Disclaimer
The information in this book reflects the author’s experiences and opinions. It is not intended to replace medical advice.
Before beginning this or any other nutritional or exercise regimen, consult with your physician for approval.
As with any fitness endeavor, one size does not fit all. Your physician should customize and approve your routine.
This book is not intended for the treatment or prevention of any disease, as a substitute for medical treatment or as an alternative to medical advice. Programs outlined herein should not be adopted without consulting your primary care physician. Use of the programs herein is at the sole risk of the reader.
© 2012 Berend Breitenstein
Layout, printing and publication: Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany
ISBN: 978-3-8448-6967-5
By Rich Fitter
DFAC Co-Founder
When Berend asked me to contribute to his latest endeavor, I was both honored and humbled. As someone who has reached thousands of people with his message of building a stronger, healthier body using only natural methods, Berend is a true bodybuilding role model.
As one of natural bodybuilding’s founding fathers in Europe, Berend has experienced more than most as a bodybuilding champion, author, mentor and President of the German Natural Bodybuilding Federation (GNBF). I cannot think of anyone more qualified to offer advice on the subject of developing a spectacular physique without the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Natural bodybuilding is more than a hobby or a sport. It is a lifestyle that one must be committed to in order to be truly successful. While many men and women exercise daily in a quest to improve their appearance, it is only when one follows a plan like the one Berend offers in this book, will they see the results they desire. The regimens he suggests are the products of both scientific research and personal experiences. If ever there was an example of practicing what you preach, this is it.
In this confusing era of so-called Internet experts, Berend’s intelligent approach to training and diet offers an effective plan that both men and women will benefit from, without compromising their health. Rather than simply dictating a program of exercises and foods, Berend thoroughly explains the how’s and why’s of these topics. After reading this training manual, even the most inexperienced of readers will feel comfortable beginning their journey down the path toward a leaner, more muscular physique.
The passion Berend feels for the subject of natural bodybuilding is evident. I have seen it personally when we have discussed this subject and these sentiments were echoed as I read his manuscript. Natural bodybuilding needs role models like Berend Breitenstein. He has unselfishly given his time and effort to champion this lifestyle and changed many lives for the better. I am very proud of all that he has accomplished and very fortunate to call him my friend.
www.drugfreeathletescoalition.com
CONTENTS
Foreword by Rich Fitter, DFAC Co-Founder
CHAPTER 1
Berend Breitenstein – Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder
CHAPTER 2
Bodybuilding – More than just lifting weights
CHAPTER 3
Bodybuilding Success Factors
MIND – Goal setting, motivation and attitude
GENETICS – Make the most out of your body type
CHAPTER 4
TRAINING – Building massive and powerful muscles!
• Your warm up – The key to injury prevention and optimum performance
• Free weights or machines?
• Heavy weights for a colossal physique
• Best training methods for massive muscles
• Cool down – The first step of the regeneration process
CHAPTER 5
Goodbye body fat! Time to get ripped!
• Specific muscle type training for ripped, thick muscles
• Best training methods for ripped muscles
• Aerobic exercise for fat burning
CHAPTER 6
Exercises
• The best weight training exercises for each muscle group
• Free weight exercises
• Machine Exercises
• The best stretching exercises for each muscle group
CHAPTER 7
Workout routines
• Mass Building Period
• Definition Period
CHAPTER 8
Nutrition
Basics
• A guide to buying the finest bodybuilding foods
• Storing Bodybuilding Foods
• Optimum Preparation of Bodybuilding Foods
CHAPTER 9
Nutrition for massive muscles
• Optimum pre-workout nutrition
• Optimum post-workout nutrition
• Preference list of foods for massive muscles
CHAPTER 10
Recipes for massive and powerful muscles
• Breakfast
• Snacks
• Lunch/Dinner
CHAPTER 11
Best supplements for massive muscles
CHAPTER 12
Daily eating schedules in relation to daytime training
• Training: Early morning
• Training: Midday
• Training: Afternoon
• Training: Evening
CHAPTER 13
Nutrition for ripped and defined muscles
• The meaning of carbohydrates for getting ripped
• What about protein, fat and water?
• Preferred foods for defined muscles
CHAPTER 14
Recipes for lean, ripped muscles
• Breakfast
• Snacks
• Lunch/Dinner
CHAPTER 15
Best supplements for ripped muscles
Daily eating schedules in regard of daytime of training
• Training: early morning
• Training: Morning
• Training: Midday
• Training: Afternoon
• Training: Evening
CHAPTER 16
Recuperation
• Supercompensation – muscles grow after training
• Overtraining – a bodybuilders nightmare
• Rest to grow!
