Bodybuilding for Beginners Part 1
By Tim Wescott
If you are thinking about embarking on a fitness or bodybuilding program, here are a few pointers you should know before you begin.
1.Consult your physician, especially if you are really out of shape or extremely overweight.)
2.Set realistic fitness goals and record them in a notebook.
3.Start offf slowly.
4.Stick to the basics.
5.Commit to your program.
6.Weigh yourself and take measurements
7. Build a foundation (don't be tempted to follow an advanced routine, you will eventually get there if you are patient.)
Following this advice will be very helpful in the long run.
Lets begin with a program for the extremely underweight person. These are the people who can eat just about anything without gaining a pound. If you fall into this category you know how frustrating it can be to put on a single pound of muscle.
Don't be fooled into believing some ad in a muscle book telling how you can get huge muscles almost
overnight with very little effort.
You must work hard, stick to the basics, and eat more quality muscle building foods.
There are 3 basic different body types and some people have certain characteristics of all 3.
Let's review them and then design a program for all 3 types.
1. Ectomorph-Extremely thin with a very fast metabolism.
2. Mesomorph-Athletically built and usually classified as an easy gainer.
3. Endomorph- Usually overweight ,with a very slow metabolism.
We'll start with the Ectomorph.
Day #1
Upper body: Here are the exercises we'll be using, DON'T DEVIATE FROM THIS--Bench Press-3sets of 8 reps,
Barbell Row-3 sets of 8 reps
Barbell Press - 3 sets of 8reps
Barbell Curls-3 sets of 8 reps
Triceps Pressdowns 3 sets of 8 reps
Lowerbody:
Squats-3 sets of 8,10,12, reps.
Leg Extensions-3 sets of 10 reps
Calf Raises-5 sets of 10-25 reps
Crunches- 4 sets of 20 reps
And that's it.
The reason I stress not adding any other exercises to this routine is because, being extremely under weight you do not want to overwork, and you must conserve energy to re-build the torn down muscle tissue.
Now the matter of what to eat to feed those injured muscles. I would recommend eating every 3 hours or so. I know from personal experience this might not seem possible, but you must try to eat at least a little more until your body becomes acclimated to the new food intake.
We no longer label our 3 meals as breakfast , lunch, and dinner, because we will be eating at least 5 but preferably 6 meals a day., and they are now known as meals 1 - 6.
Ready?
Here goes :
Meal # 1:
4 whole eggs
2 slices wholegrain toast
1 banana
8oz. fat free milk.
Meal # 2:
1 can tuna on wholegrain bread with low fat mayo
1 green salad with low-fat,low-sugar dressing
1 orange
8 oz. fat free milk
Meal # 3:
Protein shake 2 scoops of your favorite protein powder
2 whole eggs 1 scoop of ice cream
1 tbsp. peanut butter
Meal# 4:
Steak, chicken, or fish
1 baked potato
1 cup fibrous vegetables
8 oz. fat free milk.
Meal# 5:
1 chicken breast
1 cup veggies
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Meal # 6:
Another protein shake
1 Tbsp. natty Peanut butter
That should be enough for starters as you will probably have a hard time eating this amount.
Your workouts will be as follows:
Upperbody on Mon.& Thurs., lowerbody on Tues. and Fri. Rest on the
other three days,keep outside activities to a minimum so as not to burn excess calories needed to build muscle.
If you find this diet too much to consume slowly make an effort to eat just a little more all the time. Also Get As Much Goog SOUND Sleep As You Can to aid in recovery.
Drink a minimum of a at least a gallon of water every day.
Now on to the Endomorph:
I would offer the same advice to them also except do 3 days of low intensity cardio just for your endurance and to keep fat gain to minimum. Mind you this is only a temporary routine.
IOnward to our Mesomorphic friends:
Same routine ,different diet, and 4 to 5 days of cardio of your choice.
I recommend walking on the treadmill. As you get in better shape increase duration, but start off at 20 minutes slowly building up to 30-45 minutes. If this seems like a lot of work it is but as I tell my clients if you can't stay motivated ,stand naked in front of a full length mirror, if you don't like what you see this should be motivation enough. I will go a lot deeper into fat loss but here we are just beginning.
The diet:
Meal # 1:
7 egg whites cooked in non-fat cooking spray
1 whole egg
1/2 cup oatmeal with sugar substitute (no milk)
water
Meal # 2:
Protein shake in water - 2 scoops
Meal # 3:
1 can of tuna
1 plain baked potato
1 small salad with lemon juice or vinegar
water
Meal # 4.:
5 oz. chicken breast (no skin)
1/2 cup brown rice ( I recommend Success Boil In Bag )
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
water
Meal # 5:
1 can tuna
Large green salad with vinegar
water
Meal #6:
Protein shake in water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
That's it.
Now here are some helpful tips to avoid hunger pangs and binging.
1-Eat your food slowly,
2-Always drink at least a gallon of water a day. There are a lot of good reasons for doing this but for you it will create a sensation of fullness.
3-If you must eat something ,pick a healthy low calorie snack, such as raw veggie cakes, fat free yogurt, salad, etc.
Now for some does and don'ts for all 3 body types............let's get to the Don'ts first:
Don't eat junk
Don't forget water
Don't miss workouts
Don't deviate from this routine
Don't slack off.
Now for the Do's:
Do train hard
Do be consistent
Do stick to your your diet
Do add weight to the bar when possible
Do use good form
Oh yeah and I forgot one more don't:
DON'T QUIT!!!!!