What beginners should do before starting a Bodybuilding Program

By: zersch
1) The first thing you should do is evaluate your current health to see if bodybuilding is right for you. In most cases you should be fine, but seeing a doctor beforehand would be a wise thing to do.

2) Secondly you need to know what your goals are. Your general choices are: do you want to gain muscle/weight, or lose fat and maintain muscle? If you try to build muscle and lose fat at the same time it will be very difficult and gains will come very slowly and you will get mentally frustrated and most likely quit altogether. Generally if you have a lot of fat to lose, I would jump right into a fat loss program. If you are skinny, I would jump in to a muscle/weight gain program. Or do you simply just want to tone up?

3) If you have access to a bodyfat percent analysis tool, you can use this as a guideline:

30% bodyfat and above - This means you are obese, which is classified as a disease in my book (and many others). If you have this much bodyfat I would immediately go on a fat loss program and focus on that 100%, don't worry about gaining muscle just lose the fat first.

20% - 30% bodyfat (for males) - I would personally treat this range the same as 30% and above category. I would generally start worrying about fat loss before trying to specifically trying to gain muscle. And keep that in mind, when trying to lose fat, muscle gains will either be extremely slow or non existent because of the lack of nutrients you will be giving yourself. Beginners will still find muscle gains during the first couple of months even on a fat loss program.

15% - 20 bodyfat (for males) - In this range, you simply need to make a decision for yourself and what is most important to you. If you want to get real big and muscular it would not hurt to go into a muscle gaining program. I would still focus on doing some cardio workouts, but not over do them.

10% - 15% bodyfat (for males) - In this range you will be pretty lean already and once again the choice is yours in your decision. Do you want to get leaner? If so you will want to focus on fat loss, eating less and doing more cardio workouts. If you want to gain muscle quick, then cut back on the cardio and up the calories.

10% or lower - In this range you are already super lean but you may be very skinny with no muscle, in that case a muscle gaining program will work best for you. If you have lots of muscle and are lower than 10% then you are probably not a beginner and should not be reading this article :)

4) No matter what personal goal you chose for yourself, have a set nutrition plan before you begin training. 5-6 meals a day are an absolute MUST whether you want to lose bodyfat or gain weight.

5) Have a set training regimen. If you have to, hire a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to show you how to perform the basic exercises. Ask for advice on your routines, either from knowledgeable people in the gym or you can watch videos online to see how exercises are performed.

6) Choose a gym that will have all the basic equipment (benches, squat racks, smiths etc). If you go during peak hours (5pm-8pm) you should try and join the gym with the most equipment around. This will help you finish your workout faster and not wait for someone to get off your machine. Make sure your gym has personal trainers and helpful staff. Cleanliness is also a MUST!

7) Don't just go to the gym to train chest and arms! If you want your progress to be fast you MUST train all muscles at least once per week.

8) Do not tax your body with unnecessary time in the gym. Go in, train hard and get out of there as fast as you can! Growth takes place OUTSIDE the gym while you are eating healthy meals and while sleeping and resting.

9) Cardio training is a good tool for all beginners in order to help them gain some cardiovascular strength for strenuous weight workouts. Some beginners may have not done cardio in a LONG time and their cardiovascular system may be very inefficient. So I recommend doing at least one cardio workout a week to get your hormones pumping out smoothly, this will start shaping you up in the right direction.

10) Increase your protein intake. If you cant get enough in your diet, then you can always turn to protein powders, the best place to get your protein powder from is Naked Whey on Amazon.

11) And lastly - TRAINING + MEALS + REST = GROWTH! If one or more components are missing, growth simply won't take place and you'll end up being very frustrated.

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