CHAPTER 17
Drug Issues
• 30 good reasons to be drug-free
CHAPTER 18
Optimum hormonal balance without drug use
CHAPTER 19
Competition
• The week before a contest or photo shoot
• How to look your personal best on the day of contest or photo shoot
EPILOGUE
25 Recommendations for Successful, Natural and Healthy Bodybuilding
APPENDIX
• Photos of weight lifting exercises
• Photos of Stretching-Exercises
The first time I worked out with weights was when I was 13 years old. Now, more than 30 years later, I get the same exciting feeling every time I touch the iron. For me, there are few things in life that feel as good as fully pumped muscles. But let’s start from the beginning … As a child, I was inspired by comic book heroes like “Batman” and “Spiderman.” I admired their muscular bodies and often asked myself what their secret was to getting into such phenomenal shape! One time, as I flipped through the pages of an issue of “Batman,” I found the answer to this question. There was a picture that showed my hero working out with weights! That was all I needed to know. My father accompanied me to a gym and at the tender age of 13, I found myself lost between hard working, sweating and groaning athletes almost every day. More than that – I soon became a part of the bodybuildering community. My dedication to develop my physique didn’t go unnoticed by the gym owner and the members I worked out with. By the time I was 15, I had progressed in building muscles to such a degree that the gym owner asked me to compete in the Junior’s Division of the Mr. Hamburg Contest. I happily agreed. In 1979, I took the stage for the first time and competed as a bodybuilder. This was a great experience. I reached fifth place out of a field of six young athletes and was very proud of my first appearance as a competitive athlete.
In the years that followed, I competed two more times as a junior athlete, reaching second place in 1981. It was during this time that I noticed some a difference between my physique and the bodies of my fellow competitors. Although I was easily comparable to them in terms of muscle definition, the guys I competed against had more muscles and were bigger than me. This was the point in my life that I was offered anabolic steroids. I can remember the words of one athlete who won the Mr. Hamburg Championships a few times, and later went on to win the German Championship: “If you don’t take steroids, you will never win a show!” But that was never an option for me.
Right from the start, I was sure that I wanted to stay away from drugs.
I am very thankful that I always looked at bodybuilding as a lifestyle which is meant to improve health and well being and not to be of danger to the organism by taking potentially harmful drugs. Consequently, I continued to train clean and kept an eye on good nutrition for building my physique.
At the age of 20, I did an apprenticeship followed by studies on nutrition. I conducted these studies while I was between the ages of 23 to 28. During this time period, I concentrated on my education. Although I kept on working out in the gym, my aspirations to compete at a bodybuilding show had declined because of associated drug issue. To be honest, after finishing my studies I was in bad physical shape, but my athlete heart was still pumping strong. Deep within my inner being I knew I still yearned to be a bodybuilder. I trained regularly with weights and my body strength was good. However, my physique wasn’t. As I now know today, the problem I had was a nutritional one. I asked myself what I could do to get back in shape. The answer was found in working hard with weights, increasing cardio activity and changing my eating habits. At the university, the students were told that athletes needed to consume high amounts of carbohydrates to be able to train at full power and maximum effort. So, I initially followed this advice, but the results I was getting from this type of eating schedule didn’t do my physical appearance any good at all. Over the preceding years, I had read through a huge number of bodybuilding magazines, gathering all kinds of information.
I remembered reading an article about low carb dieting, where it was written that most bodybuilders approached this type of diet to get into competition shape. This is when I decided to give the low carb diet a try. Bingo! As soon as I cut down my carb intake to a maximum of 100 grams per day, making sure I consumed them during the first half of the day and staying away from simple sugars, my level of bodyfat suddenly started to decrease.
Combined with intense workout sessions in the gym and regular cardio activity, I noticed a complete transformation in my physique within four months. I, of course, stayed away from taking drugs like anabolic steroids or other hormones. My approach to Bodybuilding hasn’t changed. I wanted to know how far I could go in building muscles and reducing bodyfat by working out as hard as I could while following a strict diet – without drug use! The results were amazing. Fortunately, I made “before” and “after” pictures that documented my physical appearance from puffy and soft to hard and defined. I sent those pictures to a German bodybuilding magazine and they were published shortly after, together with a story all about me.
