Bodybuilding is a complicated affair – I won’t kid you otherwise. In this article I will attempt to simplify it in to easy to understand chunks so that no matter what your current knowledge, you will learn the entire scope of the sport before your eyes leave this very page.
The 3 main components of bodybuilding are:
- Training
- Eating
- Resting
First You Destroy Your Muscles
Stimulating muscle growth can only be accomplished by creating resistance. This is done primarily by lifting weights, the heavier the better. You lift increasingly heavier poundage’s at each workout (when possible) until you can’t possibly lift anymore and your muscles are sufficiently destroyed. From there they can only do one thing – repair, and (as you will see shortly), perhaps grow… providing you’re feeding them correctly.
Then You Feed Your Muscles
Your muscles require energy to repair them and to stimulate growth. Without taking in excess calories than your body needs it’s impossible to build new muscle. As a general rule of thumb if you times your bodyweight in lbs by 12, that’s the number of calories you are required to consume each day just to maintain your current bodyweight, therefore add on 250-500 calories extra to keep your muscles well-fed so they can pull down the extra nutrients they need.
Finally You Allow Them to Grow
Without adequate rest your muscles cannot repair themselves, let alone spur new growth and muscle tissue, thus larger muscles. Each major muscle group should be allowed 5 days to rest and grow from the previous time they were worked.
Resting doesn’t mean going back in the gym before and doing a few light workouts and it doesn’t mean hitting the football field or doing other forms of exercise. It simply means sitting on your back-side as much as possible and getting lots of sleep. It’s that simple. Less is more when it comes to working out naturally.