildinginfo.com/bodybuildingfeatures.html

Find Out Why Bodybuilding Supplements May Not Be Necessary

To supplement or not to supplement - that is the question on more bodybuilder's lips than ever before. Are they safe? Have you ever wondered what works and what doesn't?

Lets have a look at the basics.

There are various reasons why athletes may be interested in supplementation.

* Concern about getting adequate nutrients from our food
supply.
* Suspicion of pharmaceuticals.
* Belief that diet alone will not achieve optimal nutrition

Supplements include the following:

* Vitamins
* Minerals
* Amino Acids
* Herbs

The concerning thing about supplements is that anything classified as a dietary supplement is not required to meet any FDA or other standards! Think about that! there are no regulations in place that guarantee the safety or purity of something sold as a supplement.

They are also not made to meet the similar safety requirements as prescription drugs or any other manufacturing standards. They are not required to meet product potency or purity ratings and are not required to prove the effectiveness of any health claim that is made.

Studies suggest that a number of supplements may deliver on advertising claims. However, trainees are spending large sums of money on products that have little or no proven usefulness.

Personally I find the use of supplements over rated and as with strength training, supplementation asks the same question

"If a little is good then maybe more has to be better"

Supplementation and steroids started to proliferate when volume strength training became the training system of the day. Young strength trainees slaving in the gym for five to six days a week was seen as normal. All this without making any progress or putting on any size whatsoever.

They then turned to the latest supplement or steroid thinking that this is the magic bullet to put on that added muscle when all the time they were just plain

"Overtraining"

The cold hard facts are that the majority of the regular trainees in your gym are overtraining. The sad reality is that the type of training that you find in bodybuilding books and magazines (and used by the stars) are irrelevant to the majority of
the population and has a high failure rate.

If more bodybuilders started using more infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions, followed by the required amount of time to recover and become stronger...

"Most of the Muscle building supplements and steroids available today would not be needed"

. The bottom line on weight gain supplements

* Before taking a supplement try to make modifications to your
diet that might achieve the same goals.
* Only choose products that show the amount of active
ingredients on the label that are required.
* Be aware that "natural" does not mean 'safe'
* Some herbal supplements may have unpleasant side effects.

Listed below are some popular bodybuilding supplements available on the market today:

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine was first introduced to the market place some eight years ago and has since become the most popular bodybuilding supplement of all time.

Creatine is said to significantly increase lean muscle mass, improve performance, increase energy levels and speed up recovery rates.

Creatine also stimulates the uptake of amino acids in the proteins, which means that the more that it's used the more muscle that may be grown.

Dosage: A loading phase of 20grams a day for the first five days then a maintenance phase of 5grams a day from then on.

Whey Protein isolate

The highest yield of protein currently available and is extracted from milk. This is another popular supplement for athletes and bodybuilders because of its high proportion of amino acids.

It is supposed to be high in potassium, which is essential
for muscle growth and is an antioxidant and a good immune system builder.

Dosage: 20gms - 100gms a day.

Tribulus Terrestris

Tribulus terrestris is a plant that grows in many tropical and moderate areas of the world and is very rich in chemical compounds such as saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids.
Tribulus terrestris is supposedly a testosterone enhancer and increases sex drives in both men and women.

Dosage as per bottle.

Glutamine

Is a non-essential amino acid, which makes up to 60% of the amino acids in the bodies muscles. Glutamine containing products are protein shakes and good quality protein powders; it can also be added to protein shakes for added potency.

Dosage: 5grams to 15 grams per day.

So there you have it, a supplement is something added to the diet to make up for a nutritional deficiency or imbalance, they are not intended to substitute for eating a balanced diet. If they are to be taken at all they should only be used to supplement the diet and not replace it.

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit http://www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' muscle building e-course.

Bodybuilding Training Tips From a Champion!

Twenty two years ago I feel into the world of bodybuilding by accident. I had absolutely no discipline, determination or confidence in myself. After many championships, Television shows, movie star clients and successful businesses here are a few training tips that have kept me going all these years.


1. MORE THAN JUST LOOKS: Realize exercise is more than just having a great physique. It is about strengthening the mind and heart and soul.

2. KEEP THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND: You will have good days and bad days. One day at a time attitude.


3. BE SOLD OUT! No matter if you are a competitive bodybuilder or just one who does it for a hobby, be sold out for life to exercise.

4. LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. This one will be hard for most of you to do. But to be a champion, you have to get rid of your ego. Your mind is your biggest competitor. In order to improve on your health you need to not be self serving.

5. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: If you think you know everything, forget, stop right now. You never will. Continue to learn all the time. Most importantly, share your knowledge.

6. HAVE FUN: Most people in bodybuilding are wound way to tight. Loosen up a little.

7. ASK FOR HELP: If you do not know something, ask someone who does.

8. MORE IS NOT BETTER: Put time limits on your workouts.

9. HAVE VARIETY: Never be afraid to change your exercise routine around.

10. HAVE SYNERGY: Incorporate all areas of fitness. Low body fat levels are more important than the size of your biceps.


What every your goals are remember the big picture. You are in this for life, even when the body is not were you want it to be.
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Gymnastics Equipment

It is said that gymnastics developed from ancient exercises and skills utilized by the ancient Greeks. These movements and techniques were used for various skills such as mounting and dismounting horses or maneuvering through circus-like performances. These movements have evolved through thousands of years to become the sport we now know as gymnastics. Most of the skills are still basically the same but the horse and the circus equipment are now gone. In their place, modern equipments are now being used in various gymnastic disciplines and events.

Today?s gymnastic events include floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. Each of these events makes use of special gymnastic equipment. Any list of gymnastic equipment will usually include the trampoline, uneven bars, balance beams, rings, and maximizers. For vault events, the vaulting boards, vault runway, and vault horses are indispensable. Foam table trainer and pommel horses are also familiar gymnastic equipment. Horizontal bars and ring frames can be found in any complete gymnastic school or training center.

There are also many different gymnastic accessories that are used for training and for competitions. Most notable among these gymnastic accessories are the floors and mats used. These accessories are particularly important since most movements and techniques in the sport of gymnastics are done on the floor. Training mats and exercise mats are also indispensable for gymnasts. Landing mats and throw mats are important not only for the correct execution of some routines but also for the safety of the gymnast.

These gymnastic equipments are readily available from the many gymnastic stores in the country. Specialty sports shops also offer high quality gymnastic equipment which is very essential and indispensable for the training gymnast. Today, there are also some gymnastic equipment suppliers who have established their online presence, allowing you to buy gymnastic equipment easily and conveniently.

Gymnastics provides detailed information on Gymnastics, Dancing Gymnastics, Gymnastics Instructions, Gymnastics Equipment and more. Gymnastics is affiliated with Cheerleading Cheers.