I naturally showed more muscles in comparison to when I was a kid, but that was not the point. The important thing is that I finally discovered the training and nutritional strategy that worked best for my body. This allowed me to spread my knowledge further to other people who wanted to improve their physiques just as I did. Around this time, I finished my degree in nutritional science and was working as a coach and nutritionist in a gym. I was now focused on writing a book about my body’s phenomenal change since I switched my eating habits and increased my training efforts. I contacted one of the biggest German publishers from a bodybuilding magazine, and presented the printed story about myself. After we spoke, he read my article and saw potential for a book about natural bodybuilding and we agreed to work together. In 1996, my first book was published. It sold nearly 50,000 copies in Germany and was also published in many different European countries. As a consequence of this tome’s phenomenal success, I wrote nine additional books for the same German publishing company. Total book sales increased to 150,000 copies to date.
In 1997, I booked a booth at the FIBO (Fitness and Bodybuilding) exhibition in the Essen, Germany. With 10,000 sold copies of my first book at that time, I decided to present my published work to the German and European audience. This was one of the best decisions of my life! I was not only active in promoting my book, but I also made excellent contacts that had a great influence on my future.
I met Francois Gay, WNBF Pro and President of the SNBF (Swiss Natural Bodybuilding Federation). He came to my booth, introduced himself and asked me if I had thought about competing in natural bodybuilding contests. As you might imagine, at that point in my life, I never even knew that natural bodybuilding competitions actually existed. Naturally, I was very excited at the opportunity of taking part in such an event. Francois promised to send my photos to Steve Downs, former Chairman of the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) and he kept his word. Two weeks after the FIBO (1997), I received my WNBF Pro card and was invited to compete at WNBF Pro shows. This gave me tremendous motivation to reach my all time best physical shape for competing in my first WNBF contest. In my debut as a WNBF Pro, I decided to compete at the Mr. International 1998 in New York. So I flew to the United States on route to the Big Apple. Once I hit the venue, I was quite shocked to see competitors pumping up backstage. However, I was in great shape and Steve encouraged me to keep going and compete again.
And I did just that! In 2000, I competed in the WNBF Pro World Championships in Atlantic City, New Jersey in much better conditioning than I had been two years earlier. After a four-year absence from the stage, I returned in 2004 to battle it out again at the WNBF Pro Mr. Universe in Bridgetown, Barbados. At this contest, I reached my all-time best shape ever and was very satisfied with the package I presented onstage. Four years later, I managed to surpass my all-time best shape at the WNBF Pro Masters Cup in Iowa. I was 44 years old at the time, almost 30 years after my first contest in 1979 (the Mr. Hamburg Junior) where I had stood on stage flexing and hitting pose after pose against some of the World`s finest Pro Masters natural bodybuilders. And there I was, finishing fifth place and leaving the judges with a very strong impression about exactly who I was. I had finally entered the inner realm of world class professional natural bodybuilders.
Let’s take a trip back in time to 2003. This was the year I founded the GNBF (German Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation). I became the official German affiliate to the WNBF. In 2012 the GNBF left the WNBF and is now affiliated to the DFAC (Drug Free Athletes Coalition). In 2004, the GNBF organized its first German Natural Bodybuilding Championships with 36 athletes competing in the show. The federation went on to promote its German Natural Bodybuilding Competition on an annual basis. The GNBF follows the same drug testing procedure as the DFAC. Each athlete is tested using a polygraph to ensure that no banned substances have been used for the last seven years. Additionally, we also perform a urinalysis test for the class winners. German athletes have successfully competed in the INBF (International Bodybuilding Federation) – the amateur affiliate of WNBF. We even had Frank Guenther and Frank Kaerger (in 2003 and 2007, respectively) winning the lightweight class at the World Championships. On top of that, Sabine Streubel took the overall Women’s title at the WNBF Pro World Championships in 2009!
My plan as president of the GNBF is to make the Natural Bodybuilding Movement in Germany even more popular. For more information about the GNBF, please visit www.gnbf.de. Working as Editor in Chief for the magazine Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness (NBB&F) that is dedicated to the drug-free athlete is another opportunity to popularize our fantastic sport in my native country.
In conclusion, I would like to add that natural bodybuilding is not only a great activity for me to pursue, but the way I love to live my life. Taking care of my health, being in great shape and keeping a positive attitude, even when times are tough, are the main lessons I became a natural bodybuilder. From my point of view, the natural bodybuilding lifestyle is the only way to live my life.
I hope you will profit from this book and gather the information you need to stay healthy, massive and lean while living each day as a dedicated natural athlete.
October 2012 Berend Breitenstein
Most people think of lifting heavy weights when they hear the word “bodybuilding.” Working out with iron definitely does build muscles, but there is a lot more involved in successful bodybuilding than just weightlifting. Bodybuilding is an excellent activity to enhance your physical and mental well being. It is also the best sport to help shape your body, due to the significant amount of muscle building and fat burning.
