• View
• Edit
• History
• Print

Getting Started

Six Keys to Successful Bodybuilding

These are nothing new and read like the same stuff in any motivational book on the market today. Yet they offer valuable insight and are essential to getting started and sticking to it.

• Set a realistic goal - short and long term.

• Plan an orderly and thorough routine to train the entire body.

• Make a commitment to stick to your routine for 4-5 weeks - - to begin to see changes and benefits, develop perseverance and create a habit.

• Enthusiasm for training must be recognized as the main and driving force to perform successfully.

• Ease into a training program with a wholesome, thoughtful nutritional plan - proper food, order and amount of consumption.

• Be confident from the beginning that the application of these sound principles will produce the desired results.

In this article, Dave breaks down these simple suggestions.

As we look back, we see the things we did right, and the things we did wrong. The IOL forum offers these suggestions for getting started off right in your fitness program.

Here you'll find the answers to questions most beginners ask about starting a weight training program.

Working out at home and with limited equipment? Byron suggests you can get a workout from anything that's around. Here are his ideas of items you might be able to use. Even with all the equipment in the world available, it's good to have these things in your repertoire.

• Learn a lot of bodyweight exercises, be creative with variations.

• Make a sandbag or two.

• Buy or make a chinup bar, it's good for more than just chins; if you're lucky, you'll find something you can use around the house, in the yard, or at a playground. But a doorway chin bar is awfully useful for $15-$20.

• Hang a pair of chains with handles from the chinup bar, you can do a lot of exercises with these. You can also use a good rope and a couple pipes rather than chain and handles.

• Get a couple surgical tubing exercisers, these are just a length of tubing with a handle at either end.

• Make a sled to drag.

• Do some stair climbing.

• If you only have a small amount of plates for dumbbells, load it all up on one dumbbell and do one handed exercises.

This discussion will give you some ideas of a prime home-gym setup.

And now for a sample workout from Wicked Willie

You want to initially choose movements that will engage as much of your muscle mass at once (compound movements) so that your workouts will be efficient. You also want to get the most "bang for your buck," so to speak. You want your workout to be simple, short and hard enough to stimulate growth.

Don't worry too much right now about direct movements for your abdominals...just get into the workout habit, by not missing a workout for three months, if you can manage that. Concentrate on building muscle and the fat will be used for energy and replaced by muscle (provided your diet allows this...and it looked good.)

Here's a thought on the workout...see how you like it. Requires a minimum of equipment and time.

Warm up - 15 minutes of walking, while swinging your arms around in various ways. Call it GONZO power walking. You should break a light sweat. Or you can use a stationary bike...the idea is to heat up your core temperature and stimulate overall circulation and synovial fluid in the joints

Squat 3x10 to at least parallel depth. When you can do 3x12 in good form...increase the weight. If you can't squat with weight, do them without weights. If for some reason, you are mechanically unable to squat...you may substitute the leg press. But seriously work at the squat before giving up...it is that important.

Overhead Press 4x6 When you can do 4x8 in good form, increase.

Dumbbell Row 4x8 When you can do 4x10... You may occasionally substitute the Lat Pulldown, your choice of grip and grip width.

Deadlift 6x4 Reset for each rep...DO NOT use a touch and go style. Do these moderately for back integrity...don't push hard on them until you've lost some weight and gained conditioning.

Cool down 5-10 minutes of walking or stationary bike at a slower pace.

That's your workout blueprint...it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes, minus the warm up. Once a week, just to satisfy your ego and desire...add some curls and triceps pushdowns or some type of curl and tricep work. THIS IS OPTIONAL...the basic blueprint is NOT OPTIONAL. Do this moderately also, just for pump and a good feeling.

Once you've lost some weight and gained some conditioning, you can add isolation type stuff if you wish...but if you use the basics outlined here, you won't really need to use them. It's better to leave a workout feeling you could have done more, than it is to leave exhausted. Train, don't strain.

Wicked