Stop Blaming Mom: Genetics and Bodybuilding

There's always going to be something about your body that you don't like and can't easily change. For average people, its things like eye color or shoe size, but for bodybuilders, its things like narrow shoulders. Instead of obsessing over these details, learn what you can do to optimize your workout to help fix the problem-and then learn to accept your body for what it is.

Of course, most people simply use genetics as an excuse. If your calves are a problem spot, for example, it's easy to say that this is your parents problem area as well and move on to bench presses or crunches. This is exactly what you should not do! If you calves are the problem, you should begin your workout training these muscles and spend longer and more intense time working to improve this area. Instead, studies show that people are simply giving up and moving on to muscle groups where they can easily get results. Stick it out-by training your problem spots, you will see results in the end, even if the gains are smaller than in other areas. Ask for advice from professional bodybuilders and trainers to optimize your workout for the muscles that are troubling you, and be sure to know your limits; overtraining will only add to the problem.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you have to live with the way your body was made. Men, for example, want to have broad shoulders, but you can't physically do a whole lot if your shoulders are narrow. Instead, you can create the illusion that you have broad shoulders. First, tone the area to define your muscles. Then, trick the mind into believing your shoulders are wider by proportioning your body accordingly. For example, lose extra weight in the abdominal area to give yourself the V shape of the traditional Greek modal. Another trait that you cannot change is height. Shorter bodybuilders will always be able to build bigger and better muscles, because their limbs are not as long. Tall guys-you can still build muscle, just remember that you will have to put forth more effort to lift the same amount of weight.

Overall, don't blame genetics for too much. True, you may have a predisposition, but you can still tone and define muscles in your problem areas with a little extra work. In the end, learn to accept the things you cannot change and focus on keeping your body healthy overall.

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Create your Home Gym with Minimum of Equipment

Training at home could prove as a good solution for the ones interested. The effectiveness of this type of training could compare to the one of working out in the gym, as long as some factors are considered.

The first, and at the same time the most important of these, is owning the necessary equipment. If, besides this, you also have a partner who trains with you, the exercises can be as effective as the ones performed in the gym. Of course, we are talking now about the ideal situation of affording a gym in your own house.

Even with these conditions fulfilled, some practitioners, especially the more extrovert ones, might lack the stimulating atmosphere, the sharing of experience, the communication that they can find in the gym.

In most of the cases, what you can do at home is improvise a room or just a corner of a room, for fitness. Besides, most of the times you have to train by yourself. As these are the most frequent situations, we'll deal with them now. Anyway, it is preferable to have constant training at home, rather than interrupt it a lot because the gym is too busy, too far, too expensive, etc.

The minimum of equipment necessary for training at home includes: an adjustable bench, a set of two dumbbells, with increasing weights, a barbell, with free weights and a fix bar for pull ups. This equipment will enable both executing basic exercises (squats, bench presses, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc.) and diversity of exercises, necessary for avoiding routine.

The main disadvantage of not having a partner to train with is reflected in the amount of loading in some exercises, which cannot reach its maximum. There are many exercises which can be loaded to maximum without any risk, even if there is no partner to assist you (pull-ups, dips, shoulder presses, barbell curs, dumbbell curls, etc.).

An advantage which comes from training at home is that you can choose the training time without any restraint. Moreover, the speed of exercising can be increased a lot if the practitioner chooses to execute supersets, tri sets or giant sets. You can also save time, as you are not distracted by casual conversation, by waiting for the machines to be available, by having to change the weights for every personal series of exercises, etc.

In the extreme case when we can only afford as equipment a mattress, chairs and a towel, we can focus on exercises using the weight of the body (push-ups, reverse push-ups, between chairs push-ups, squats, sit-ups, crunches, hyperextensions, lunges, plyometrics, plunks, etc.).

All the exercises involving the body weight are considered as really demanding, because they mobilize more stabilizing muscles that ensure coordination and balance. The body-weight exercises are often introduced in the programs at the gym due to their proven effectiveness. They are also used in training and testing people in special troops, as these need a lot of force and discipline in their training.

Isabel Curini, fitness trainer and editor at http://www.healthfitnessworld.com/. HealthFitnessWorld.com is dedicated to providing high-quality, free advices, tips and resources on exercise, fitness, body building, supplements, nutrition, weight loss.This article may be reprinted as long as the "About" and "weblinks" are kept intact and active.