Body Building & Toning Sessions For Beginners
by Colin Johnson
So you're a skinny guy. Or maybe you're a novice body-builder. What you want is to tone up, gain muscle and see the rewards for your hard work in as short a time as possible. Look no further than the tips here in this article. This is a manageable, specifically designed outline for beginner body building which will place you in good stead to achieve your goals. The steps are simple, sensible and effective. Whether your sport is low impact (such as golf) or high impact (such as football), I encourage you to adopt this routine and enjoy the success which will soon come your way.
Warming up is an extremely important step before you commence any concentrated body-building. Effective warm up activities such as star jumps, using the bike or treadmill and jogging on the spot really get the blood pumping and increase the rate of your heartbeat. Try to avoid days of no physical activity. Your body-building warm-ups are great stand-alone activities on your off days. A quarter of an hour before you start anything, drink water or a sports drink, and keep drinking all the time you're active. Remember that sweating results in loss of fluid, and for each 1% of body weight you lose due to sweating, your performance will be lessened by 5%. So it's imperative that you keep drinking if you want to maintain your stamina and enhance your performance.
Let's face it, there are very few of us who have spare hours every single day for body-building. In reality you will probably get to go through this routine 2 to 3 times a week, and that is the minimum requirement. The weight loadings you use will be dependent on whether you are male or female, your size, strength and present level of fitness. You will certainly see a marked increase in your particular strength level after a month or even sooner. This will motivate you tremendously. But when you first start, only use light weights and concentrate on mastering correct techniques.
Starting with the larger muscle groups has always been a common format and one that I would advise. Remember the order; warm up, stretch, chest exercises, shoulders, legs, biceps and triceps. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps for every activity mentioned with a weight that allows you to complete the 10 reps without total exhaustion. Also stretching the specific muscle group you are working on between sets will increase growth as you address the tissue that has been under load. Give yourself about 1 minute rest in between sets. Keep this timing consistent, as well as your routine for the first few weeks so you can better judge your growth and development. I suggest having a training partner to encourage and spot for you for safety reasons. Spotting is mostly used in bench presses and involves someone helping you get the bar back onto the supports (rather than it landing across you neck!) if you find yourself struggling.
In terms of required equipment, there isn't as much as you probably imagine. In a nutshell you should secure something which serves as a warm up, an exercise ball (these are readily available), a weight bench, barbell and weight discs of various weights which can be interchanged easily. If you can afford it, these are all usually available from large retail stores. If you'd rather bag a bargain, you can investigate local garage sales on the weekend, look in the second hand for sale column of your local newspaper or take a look at what ebay and other online auctions have to offer. Garage sales often have large pieces of equipment like exercise bikes and treadmills, but think twice before purchasing these. You will need to have enough room to store them.
To work your chest muscles, you'll basically need to do flys and seated flys after your three sets of bench presses. Flys involve putting small dumbells in both hands, lying on your bench and raising the dumbells above your chest and back to your side in a big arc motion. Seated flys work best on an exercise ball, but if you use a ball make sure you keep your back very straight. Lean forward towards the floor in front of you and lift the dumbells in both hands to the side of the bench, feeling your chest muscles work as you do so. In all these exercises your elbows should be a bit bent, movements should be fluid rather than jerky and your grip should be firm but not too firm.
When working on shoulders, be conscious of very slow, steady movements. As is usually advised, you should do three sets of ten reps for maximum benefit. First, straddle your bench and choose a long barbell, lift it toward your chin, pause, then lift it as far up as you can, stretching your arms, then slowly lower and go again. Next, repeat this idea only this time behind your neck. Then, one handed lifts. These involve starting at your shoulders, lifting the dumbells past your ear and as far up as possible. Next, lift both together. And to finish focussing on your shoulders, start with the dumbells at your side and lift them outwards in a flapping action to just above shoulder height, ensuring your elbows are slightly bent.
Leg exercises benefit from use of a stationary bike. If you have one you're laughing. I suggest starting with one minute of steady, constant pedalling. Ease yourself into a sprint for 10-15 seconds and then revert to a slow pace for the same amount of time, and do this for a few minutes in all. Only then would I commence leg raises, and three sets is enough. If you have a leg raise bar on your weight bench then put various weights on it and do your three sets with one in an upward position and one down. (This has great benefit for your hamys and quads). To finish with, do some squats, firstly without weights and after a few weeks with a weight disc across your chest. Soon you'll be able to put a bar bell across your shoulders and gradually increase its weight. Be careful that you do not fall into the common trap of overloading the bar as this will put lots of unnecessary pressure on your knees. Glucosamine and chondroitin in combination is the answer if you find your knees painful. The research shows that taking this supplement has proven benefits for any joint pain. My father and father-in-law are the living proof!
When working the biceps you can start by standing and using a longer barbell, resting it on your thighs with your palms facing forward. Keeping the upper arm by your side, curl the bar up to your chest whilst moving your lower arm in an ascending arc motion, then lower it to your thighs. The same idea works well with single hand dumbells. Try lifting both together then. Beware of the tendency to swing down to lift, which feels easier but does not yield the same benefit. Finally, hold the dumbells to the side with palms this time facing in toward your leg with your dumbell facing straight ahead and lift, using the action outlined already.
To work your triceps start with sitting on the floor and placing your hands behind you, just a bit wider than the width of your shoulders, with your fingers pointing in a forward direction. Now the tricky bit: lift your whole bottom clean off the floor and bend you legs but keep your feet flat. You should now be able to lower and raise your whole body using your impressively bended and straightened arms. Then, on your exercise ball, sit in a leaning forward position with dumbells in both hands. You will now move your upper arm behind you and parallel to the floor, and using your lower arm lift the dumbell like a clock pendulum behind you and then lower it again. Try lifting at the same time. You can spice this one up with a bit of variety by leaning over the bench from a standing position and putting one of your knees on the bench, then working one arm in turn using this same idea.
After exercise is absolutely crucial and the key that many neglect. What you do after a workout can significantly enhance what you have just done or if you do nothing, can lessen the effectiveness. Regardless of the intensity of the session, your muscles cells will suffer some damage, as this is one aspect that causes growth and toning. Repair, recovery and growth can be sped up remarkably by taking a protein shake within 30-40 minutes after the session. Low fat and low carb shakes are fantastic if you don't want to build muscle mass but are simply looking for better tone, shape and reducing fat. L Carnitine will assist fat reduction as well. If bulking up is what you want, then a protein shake that is higher in carbs, such as an xtreme mass gainer will do a super job. Adding creatine to the mix will lift the effect even more. Don't waste your workout. The right supplement is vital.
Colin Johnson has been an elite sports coach majoring on technical side of sport. He highly endorses
whey protein shakes for muscular recovery and development for the performance conscious. He suggests
xtreme mass for muscular bulk. You can get a
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