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Remember Your Bodybuilding Basics

by Winifred Holstone

Every bodybuilder has his or her own reasons for taking up the sport. Some dream of being the next world champion, while others just want to get in shape. No matter why you get in to bodybuilding, you’ll find that it’s a fun and worthwhile sport that can pay off in serious results. Just remember to follow your bodybuilding basics.

Goal Setting

The first logical step to any undertaking is to set a goal. When you’re just starting out in bodybuilding, be sure to set a reasonable and attainable goal. Begin by finding your own answers to a few basic questions:

* Why do I want to be fit?

* Why do I want to take up bodybuilding?

* Am I improving myself to please me or to impress others?

Once you have found the answers to these questions, you’ll be in a better position to set your goals. You’re more likely to meet or exceed your goals if you are taking up the sport because it’s something that you really want to do, and not just something you’re doing to find approval from others. Bodybuilding programs can be extremely successful when the participants are involved as a means of self-improvement.

Track Your Progress

Track the details of your progress along the way. It’s a good idea to keep a bodybuilding logbook to record your progress. Note the levels you’ve accomplished, and how close you’re coming to meeting your goals. For example, you might make a journal entry that you’ve done ten reps today. Just one week from now, your logbook may show that you’re doing 15 reps.

You can review the pages in your book and get an adrenaline rush from seeing how quickly you’ve progressed. Make personal notes and comments about how your progress makes you feel. This is a simple method of record keeping that can be one of the most important of all bodybuilding basics, and makes a great deal of difference in the overall success of your program.

Be Committed

Make an honest and true commitment to yourself. Promise that you will work hard. It might be necessary to change your habits to ensure success. It can take a long time and a great deal of hard work to achieve a chiseled frame, so get ready to stick with your program. Building muscle and losing fat is an overall reshaping of your body, and this entails your ability to make wise diet and supplement choices. Your best bodybuilding regime will be an ongoing program, so don’t make a promise that you’re not prepared to keep.

Work Hard

It’s taken a long time for your body to reach it’s current relaxed and out-of-shape state, so you can expect that it will take a long time to undue that damage. Are you up for the challenge? Becoming fit through bodybuilding involves regular visits to the gym and strenuous exercise routines. You’ll be tearing muscles now and again, and you will learn that “no pain, no gain” is more than just a slogan. Don’t be afraid of the hard work, because it will pay off.

Feed Your Body Well

When your body is working extra hard, it will need good fuel. This is not the time to start a crash diet. Eat the right things, and make sure you’re getting enough. You need at least three meals a day, but you might find that smaller, more frequent meals are better. Increasing your protein intake will provide better muscle growth and development. Try to minimize the amounts of salt, sugars, fat and alcohol in your diet. Be sure to drink plenty of water to optimize your muscle volume.

Sleep is also essential for a healthy body, particularly when you are working so strenuously. Bodybuilding regimes push your muscles to the limit, and without proper rest between sessions all of that hard work will be in vain. Get the sleep that you — and your body — need.

Exercise has very little to do with the most important bodybuilding basics. Your real success will come from setting realistic goals and working hard to achieve them. If a sculpted body will make you happy, go ahead and get started. If you strive for success, you’ll surely attain it.

Author Winifred Holstone is an essayist for several popular Internet sites, on individual sports and bodybuilding basics issues.

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