Unfortunately teen bodybuilding is not as easy as it looks and can result in injury, bad habits and frustration if stated with out structure and progression. Here are the next five tips to successful teen bodybuilding:

6. Learn Proper Technique First

How well do you think you would golf without supervision? How well do you think you will skate without coaching? How well do you think you will play piano without lessons? How much muscle do you think you will build without proper lifting technique? Not much!

I hope you are humble enough to swallow your pride and accept the fact that your first step should be getting professional coaching from a reputable fitness trainer. I know many of your friends will not even consider this and you will be told, ‘just learn it yourself,’ or ‘watch others.‘ Can you imagine a medical surgeon or dentist who took this approach? Yikes!

Think about it. You are going to be lifting weights the rest of your life. Is spending a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars, on a professional fitness trainer, not going to pay you back over and over (for the rest of your life) if you do things correctly right from the start? Definitely! If you start lifting weights incorrectly, get ready to spend the money you saved on a coach for a rehab therapists next vacation! If you don’t get injured now, most likely it will be in the next few years.

7. Stretch Just As Much As You Lift

Stretching is the most under rated physical quality which is unfortunate because shortened muscles perform weaker and slower and have a higher incidence of injury. Stretching is the only physical quality which more is better. Stretching is one of the only habits that can not be over trained.

If you are serious about getting into the world of teen bodybuilding, I encourage you to start this habit early. Most text books teach stretching methods that include 20-30 seconds per stretch. Don’t even waste your time if this is your idea of stretching. From real world, in the trenches, experience, I would suggest stretching at least the same amount of time that you lift. That means, for every 1 hour of weight training you perform, you must balance the effect of weight training with one hour of stretching. Therefore, if you weight train 4 hours in the week, you better be stretching for at least 4 hours in the week. If you are really lazy, start stretching for at least half the amount of time that you lift. After you see the benefits of increased strength, quicker recovery and less injuries I am sure you will have no problem bumping up your stretching sessions to the recommend 1:1 ratio.

Fail to stretch at least the same amount that you lift is almost a sure fire way of shortening a teen bodybuilding career or lifestyle. Remember, weight training shortens and tightens the connective tissue you train. Stretching counters the effect and ensures your muscles have room to grow!

8. Focus On Bodyweight Strength First

It amazes me at how many teen bodybuilders can barely do a set of 40 push ups, 20 chin ups and 30 dips. In my opinion, these are some standard upper body fitness tests that should be accomplished with ease before loading is introduced (it might take your 3 or 4 months to achieve this if you can’t do them right now). I once heard a famous fitness coach say, “You have no freaking business using a load if you can’t stabilize, control, and move efficiently using your own bodyweight.” I would have to fully agree.

What’s the point of a sloppy 150 pound lat pulldown if you can’t do 10 bodyweight pull ups? What’s the point of a 185 pound bench press with microscopic range reps, if you can push up your body a couple dozen times? What’s the point of a 500 pound leg press if you can do a set of one legged squats down to the floor? Believe me, after a few months of conditioning your body to body weight training, you will be blown away by how quickly your weights climb when you introduce loading.

9. Keep Your Workouts Under 1 Hour

Unless you are in a teen bodybuilding competition for the longest workout possible, it bewilders my mind what you could possibly be doing for longer than a hour! Unless you go to the gym for mirror workouts (that’s when you spend more time looking in the mirror than actually lifting)I suggest getting some help with your workout program. If it takes longer than 20-30 minutes of even moderate intensity lifting to fully exhaust a muscle, I have to question your workout intensity. Shorter more intense workouts will always trump longer less intense workouts.

Your goal should be in fact to complete your workout faster and faster. This will force your muscles to condition and adapt to a greater work load. The more work you expose your muscles too, in a shorter amount of time will improve your muscle density. Your bodies ability to tolerate greater workloads.

10. Develop Full Range Of Motion

Initially, teen bodybuilding should involve building strong muscular attachments, tendons, ligaments and bones – text books refer this as anatomical adaptation. Look at building your muscles as the finishing touches on a solid house. You would not want to start framing the house until the foundation has been built. Strengthening your tendons, ligaments and bones would be considered building a strong foundation to build from.

What is the best way to begin a strong foundation for a house to stand on? Build from the bottom up or in our case, from the inside out. This means developing a full range of motion with each weight training exercise to ensure all the muscle fiber gets activated and all the supporting tissues are fully involved.