If you already consider yourself a bodybuilder, you understand what I am talking about. The original intention of bodybuilding is to stay physically healthy and build strong muscles. Therefore, a holistic approach to organize and optimize your bodybuilding routine includes weight training, aerobic exercises, stretching movements, recuperation, good nutrition habits and a positive attitude. Each factor is an integral part of achieving the best overall results in bodybuilding. The following chapters describe these specific success factors in great detail. So let’s begin taking a look at each one of them.
Lifting barbells and dumbbells, as well as pulling and pushing weights on various machines help to build superior muscles. The majority of people who are not involved in the bodybuilding world think that weight training is monotonous – even boring. They don’t understand that working with weights isn’t boring at all! Each workout is a challenge to the physical and mental fortitude of the athlete. The feeling you get during your workouts change almost every time you enter the weight room. Sometimes you feel very strong, where the weights seem to be lighter than usual, giving you a great blood flow in your muscles. On other days, it gets quite hard to stick to your training schedule. But as a dedicated bodybuilder, you will rarely miss a workout. Then there are those guys who just go through the motions. They are training with weights, but it looks like they don’t put their heart into what they are practicing. To fully enjoy that wonderful, tight feeling of fully pumped muscles, you must really concentrate on every repetition of every set and put all your mental concentration and physical power into your workout. Remember, it’s not just lifting the weights, but the way you lift them!
A healthy bodybuilding lifestyle always includes some form of aerobic exercise like running, bicycling, swimming etc. These activities work wonders for the most important muscle of your body – the heart. Cardiovascular training strengthens the heart, optimizes its power and keeps it healthy, but it also helps it deal with high intensity weightlifting sets. If your heart isn’t in excellent condition, you may not be able to finish a set due to cardiovascular problems as opposed to muscular failure. For this reason, I urge you to practice cardio early in the morning (prior to breakfast) or directly after your weightlifting session.
Doing cardio early in the morning on an empty stomach is a wonderful way to start the day. It helps burn bodyfat and keeps your body lean and tight. After you return from a good run or bike ride, take a shower and treat yourself to a nutritious breakfast. This will leave you feeling great, and ready to enjoy a successful day! You will also enjoy these benefits if you choose to do your cardio after your weight lifting workout. If you choose to perform aerobic exercises with light to moderate intensity, you will have a great tool to help speed up recuperation after intense weightlifting workouts.
After you consider all of these positive factors that aerobic exercise can do for your bodybuilding progress, it is highly recommended that you integrate some form of cardio training into your daily workout schedule.
Although aerobic exercises are an important component of every optimized bodybuilding routine, stretching movements also play an important role. However, flexibility training is often neglected by bodybuilders. Quite a few athletes feel that stretching is boring, or perhaps they are simply too lazy to integrate stretching movements into their workout schedule.
This is unfortunate because the regular stretching of each muscle group will result in greater success as a bodybuilder. The positive effects of stretching include an improved muscle to brain connection, reduction of muscle stiffness, prevention of injury and faster physical / mental recuperation after weight lifting workouts. These arguments are strong enough to make stretching movements a regular part of your bodybuilding schedule. When you are stretching a muscle, it is most beneficial to hold the stretched position for about 20 to 30 seconds – and breathe calmly. Concentrate on the feeling within the stretched muscles. As a description of exemplary stretching exercises see → to →. For detailed pictures of these exercises see → to →.
The following statement has been written in stone: Muscles never grow during your workout. They grow during the rest periods between workouts. Weight training produces growth stimulus within muscle fibers. During a workout, muscle tissue is broken down and the body uses nutrients to fuel the energy system. The thickening of muscle fibers (hypertrophy) and refilling of energy stores take place while resting and supplying the body with food and fluid. As a bodybuilder striving for optimum muscle building results, you are advised to get enough rest and eat the right food between your workouts in order to grow your individual bodybuilding potential.
Your eating habits are equally important to your success as a bodybuilder. If you eat right, you will be able to stay healthy and fulfill your goals as a bodybuilder. This means that you have to make sure you fulfill the needs of your body in regard to caloric intake, consumption of the right percentage of protein, carbohydrates and fat, as well as giving your body needed vitamins, minerals, secondary plant substances and water – depending on the athletes needs. Due to working demands or other factors, it can be hard to eat right throughout the day, but with good organizational skills and a strong dedication to your nutritional plan, you will manage to eat in a way that a bodybuilder should in order to achieve optimum results in muscle building and/or fat burning.
A positive attitude toward your bodybuilding lifestyle is crucial in order to enjoy all of the wonderful effects of working out, getting enough rest and eating right. If you are motivated to give it your best in training and be disciplined when it comes to your nutritional regimen, you will be on your way to successful muscle building.
