Simple Tips for Starting Competitive Bodybuilding

As a bodybuilder you should be aiming to enter into the competitive bodybuilding area and show off your body in a bodybuilding fitness competition, especially given the amount of time, effort and money you are putting into your training. Competitive bodybuilding fitness competitions take place all over the world and display some of the finest, athletic bodies on the planet.

Each competition has numerous categories and levels, so even if you are still a novice you can still find a competition that is at your level. However, if you are going to enter you?re going to have to put in a lot of training before hand, so you?ll need lots of self discipline and dedication in terms of actually getting down the gym and training and also your diet.

If you are serious about taking up competitive bodybuilding you should really try to find your self a training partner and coach. As having the guidance and support of an experienced coach and the support from a training partner will definitely help improve your chances of success in the competitive bodybuilding arena. You and your coach need to determine your training programme, your diet and what competitions or events you want to train up to compete in. Also you need to decide whether you are going to be a ?natural? bodybuilder or whether you will use performance enhancing supplements such as steroids. The natural route is best for your body, but there is no reason why you shouldn?t supplement your diet with essential vitamins and nutrients to help optimum growth and repair of your muscles, especially if you have to eliminate some foods from your diet to lose weight.

The next step is to put some time into investigate and find local competitive bodybuilding competitions near to home, as they are a great place to ?dip your toe? in and get started. If you can?t find any locally you might have to travel to further a field to find competitions, so you?ll need to schedule this into your training plans.

Competitive bodybuilding and fitness competitions often vary in terms of the price to enter and the competition rules and regulations, so make sure you do your research carefully. Usually you?ll have a tour or guide the day before or on the morning of the event, so the more prepared you are, the more professional you will appear to the other competitors and judges.

Prior to the event, make sure that you have covered and mastered in training all the poses that you need to be able to do for the competition, and learn how to tense up your muscles for each pose while appearing relaxed. Other things you might want to do or take into consideration are tanning and removing excess hair and anything else that might improve your chances of winning. Ask your coach for advice on this or ask other bodybuilders you have met through your training.

Once you?ve done the competition, critically assess how well you have done, both positives and negatives, if you try and learn from your mistakes you?ll continually increase you chances of winning in future events. See what the other competitors are doing and ask them questions too. You should also try and speak to the judges after the event to get their opinion on how you did and get some tips for your next competition. Listen carefully to all their hints and tips and sooner than you think you?ll be the one winning all the prizes!

Do you want to learn how to pack on massive muscle, melt away fat and get the body of your dreams? If so, get your hands on free bodybuilding tips for beginner bodybuilders by clicking the following link: http://teenbodybuildingtips.info/

Natural Bodybuilding Muscle Training - Does It Still Exist In Today's Age Of Steroids?

Maybe you are interested in knowing what natural bodybuilding is all about. This page will help you decide if this is for you.

Natural bodybuilding has emerged as a way of distancing bodybuilding from the many reports of drug use and steroids to help people have the prefect body. This involves strengthening your body through exercise and diet and not relying on extras such as drugs to help you make rapid gains.

This practice relies solely on exercise as a natural way of toning up the muscles of the body through strength and weight training as the athletes of long ago did. It also combines this exercise routine with a healthy diet to help increase the body metabolism to burn fat. This method helps people lose weight and become fit.

Those who follow a natural method of bodybuilding use natural dietary supplements to help with their diet.

These products contain all natural ingredients that the body needs, such as whey protein and proteins and minerals that are naturally found in the body. They also need to supplement the essential nutrients that the body loses through intensive workouts.

Using this method of bodybuilding, means that people are more informed about the needs of the body. When the body is fit and healthy, the chances of illness and injuries are less, therefore the long term benefits of having a strong toned body cannot be underestimated.

Those who are fit and exercise on a daily basis tend to look better and feel better about themselves. They are also better able to cope with lifes stresses and tend to live longer.

Check out http://www.1-stop-fitness.com/ for articles on best home gyms and cheap weight benches.

How to Start Bodybuilding: Five Tips for the Beginning Body Builder

Bodybuilding is a great way to get into shape. You?ll have the body that you always desired, you?ll enhance your performance in sports, and you?ll cut the risks of diseases such as osteoporosis and coronary heart disease. Here are five tips to help the beginner bodybuilder.

1. Before you even enter the gym, start with research and planning. To develop the most effective workout routine, you?ll need to know how your muscles work and the best ways to increase your muscle mass. If you don?t take the time to research you?ll find that you might be working out for weeks and actually lose weight instead of gain it. Develop a schedule that covers your training, your eating, and your resting.