Think about it. Partial movements will only develop partial muscle. Full movements will develop full muscle. What would get you better results? Squatting 135 pounds with your butt to the floor or squatting 225 pounds for about ¼ of the way? That’s correct, involving the entire range of motion with a lighter weight will involve more musculature, improve your mind-muscle connection quicker and strengthen all the supporting tissues more rapidly. Initially, as a teen bodybuilder, you should never sacrifice range for load.

Conclusion

If you are serious about doing teen bodybuilding safely and effectively than take all of the tips very seriously. Do not pick and choose the ones you wish to follow. They will all result in a long and fruitful bodybuilding lifestyle. To your teen bodybuilding success!

About the Author: Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain.

He also specializes in teaching skinny guys how to get a six-pack and build muscle, without drugs, supplements and training less than before with his program found at YourSixPackQuest.com

© 2006-2008, Vince DelMonte Fitness. All rights in all media reserved. You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be sold individually or as part of a package.

So the question is, how is teen bodybuilding done right? Should teen bodybuilders read the latest bodybuilding magazines? Learn from their friends or a professional? Train every day or every other day? Rely on supplements? Start when they are done growing or earlier? Focus on endurance training heavy lifting? Teen bodybuilding has dozens of questions and many different opinions on each. Here is my top 10 tips to successful teen bodybuilding in no particular order:

1. Avoid Steroids

Duh! This might sound obvious and if you have not been offered steroids yet, make your stand now and be prepared to say ‘no’ when you get backed into a corner. Your body is flowing with more natural hormones than any steroid could replace. Don’t screw up your natural hormonal levels at such a young age. Even though all your friends might laugh at you for not conforming to the pressure of using illegal drugs, be a real man and train drug free. In the end your friends will respect you more for staying away from the dark side.

2. Focus On Clean Eating

Old habits die hard. Believe it or not, the nutrition habits you are creating today will affect you all the way into your adult years. As a young teen bodybuilder, you have an opportunity to create good habits at an early age. Focus on eating clean carbohydrates like whole wheat breads, oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, fruits and veggies. Focusing on eating a variety of clean proteins like tuna, chicken, fish, cottage cheese and protein shakes. Balance out your meals with clean fats like olive oil, fish oil, natural peanut butter and nuts. Take pride in the fact that you even know what clean eating is. Look at this as an opportunity to be an example to your friends to be walking statue of health! I promise you that you will have a few friends who admire your physique and ask you for advice!

3. Avoid One Body Part Workouts And Focus On A Full Body Workout

A full body workout? But all my friends are training chest tonight. And tomorrow they are training back. And on Wednesday they are training arms. But if you have the courage, you are not going to follow the herd and trust me. You are too young to be splitting up your muscles groups into only one body part a day. Unless you are pursuing a career in competitive bodybuilding, one-body part splits are an excellent way to over train at a young age. Look at it this way. Do you only eat once per week? Do you only take supplements once per week? Do you only sleep once per week? Do you only study once per week? Then why would you train your muscle groups only once per week? It does not make sense. Full body workouts will allow you to hit all your major muscle groups three times in the week, without over training, instead of only one time.

4. Emphasize Your Conditioning

Teen bodybuilding can actually become something that appear to be a lazy man’s sport. Next time you walk into the weight room, count how many people are actually doing something. Seriously, I guarantee you will see more people standing around and talking, adjusting weights and staring in the mirror. Not many people are actually hustling from one exercise to another or even sweating. That’s another reason to avoid one body-part bodybuilding style workouts. They don’t emphasize your fitness or cardiovascular system. Your weight training program should be incorporating more than just weights. Balance out your sessions with some skipping, stair climbing, hard running, supersets, and really short rest periods. If you don’t feel like you are going to throw up at the end of your weight training sessions, I have to question your workout intensity.

5. Stick to Basic Supplements

You are a teenager and should be saving your money for college and your first car. Don’t get scammed by over hyped supplement ads that promise the world. Follow the saying, ‘If it looks too good to be true, than most likely it is!” All you need to budget for now is a high quality multi-vitamin which you should take for life as well as a high quality protein powder in your arsenal and a regular omega-3 fish oil cap. Between these three supplements you are more than covered. Don’t worry about creatine, glutamine, fat burners, testosterone boosters or even NO2 products. The first three to four years of your lifting should be done with just the basic supplements.

Conclusion.

Stay tuned for part two when I reveal the next top five tips to successful teen bodybuilding.

About the Author: Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain.

