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| Getting the Most out of Your Workouts |
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BodybuildingPro.com  Training Database Advanced Training Tips Getting the Most out of Your Workouts
There are some important things to remember when trying to develop
and refine your bodybuilding physique. One very important aspect of
bodybuilding, which people tend to focus on the most, is the actual
training itself. Training is very important, but anyone experienced
in the sport of bodybuilding will tell you that your training will
not get you anywhere if you don’t provide yourself with
proper rest and nutrition. This doesn’t matter who you are,
or how good your genetics are, proper recuperation is an absolutely
essential part of any bodybuilding program. You would be surprised
just how small the actual training is in the big picture of a
bodybuilder’s training. There are a number of other factors
which affect your successful recuperation as well. Below is a list
of tips which will help you to succeed in maximizing results from
your intense training.
(1) Macro Nutrition
If you are bodybuilding, it is essential you eat the right amount
of all three macro nutrients (protein,
carbohydrates, and fat). You need protein to build your muscles and
repair exercised muscle fibers, carbohydrates to keep your energy
levels up, and fat to keep your internal organs healthy, as well as
to provide a long - term fuel reserve. Be sure to limit calories
directly from fat to around 15 to 25 percent of your total intake,
but don’t limit your fat intake too much, because if your fat
supply is too low, you may find yourself getting excessively
hungry, and find yourself losing energy and strength as well. If
your protein supply is low, you’ll find that your muscles
won’t be able to grow as much as they potentially could
because you won’t be providing your body with the basic
source of muscle fiber repair. If your carbohydrate stores are low,
you may find yourself getting lethargic, and not feeling your
workouts as effectively as you normally do (you may or may not
achieve a pump for example). The general rule of thumb with protein
is to consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight,
and to keep your carbohydrate intake at 25 percent or more of your
total caloric intake. Following these simple rules, you will see
your energy and strength levels increase, and maximize your
training results. With proper macro nutrition, both your training,
and the recuperation and repair processes which follow, will be
welcomed with greater success.
(2) Micro Nutrition
Vitamins, minerals, and other micro
nutrients can play very important roles for muscle growth. Your
blood level amino acids will increase rapidly if you take free -
form amino acids on an empty stomach. Branched - chain amino acids
(BCAAs) play an important role in
muscle metabolism. Taking BCAAs before and immediately after
working out may help you fill the anabolic window and give you a
head start on the recovery process.
(3) Sleep
Get enough sleep during the night! This is very important and
cannot be stressed enough. Your most restful (stage - 4) sleep will
occur during the first four hours after hitting the hay. Growth
hormone is released by the anterior pituitary during this stage of
sleep. This occurs for about 30 minutes after the first hour of
sleep, and occurs once more for an additional 30 minutes, one hour
and a half after that. Slow - wave sleep is the time during sleep
when your body does the repair work. The harder you train, the
longer your body will naturally spend during this sleep. During rem
sleep (which follows stage 4 sleep), a greater amount of protein synthesis occurs. To
conclude, allow yourself enough sleep (generally between eight to
10 hours), if you want to minimize soreness, and feel more
energetic in your subsequent workouts.
(4) Training Frequency
Although many people think the way to get big is to train as often
as possible, this is far from the truth. You’ll make far
greater gains training less frequently, but working harder during
every exercise; performing every exercise with proper form
throughout the entire range of motion and feeling your muscles hard
at work. If you’re a beginner, training only three to four
sessions per week, you’ll be amazed with how much progress
you make if you work hard in the gym. If you train more than three
days in a row, you run the risk of stalling your progress. This is
especially true as you get older, because your body’s natural
hormone secretion slows down, as well as your metabolism. The
solution to this is simply to train harder and rest more. Train
with heavy weights, but only those weights you can handle,
concentrating on focused repetitions with perfect form throughout
the entire range of motion.
Check out the BodybuildingPro.com Training Splits Database!
Click HERE to check out the database.
(5) Stress
When you’re working out, it’s important to concentrate
on the task at hand, and rid your thoughts of anything depressing
or de-motivating. This will help your training, and of course, your
results. If you think negatively, you’ll find that you
experience persistent, tiring and unmotivated workouts. Don’t
set your mind to thinking you can’t achieve something,
because you’ll find that may be the only thing stalling you.
The results you get out of your training are also directly related
to the stress levels in your day to day life. If you find you are
stressed out with your job, social life, or anything else, you will
not achieve the results you want. Although bodybuilding or any
physical activity is a good step to ridding your life of stress,
it’s important to remember that stress will hold you down in
your training as well, the same way it negatively affects
everything else.
Recuperation is a key factor to maximizing your bodybuilding and
fitness gains through training. It is very important, and is
sometimes misunderstood. Always provide your body with the
nutrition and rest it needs to get the results you want. Find out
what works for you and stick with it until it stops working,
because, as the old saying goes: “If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it”. You may want to consider employing the
instinctive principle to your training. By giving your body proper
recuperation, you minimize the chances of overtraining, and
maximize the results from all that time and effort in the gym.
Take care,
webmaster@bodybuildingpro.com
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