2. Get into the habit of eating right. As a bodybuilder, you?ll need to increase the amount of food you intake. Protein is vital for building your muscles, but it is not the only thing you need. You cannot add fast food burgers to your diet and think that your body will be able to perform in the way that you desire. Instead, choose the right forms of proteins, complex carbs, and don?t forget the essential nutrition that you can get from eating fruits and vegetables. A carefully planned and well balanced diet will give your body the strength to work its best.

3. When you are developing your routine, be sure that you focus on all your muscles. Too many beginners focus all of their training on increasing their biceps and getting their six pack abs. Don?t neglect your lower body.

4. Remember to rest. You can?t rush your results by working extra hard or staying at the gym for extra long hours. If you don?t give your muscles a chance for rest, you?ll never see them grow. Overworking will simply cause injury, which will slow down your progress even more. To see results the quickest, train smarter instead of harder. You?ll start seeing results in a few weeks time.

5. Watch your form. This can be hard for beginners whose body has not yet been trained in the proper form. Study the books, practice in front of mirrors, and find a trainer when you first start out. Learn to do the moves in correct form. If you are getting tired and unable to hold the correct form, quit for the rest of the day. It?ll take time, but it is much easier to learn the moves in the correct form than to spend time later on unlearning your mistakes.

Too many beginner bodybuilders get discouraged and quit when they don?t see the results right away. Bodybuilding will take time and hard work, but as long as you are training right, eating right, and resting you will become an experienced bodybuilder with the muscles to show for it.

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.

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.

Women bodybuilding, determining your body type.

An article describing how to determine your body type. Female bodybuilding.

One time, a successful bodybuilder once told me that bodybuilding is 80% knowledgeable training and 80% nutrition. It is quite obvious this strong-armed man did not have strength in math, but never the less he was successful in pursuing a bodybuilding lifestyle. Wait a minute that was me who said that. Oh boy.

To determine what kind of nutrition and training you should follow, you must first determine what type of body style you have. It is not imperative to do this but it does help you achieve your desired effect. The three types of body styles are Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph.

Ectomorph: This type of person has a hard time putting on weight. That includes fat or muscle. Typically a thin, wiry type of build. In the bodybuilding circle this is a hardgainer. This person can eat anything all the time and will not gain an ounce. Usually a tad bit high strung. Just like someone hooked them up intravenously with double strength espresso. At the office, they can eat a bag of chips and wash it down with a soda and then go to break eating even more. For a bodybuilding diet this person can eat all the bread, rice and potatoes they want. Ectomorph must do enough cardio work to keep the heart healthy.

Mesomorph: This type of person can generally put on muscle very easily. They have more of an athletic build. Broad shoulders, wide back and thick thigh muscles are some of the characteristics of this type. This person does have to watch what they eat or they will be adding fat on their body. This person might have an aggressive type of behavior. Do first, ask later mentality. For the bodybuilding diet, eat enough calories to maintain and build muscle, but keep it a very clean and healthy diet or you will put on the fat. Do enough cardio work to keep the fat off. But dont overdo it or you will waste away your hard-earned muscle.

Endomorph: The only thing this type of person has to do is look at food and they gain weight. And not the right kind of weight. Some possible characteristics are narrow shoulders or a pear shaped body. Watching their diet is a big problem for this person. This person might have to monitor their health more closely for heart disease later in life. This person must strive to keep an active lifestyle to burn the calories. The bodybuilding diet, eat low calorie foods such as vegetables and fruits. Preferably in whole and natural form. Protein should come from very lean sources.

You can be a combination of two or even all three-body types. You can be a bodybuilder no matter what type of body you have. Its just that some will have an easier time than others will. After deciding on the type of body you have you can adjust your workout accordingly.

The author, Kevin Doberstein is a writer for www.nature-boy-bodybuilding.com. The site is dedicated to natural bodybuilding and preserving nature and wildlife. Water, forest, soil and wildlife conservation is paramount to Nature boy. You can contact Nature boy at natureboy_bodybuilding@hotmail.com

Considerations for Home Gyms

Joining a local gym does have some benefits - you may get inspired from the people there, and there are instructors around to make sure you are using the correct techniques. However, a lot of people do not have access to a local gym. For people who fall into this category and perhaps do not have much time due to work or home commitments (a new member of the family for example) a gym at home is a good solution.

So what are the things that you need to know in order to set up a gym at home? Well, if you have used the gym before to train then you will understand what exercise needs you have and this makes things a lot easier. If you have never used a gym before and are a complete novice it might be worth your while going to a public gym to see what it has to offer. Alternatively you could employ a personal trainer, if budget permits, who can advise you on what you need for your home gym and also check that you are using the equipment properly - as using the wrong technique can be harmful. Otherwise, there are books or videos on offer and you could learn what to do with a friend so as to check your respective techniques are correct.