He also specializes in teaching skinny guys how to get a six-pack and build muscle, without drugs, supplements and training less than before with his program found at YourSixPackQuest.com

What do you do? How do you step back and assess what you’re doing and where you’re going wrong? Just randomly changing things with your program and your eating isn’t going to cut it…

That’s where the Muscle-Building Troubleshooter comes in.

This step-by-step guide will walk you through what you need to do to analyze what’s stopping you from achieving the results you want and help to get you back on the right track to muscle growth.

And, don’t be shocked when I don’t start throwing out info about your NO2 deficiency and the need for some expensive crap supplement with ingredients you can’t pronounce…this is the real deal.

STEP 1 – NUTRITION

There’s an old saying that you can’t out-train a bad diet. Totally true. You don’t have to eat perfectly but if you’re not eating ENOUGH or if you’re eating the wrong foods or at the wrong times, you just won’t gain muscle. Simple as that.

So step back and have a look at what you’re eating. Write down EXACTLY what you’re eating over the course of a few days, covering both training and non-training days.

Be sure to log EVERYTHING, including what TIME you ate. Go through these steps one-by-one…

1. Are you eating protein foods with every meal?

-> If NO, make sure you eat some with EVERY meal. Your body needs a continuous supply of protein to build muscle tissue.

-> If YES, go to #2…

2. How much total protein are you eating over the course of the day?

-> If less than 1 gram per pound body weight, you need to eat more. Without sufficient protein, muscle-growth stops. Better to err on the side of too much than not enough. A little extra protein will NOT hurt your kidneys, contrary to the myth.

-> If equal to or more than 1 gram per pound body weight, go to #3

3. How much time do you have between meals?

-> If greater than 3 hours, you need to eat more frequently. Your body needs a steady supply of calories to keep the muscle-building process fueled.

-> If every 3 hours or less, go to #4

4. How many overall calories are you eating in a day?

-> If less than your body weight (in pounds) multiplied by 15, you need more calories (e.g. 200 lbs x 15 = 3000 calories)

-> If equal to or more than your body weight x 15, you STILL may need more calories but you’re on the right track
-> If more than your body weight x 20 and you’re still not gaining, go to #5

5. What quality of food are you eating?

-> If you eat more than 50% junk food, focus on bringing that down to 25%

-> If you eat less than 25% junk food, you’re on the right track – some is ok, especially if you need more calories in your diet, but you don’t want to get too many calories from poor food sources – go to #6

6. How much fat are you eating?

-> If you eat less than 30 grams of fat per day, that’s NOT enough for muscle-building and optimal hormone production – increase that to at least 50 to 60 grams a day.

-> If you eat more than 50 grams a day, look at what TYPE of fat it is…your body does need some saturated fat for hormone production. Stay away from processed fats but unprocessed animal fats can be useful. Go to #7

7. Are you eating IMMEDIATELY after training?

-> If not, i.e. you’re waiting a few hours or so, this will KILL your progress. Take in something as soon as possible after training (e.g. protein shake) to start the anabolic processes going. About an hour after training, eat a big meal.

-> If yes, go to STEP 2 to look at your training…

STEP 2 – TRAINING

So now that you’ve got your nutrition in good order, THAT shouldn’t be what’s holding you back. It’s time to look at your training…

1. How long are your training sessions?

-> If greater than 1 hour, cut back NOW. Training longer than an hour decreases your testosterone below useful levels. Training for 45 minutes or less is better.

-> If already less than an hour, go to #2

2. How many days a week are you training?

-> If 5 or more times week and you’re not gaining, reduce to 4 sessions per week. You may not be giving your body enough recovery time.

-> If 1 or 2 times per week and you’re not gaining, increase to 3 or 4 sessions per week. The body often needs a more frequent training stimulus in order to build muscle.
-> If you’re at 3 or 4 times per week, and you’re not gaining, go to #3

3. What types of exercises are you using?

-> Curls, bench presses, and crunches…mirror-muscle syndrome. These exercises will not build significant muscle on their own…you need to focus on basic exercises like dead lifts, squats, and rows.

-> Lots of machines…get off ‘em. Free-weight exercises are MUCH more effective for building muscle. Anything that uses barbells, dumbells or kettlebells is going to be far better.

-> Free-weight exercises like squats, dead lifts, presses and rows. If you’re already using these exercises and still not gaining, go to #4

4. How hard are you pushing yourself on your sets?

-> Using lighter weight for higher reps (12+) and not getting close to failure…time to buckle down and get some weight on the bar. Use weights that push you to get 5 to 7 reps per set.

