Getting Started In Bodybuilding
Before you start, you need to know what your motivation and goals are. A lot of people join a gym for one or two years and many give up after only two or three months.
Having been in the gym for a long time, I've noticed that after a year, only a handful of people remain out of the hundred or so who initially signed up. It is therefore not surprising that gyms offer long subscriptions of one or two years; they know very well that the vast majority will not make it worth their while, and fortunately, because it would be impossible to accommodate all these people in the gym at the same time.
If you opt for the weight room, we advise you to limit yourself to a 1 month subscription or even if possible, to use books of 10 sessions. Even if it seems more expensive at first, you may gain in the long run.
Also, set achievable goals for yourself. Becoming muscular and losing the pounds accumulated over the years in two months of training is a challenge that is difficult to achieve, like building the arms of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 6 months.
Forcing yourself to train every day of the week, in addition to being counterproductive, will be detrimental to your social and professional life and therefore quickly abandoned.
We advise you to train 3 to 4 times a week, limiting the duration of the sessions, including warm-up and stretching, to 1 hour and 30 minutes maximum.
Where to work out?
You can join a gym or train at home. There are advantages and disadvantages to both gyms and homes, but both allow you to build a strong body.
In the first case, you'll have access to a lot of equipment: free weights, guided machines and cardio equipment. You will also benefit from the guidance of a weight training instructor who will create a personalized program for you and show you how to properly perform the exercises and use the machines.
We advise you to do a trial session before registering. This will allow you to see if the gym and the training correspond to your expectations.
If you want to do traditional weight training and you sign up in a fitness room without bars and weights, it will not be suitable and vice versa. This will also allow you to feel the atmosphere of the gym and to ask the members about the training because sometimes, once the check is signed, you are quickly forgotten and you have to manage on your own.
The trial session is therefore essential to avoid making a mistake.
It is also possible to train at home, but you will have to invest in a minimum of equipment. To do this, consult the section on bodybuilding equipment. The major disadvantage of training at home is the lack of supervision. There will be no one to teach you how to do the exercises correctly or to supervise the way you perform them.
If you are a beginner, we recommend that you spend a short period of time in the weight room to learn the proper execution of the exercises, especially the more difficult ones: squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, dips, pull-ups and bench presses. Then, you can do it on your own at home.
If you train at home, buy an ice pack to check your position and stay strict. You can even videotape yourself performing the exercises.
Getting started in weight training
At the very beginning, you will have to learn how to perform the weight training exercises with the help of your coach who will show you how to use the various machines, free weights and accessories.
This period of a few weeks will allow you to discover weight training and to get back in shape if you are not athletic at all. It is a sort of training period before starting a real program as described below.
To do this, work the whole body during the session and do 3 to 4 sets per exercise, of 10 to 15 repetitions with light loads, your main goal being to perform the exercise well. You should also, during this period of fitness, practice cardio training to improve your cardiovascular condition and learn the basics of stretching to maintain your flexibility.
Our basic advice for your weight training sessions is not to neglect the warm-up. For this, you should do 10 to 15 minutes of cardio training and possibly a few sets of abdominal exercises at the beginning of each session.
Also remember, before starting weight training, to have a medical check-up to verify that you are fit to practice this sport; you never know! Generally it is required in the gym, but if you train at home, no one will ask you for proof, so do it for yourself.
Now we are going to propose you some efficient bodybuilding programs, which will allow you to progress quickly: beginner bodybuilding program.