A Beginners Guide to Body Building

There has been an increasing number of enthusiasts and apprentices all around the world. Body building is popular with men as young as 15 up to those who are more than 50 years of age. More women are also becoming bodybuilders. Learning body building is quite easy. Doing it is the harder part.

There is no definite age to start body building, especially if you just intend to make a hobby out of it. Beginners can start by following the steps provided here so that they can be well on their way to become bodybuilder certified.

Before starting each bodybuilding session, always remember to focus on one part of your body at a time. Since you are just feeling your way with bodybuilding, it is important that you start slow and concentrate on a single body part per week. Don't be too eager and over-train yourself. You might lose muscles instead of gaining it. Train your body part in the order of largest down to the smallest.

1. Crunches, 3 sets, 10-20 repetitions. This will work your upper abdominals section.

Lie flatly on an exercise mat with knees bent and feet together. Cup your hand behind your ears and without moving from the hips down, curl up toward your knees. Make sure you use your shoulder blades to lift, and not your back. Do it for 10 to 20 times, depending on how much you can do.

2. Incline press, 3 sets, 12-15 repetitions. This workout is for your upper chest, as well as the shoulders and the triceps.

To do it, lie on an incline press. Make sure your back is flat against the bench. Hold the barbell and lift it off the rack. This is the starting position. Lower the barbell until it touches your chest. Raise the barbell again to starting position.

3. Barbell Squat, 3 sets, 12- 15 repetitions. The primary muscles worked by this exercise are the quadriceps. The hamstrings and the buttocks are benefited as well.

Grasp a barbell palms down. Stand before a rack as high as your chest. Lift the barbell below your neck and across your shoulders. Straight your back and point your toes forward. Knees should be bent slightly. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then stand up again to the starting position.

4. Lying leg curl, 3 sets, 10-12 repetitions. With this exercise, your hamstrings are being worked out.

Lie facing down on a leg curl device. Knees should be below the bench. Your heels should also be placed behind the roller pads. With toes pointing down, extend your legs at the knees. Keep your hips flat on the bench. Bring up your heels toward the buttocks. Slowly go back to starting position.

5. Standing calf raise, 1 set, 12-15 repetitions. Your calves will be worked out with this routine.

With a dumbbell on the left hand hanging down on your side, stretch down to let your heel extend off. Keep your back straight. Put your face up and lock your legs. Get on your toes, rising up as high as you can get and hold for a second. Flex your calf muscle while doing it.

Do these routines from Monday to Friday. Assign Saturdays and Sundays as your work-out day offs. It is also possible to take Wednesdays off your workout schedule. That should still be fine. You can also add in a variety of different exercises so as not to make each day the same as the day preceding it. Variation is also important.

It is also important to do some type of cardiovascular workouts for about 10 to 15 minutes before proceeding to a more rigid set. You can run in place, use the treadmill, or jump on the rope to put your body in good condition before a scheduled workout.

Dieting is also important. Take in protein-rich food and cut on cholesterol and calories. Protein-rich foods are dairy products, meat, fish, tofu, and dried beans like peanuts. The general nutrition guidelines should also be followed.

Bodybuilding requires having a positive mindset to succeed. Beginners should have the right amount of commitment before going ahead with it. There is a lot of work to do. There are a lot of steps to undergo. It will be a long process but the results will all be worth it. Start today. Go on and build that body.