-> Using VERY heavy weight for low reps (1 to 3). Time to back off a bit on the weight. Low reps are great for strength but aren’t the best for building muscle mass. Use less weight and aim for 5 to 7 reps per set.

-> Pushing to failure (and beyond using intensity techniques) on more than 1 or 2 sets per workout. Stop doing that NOW. Pushing to the limits like this may feel good in the short-term but isn’t the most effective way to train for muscle mass. It compromises recovery by bringing down the nervous system and slows growth by inducing excessive muscle damage. Some is necessary but too much can be counterproductive.

-> Pushing to near failure (when doing lower-volume routines) or staying away from failure (when doing higher-volume routines) and still not gaining, go to #5

5. What type of program are you using?

-> Using a low-volume, high-intensity style of program like Mike Mentzer’s “High Intensity Training” and not gaining, your body may need a break. Switch to higher-volume, lower-intensity training for 3 to 4 weeks.

-> Using a volume-based program like Charles Staley’s “Escalating Density Training” and not gaining, your body may respond better to lower volume but a more intense training stimulus.

-> Using a program for more than 3 weeks without noticeable results…time to get a new program. If something doesn’t get you results within 2 to 3 weeks, it’s not EVER going to work for you. An effective program will start working within that timeframe. Go to #6

6. What body parts are you focusing on?

-> Training a lot of arms and chest…back to the mirror muscle problem. The arms and chest don’t contain that much muscle mass and working them doesn’t stimulate much testosterone production. Time for a more balanced program – work your legs or suffer the consequences of looking like you’re riding a chicken.

-> Nothing in particular but covering all body parts. This is better but if you’re still not gaining, it’s time to eliminate the training for the smaller body parts such as arms and calves that can affect recovery but not contribute much to overall muscle growth. This will allow you to put all your energy into the big exercises like squats, deadlifts and heavy presses and rows.

-> Just legs…I only work my legs. You’re just a figment of my imagination…you don’t exist…

STEP 3 – SUPPLEMENTATION

Now we come to the section that most trainers seem to want to START with…supplements. Contrary to what the ads in the magazines will tell you, training and nutrition actually ARE more important than supplements. Just look at the standout physiques of the “Golden Age” of bodybuilding, before fancy supplements and steroids came into the picture…Chuck Sipes, John Grimek, Bill Bearl, Steve Reeves, Reg Park, and MANY more.

I can promise you these guys knew their stuff when it came to training and eating.

1. Are you taking a protein supplement?

-> If no – this is the best place to start. A good protein supplement will help you get enough protein to support muscle growth throughout the day and in the important post-workout period.

-> If yes, go to #2

2. Are you taking a good multivitamin/multi-mineral supplement?

-> If no, this is a critical mistake. Your body requires vitamins and minerals to function properly. Without optimum levels, you are compromising results. Sure, doctors say you can get the RDA without supplements but who wants to have just enough to avoid deficiency? When building muscle, you need EXCESS, not “just enough.”

-> If yes, go to #3

3. Are you taking creatine?

-> If no, you may be missing out on some serious results. Creatine is one of the very few PROVEN supplements that can help you build muscle and strength. It is well-researched and very safe. It is highly recommended.

-> If yes, go to #4

4. That’s it for supplements…there really isn’t anything else proven to really help with muscle-building that I would recommend as a “missing link” in your results.

And honestly, if you’re not doing the training and nutrition right, even the protein, vitamins and creatine aren’t going to help you build muscle. Which brings us to…

THE MAIN LESSON

When you’re stuck in a muscle-building plateau, look first at your nutrition, then at your training then, and ONLY then, your supplementation. By systematically going through the Troubleshooter above, you’ll be able to pinpoint what you need to change to get your mass moving in the upwards direction again.

RESOURCE LINKS:

I’ve got a number of useful links to information that can help you get the most out of each step of this Troubleshooter. Once you know what’s wrong, you can use these links to access specific information that can help you make adjustments.

1. My Practical “Lazy Cook” Recipes For Building Muscle! So Easy Even a Caveman Can Make Them…
-> BetterU News Issue #52

2. Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass
-> Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass

3. Training on the Edge – Learn How Over training on Purpose Can Get You Maximum Results FAST!
-> BetterU News Issue #22

4. Rest-Pause Training
-> Rest-Pause For Muscle Mass Program

5. A Quick, “No B.S.” Guide To Muscle-Building and Fat-Loss Supplementation
-> BetterU News Issue #48

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass,” “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at Fit Step.

