Monday, May 26, 2008

Exposing the Dangers of Bodybuilding: Five Mistakes to Avoid

Beginner bodybuilders can get caught up in the dream of obtaining their perfect body with pounds of rock solid muscle mass and impressive strength. If that is you, don?t rush your bodybuilding training. Doing so will cause injuries and delay your progress. Instead, take the time to learn these five dangers of bodybuilding so you can avoid them and become a successful bodybuilder.

One mistake you can make is eating in the wrong way. If one protein shake a day is good, then three a day will get you the results three times faster, right? Wrong. There is nothing wrong with your protein shakes, but the majority of your diet should be healthy, whole foods. Your body is working hard and needs proper nutrition to do its best, and don?t think you can trick it with shortcuts.

You need the right amount of protein, but don?t think that you can get that protein from a fast food joint and expect your body to be satisfied. Be sure to include nutrition dense fruits and vegetables with your meals.

Perhaps the biggest mistake made by novice bodybuilders (and unfortunately some who have been training for a while) is overtraining. Your muscles will not grow without rest, and you will end up causing damage if you train too often. If you do injure yourself while training, don?t think that you can work through the pain. Know your limits and stop if you do get injured and see a professional. Take the time to heal. Although it might be hard to stop training for a couple of weeks, not taking the time to recover might leave you benched for an even longer period of time.

Not warming up is such an easy mistake to avoid that it?s surprising people still expose themselves to injury by ignoring this danger. If you spend twenty minutes warming up before each workout, you?ll significantly decrease the danger of injury. Start with about five minutes of cardiovascular exercise to get your heart pumping. Then move on to four or five warm up sets.

The fourth mistake that beginners can make is not paying attention to form. Form is vital if you want to avoid injuries and sculpt the body that you want. The first step, of course, is to know what good form looks like. Study good form before you try to do any of the routines yourself. When you do start the routines, watch yourself in the mirror to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. If you get too tired to hold the correct form, quit. Four reps in correct form is far more effective than eight reps in poor form.

The final danger of bodybuilding that you want to avoid comes from steroid use. It?s true that steroids will increase your size and your strength. But they are not necessary. You can create the body that you want without steroids. All you need is the proper training, diet, and rest. Steroid use can lead to headaches, increased blood pressure, altered thyroid function, and worse.

Bodybuilding, if done right, can be an excellent way to increase your strength and overall health. The dangers of bodybuilding can be minimized by those who take the time to gain the needed knowledge and train properly.

Take the action necessary to get the body you want today. Visit How To Start Bodybuilding to get your free copy of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass.

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