The next question is where are you going to put this gym? If you have the option you should set it so it can remain permanently set up - all these pack away and folding things might seem like a good idea, but it is just one more obstacle in the way of your training. Besides this, the folding stuff is not always the greatest quality! So if you have a garage or a spare downstairs room (downstairs is a better idea than upstairs if you will be using weights), so much the better. If the weather is favorable in your neck of the woods you might consider a set up in the yard - your very own little muscle beach!

Okay, we've decided on a setting for our gym, now it is time to equip the place. All workouts should include a cardio session, and this may be the hardest thing to accommodate in a home setup. Low cost stationary bikes and treadmills are often not worth the money. A more costly running machine might do the trick if your pockets are deep, but they are also large items. A rower has the advantage of being easily stow-able - just tip it upright. These can be quite good value, but rowing is not everyone's cup of tea. Compact but expensive are the Nordic Ski and the Step. If you cannot decide then why not take a half hour jog at the start of each session instead?

One of the main things to consider is the weight training machinery. Multi-gyms often appeal as they seem to offer all you need, but you might regret it. Knowing what you want to achieve and what you enjoy doing helps with this decision. Sometimes a long bar and a set of dumbbells with a selection of different size weights may be a good choice and certainly it is cheaper. If you decide on this, then spend any money saved on a good bench that has a attachment for legs and so enables you to work hamstrings, quads and calves etc. In addition, get a cover for the floor so you can stretch and do floor exercises such as press ups and sit ups. And that's it, a great gym in the convenience of your own home.

Copyright 2006 Sian Quaid. All rights reserved. Sian Quaid's internet site Home Gyms Home is a great help to get you started on home gym topics on the internet. For further details please go take a look at her archive of articles: http://www.homegymshome.com/articles/

5 Sure-Fire Tips To Save You $1000's On Your Home Gym

It always amazes me when people say "Home Gyms are expensive! I just don't have $1000's of dollars lying about" These people obviously haven't looked very hard because nowadays home gym equipment doesn't have to cost 2, 3 or even $4000 dollars.

Below are 5 great alternatives that won't cost you the earth but can do just a good a job as many of the commercial fitness equipment found in local gyms.

1. Dumbbells

For resistance weight training you can't go past dumbbells for their practicality and versatility. You can perform any number of exercises with dumbbells that even the more expensive weight machines can't do. These days you can get adjustable dumbbells which allow you to use add or remove weight from a single dumbbell with a simple pin, just like with traditional pin loaded weight machines.

This feature means you don't have to buy different weight dumbbells for different exercises and you save on floor space which can be used for cardio equipment like ellipticals or treadmills.

You can easily get a good quality quick change dumbbell set for less than $500. At that price you'd be silly to spend money on larger, muscle specific equipment even if you did have extra cash floating around.

2. Remanufactured

A lot of people these days are buying remanufactured exercise equipment, and for good reason. Remanufacturing involves taking a used machine and completely restoring it with new parts to make it look, feel and function like a new machine. Often the only part of the equipment that is not brand new is the frame.

By buying remanufactured or refurbished fitness equipment you can realistically save 50% off the normal, new retail price.

3. Used

Buying used or second-hand equipment can be a cost effective way of setting up your home gym. The only problem is you don't know how the previous owner treated the machine and if it has any problems. The last thing you want is for the machine to breakdown 6 weeks after buying it and finding out that it's not covered by warranty.

Sometimes the actual machine may seem like a bargain but future unforeseen expenses may make you regret your purchase. If at all possible get to test drive the machine and ask about the warranty.

4. Buy direct from the factory

Some online stores offer factory direct fitness equipment. By doing this you cut out the middle man and save big time. Remember just because it is cheap doesn't mean its poor quality. With so much competition online these days online suppliers are cutting costs to get market share. That means more money in your pocket!!

5. Added bonuses from reputable online suppliers

Some online suppliers will include free shipping with their products. This can greatly reduce the cost of piece of equipment if you add delivery to it.

Also make sure you check out the machines warranty. You can save yourself a lot of heart ache down the road if you make sure you're covered by a decent warranty which included motor, parts and labor.

Look for at least 6 months for parts and labor and 1 year for the motor for remanufactured equipment and 1-2 years parts, labor and motor for new equipment.

Now that you are armed with this information go and have a look around yourself you'll be surprised at what you find!

Dean Iggo is a keen fitness enthusiast and home gym user. He is also the webmaster of http://www.home-gym-buyers-guide.coma website providing unbiased home exercise equipment tips and reviews.