·    You can begin by defining your objective.
·    Why are you interested in body building?
·    What do you hope to accomplish?
·    What is your ultimate goal?

It’s all about commitment and belief. There is an abundance of information about how to begin and conduct your journey, but without a burning desire to achieve, you are doomed to inevitable failure.

The following tips are not intended to be a “one size fits all.”  Take from it what you will.  In that light, consider the following list:

1.Before beginning any serious weight lifting or body building regimen, consult your physician.

2.Set your goals.

Define what you expect to achieve with your new bodybuilding campaign within a realistic time frame.  If you create goals that are unattainable you are setting yourself up for failure.  You can become bored, disappointed and disillusioned to the point where you may give up.  This is a very sad outcome to what might have been the best decision of your life.  Don’t sell yourself short.  Set your long-term goals, of course, but also set short-term goals that are achievable.  And, don’t forget to reward yourself when you do achieve them.

3.Consider the costs.

If you don’t already have a budget, create one.  Then, determine what amount of discretionary funds you have available for your bodybuilding program.  This will determine whether you can afford to have a home gym or if your needs would better be served by joining a club.  Joining a club is still a good short-term introduction before spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment that might not be appropriate for your needs.

4.Don’t forget some of the low cost alternatives to purchasing your bodybuilding equipment.  If used equipment is still functional why spend the extra dollars just for a little glitz!  Good, brand name used equipment is every bit as functional as something right off a showroom floor.

5.Consider combining a home gym along with a membership in a public facility.  Purchase less expensive free weight equipment for use at home and join a gym to have access to the more expensive equipment.  You can design your entire workout routines around a combination such as this.

6.Eat healthy!

This can’t be stressed enough.  The only true bodybuilding aids are good nutrition.  Consult a licensed dietitian.  Watch your local community calendar for free seminars on diet and nutrition.  Learn all you can about what nature freely provides that can help you to develop a healthy diet.

7.If you choose to use dietary supplements, make certain that you know what you are putting in your body.  Follow the packaging guidelines we outlined above.  Ask your physician for his/her recommendations based on the regimen you have selected.  No friend, coach or acquaintance can take the place of your physician.  In fact, you may even investigate finding a physician who specializes in sports wellness.

8.Be kind to yourself.

Yes, it’s important to push to achieve your goals, but it’s very easy to tip the scales in the other direction and create a nightmare for yourself.  Obsessive, compulsive behaviors are not conducive to a healthy bodybuilding lifestyle.

1. Before you begin, make sure you’re mentally prepared. Despite the fact that you’re focused on your physical development, I’ve found that having the right frame of mind makes all the difference. If you don’t have a naturally positive attitude, do your best to develop one. Once you’ve got your head on straight, you can use one of the most powerful techniques available to ensure that you reach your maximum potential: visualization. Before you create your chiseled physique, you’ve got to imagine the result.

2. Proper nutrition is essential to good health as well as developing maximum muscle mass. This is a body building tip that should not be ignored. A proper mix of proteins and carbs, augmented with protein powders or other supplements, as well as ensuring the proper amount of calorie intake can be the difference maker in achieving consistent and effective growth. You need the right amount of energy and the right fuel mix to power your body through strenuous body building exercises.

3. This is a classic body building tip. If you want to ensure consistent, measurable, successful gains, you’ve got to ensure that your workout routine contains the three core exercises that every body builder understands: the bench press, the dead lift, and the squat. While you might not consider these three to be sexy or exotic techniques, combined they provide the shortest and most efficient route to improving overall condition, developing strength, and creating those eye-opening gains you’re looking for.

4. Here’s a body building tip that many new to the sport don’t know: you should push each exercise to your limit of fatigue. That means you need to design your sets of each exercise in such a way that near the end of the third set your muscles are failing due to fatigue. Choose a weight that allows you to complete two full sets and then the better part of a third. That ensures that you’re breaking down the muscle tissue so that your body can rebuild it again.

5. Don’t underestimate the importance of recovery time. Lots of overly enthusiastic body builders maintain a workout routine that doesn’t have enough built-in rest time to allow their bodies to recover. Cramming as many workouts in as you can is counter-productive to your body’s efforts to rebuild and recover. Space out your workouts and get plenty of sleep and give your body the chance to do what it is designed to do.

Reshaping your body requires drive and determination. Body building isn’t for everyone, it requires a level of commitment and consistency that some people simply don’t possess. But if you’re intent on building strength and muscle mass, then you can use these body building tips to help make the most out of your workout plan.

How do they usually go about this?

They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of “cutting down” and if you ask most trainers in the gym they’ll tell you that “heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle”.

Do you want to know the reality behind the “light weight and high reps” method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique?

It is completely, totally and utterly DEAD WRONG.

It couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym.

Let me clear this up once and for all: you CANNOT spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

Every single time you wrap your hands around a barbell, dumbbell or cable, your goal is to stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will “define” your muscles or cause them to become more “ripped”.

Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So how exactly do you “define” a muscle?

The only way to “define” a muscle is by lowering your body fat level in order to make your muscles more visible. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet.

You should lower your overall caloric intake to around 15x your bodyweight and focus on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism naturally raised at all times and will keep your body in a constant fat burning state. Limit your intake of saturated fats and simple sugars, and focus instead on consuming lean sources of protein and low glycemic carbohydrates. It is also very important to keep your water intake high at a level of around 0.6 ounces per pound of bodyweight.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts.

Let go of the traditional method of moderate intensity cardio in 30-45 minute durations. If you want to maximize your body’s fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter cardio workouts performed at a high level of intensity. These types of workouts will shoot your resting metabolism through the roof and will allow you to burn maximum amounts of fat even when you are at rest. I recommend 3-5 high intensity cardio sessions per week, spaced at least 8 hours away from your weight workouts.

That’s all there is to it, folks. Take the notion of “light weight and higher reps” and throw it right out the window, down the street and around the corner. Following this misguided method will only cause you to lose muscle mass and strength, and will not assist you in burning fat or defining your physique.

All you need to do to mold those rock-solid muscles for the summer time is this:

1) Train with heavy weights and low repetitions to build maximum muscle mass.

2) Modify your diet and implement cardio workouts to eliminate body fat and create visibly harder and more defined muscles.

End of story.

I’ll see you at the beach!

There are many practical situations in which the ability to lift something heavy, or simply to move something large, is of major importance. But shifting a mental block is at least as valuable. Many of us underestimate just how physically strong we are, and how much potential we have, and as far as proving it goes there is no better way than training to a point where we are capable of physical achievements that would be beyond many.

Most of us would love to be capable of things that we watch happening on television week in and week out. Many of the most popular sports feature individuals who have trained to the point where they are capable of pushing another (pretty large) human being backwards at a high speed. Gridiron and rugby – two of the major sports in their countries of origin, would be impossible without the muscle bound guys who don’t always get the credit – but are invariably favorites with the fans.

Quite apart from any competitive considerations, there is the fact that for most of us, situations will occur that necessitate a bit (or a lot) of heavy lifting. As well built as some of us may be naturally, heavy lifting still takes it out of you. But if you have been working on the exact muscle groups that are required for the job, then you will be in a good position to get through such a task with a minimum of sweat. In fact, people will often pay you to do it for them. If you have been working those muscles for years, that’s pretty close to money for nothing.

Being able to lift and move heavy items is something that comes up again and again, if you are moving house for example. The simple thought of doing such a thing is enough to bring many individuals out in a cold sweat. Those muscles may provoke envy in many, but they can also win you a bunch of respect.

If you are a relative novice to body building, there are competitions for the newcomer which are probably the best choice if you are feeling competitive. The guys who have been competing for years are liable to make anyone feel somewhat daunted and even a little bit discouraged. The one thing that must sit as a caveat for any potential competitor is that it is not a pursuit for a shrinking violet. In order to demonstrate the success of your body building regime it is necessary to pull some poses that would make the average person blush. But if you have been working on your physique and got it to a level that you’re happy with, why would you not show it off?

Most areas have regional competitions, and if you do well enough there there are many levels above that to which you can graduate. Perhaps someone reading this might go on to be another Mr Universe!

A good body building regime will contain a number of goals that you need to attain to keep the process on schedule and effective. In reaching these goals you will give yourself a well-deserved sense of accomplishment that will in turn drive you on to achieve more and hit higher goals. This sense of accomplishment transfers into everything you do, and when life presents you with challenges it gives you something to call upon that shows you do not fall back when life gives you something to take on.

There are so many reasons why body builders take up training. Some will do it competitively, some just for their own personal intentions. Whatever the reason it cannot be denied that a successful body building regime has many other effects beyond the building of muscles. It is up to you what your motivating factors will be, but personal achievement cannot be underestimated among the possibles.