Although going through grueling, painful weight lifting workouts or performing super high intensity cardio is not an easy task, the true bodybuilder enjoys the agony while pushing his or her body and mind to the limit. Your main objective is to achieve an excellent physique through a dedicated workout and disciplined eating regimen.
Keeping a positive attitude is not only limited to working out, eating right and getting enough rest, but it is also applied to your behavior in everyday life. Stay positive in your relationships with other people, especially with your family and friends. If social or working problems occur, don’t let them take over your life. Keep your faith.
Think about all you have learned through hard bodybuilding workouts: No pain – no gain!
This is not only true for building muscles, but also for the difficult life situations that require a change of habit. Maintain a positive attitude. Everything that happens in life gives you the opportunity to learn and improve your mental skills.
Bodybuilding is more than just lifting weights. It is the combination of weight training, aerobic exercise, stretching movements, good nutrition and a positive attitude that result in a healthy and attractive body, as well as a strong, relaxed mind.
Stick to this holistic training approach and experience the excitement of high vitality and a fantastic quality of life. You will never want to lose this great feeling again!
Bodybuilding Success Factors
In regard to success factors, the best results in muscle building and fat burning are found through proper training, eating and rest patterns. These aspects are essential in order to reach your personal bodybuilding goals.
However, there is one additional success factor that is frequently neglected: The mind or the mental characteristics shown by successful athletes. Most of our actions are a result of thinking. That means if you are able to program your thoughts to success, you already took the first and most important step toward building a great physique.
To succeed as a bodybuilder, it is highly important that you define a clear, realistic goal that you would like to accomplish. Before the journey of living a bodybuilder’s life begins, you have to decide where you want to go. In terms of defining your goal, it is crucial that you set a realistic goal. If your goal is either to low or to high, you will not have the needed motivation to bring it to fruition. A goal that could be achieved easily, often leads to neglectfulness in training and nutrition habits. Consequently it is likely that you don’t give your all in your workouts or stay disciplined with food choices. This behavior is surely counterproductive. On the other hand, a goal that sets a high expectation is likely to fail. Although you would like to achieve such a goal, you are subconsciously aware that you are incapable of actually doing it. Due to this lack of self-conviction in relation to reaching a certain goal, there is an extremely high chance that you will not give it your best. Therefore, it is of high importance that you set yourself a realistic goal. You must be certain that with hard work and dedication, it is possible to reach your goal. Be sure that this goal does not put an unusually high or low demand on your body.
Whatever your personal goal may be, you must be motivated to reach it in order to be successful. The source of your motivation to put on lean muscle tissue and/or getting ripped has to come from your inner being. This is known as “intrinsic motivation,” and it is much stronger in comparison to “extrinsic motivation,” which comes from the expectation of other people.
If you really want to achieve something that means a hell of a lot to you, you will give all of your power to make that goal a reality. Don’t pay too much attention to what other people tell you in terms of what is good for your body and what is not.
Once you have decided to become a bodybuilder, because you want to be a bodybuilder, you will put your full enthusiasm and discipline into each grueling workout and eating plan so that you can build the body of your dreams. In addition, you will be sure to get enough rest between workouts to give your muscles needed time for recuperation and growth. As a result of this constant behavior in training, nutrition and rest periods, you will make the best possible improvements as a bodybuilder. In addition to your source of motivation, attitude plays a major role in the degree of success you achieve in bodybuilding. Aspects like self-perception, training approaches, nutrition and extrinsic influences are all significant when it comes time to realize your full bodybuilding potential. What follows are twelve factors that I believe are necessary for a winning bodybuilding attitude:
You must be fully convinced in your ability to become a great bodybuilder. This is something that is found deep within your soul, and is an important factor to help you achieve impressive results in muscle- building and fat-burning. Keeping your faith in bodybuilding can be hard at times. In fact, extrinsic factors can ultimately disturb your dedication to living out your bodybuilding dreams.
Negative influences can sometimes come from people you are involved with in your private or working environment. Some people simply don’t understand what it means for you to live the bodybuilding lifestyle. This means training hard, eating clean and not going to bed early. Your friends or co-workers may even be jealous of your discipline. This is why you must mentally prepare yourself for the times when you will confronted by sentences like, “you will never be a champion without taking drugs,” or “why do you workout so hard, it is bad for your health.” Take it from me, I know these statements will come your way at one time or another. I have experienced them and you will, too. However, I never allowed such negative people influence my bodybuilding efforts. If I did, I would never have succeeded.
In reality, I sometimes used those negative comments to further increase my training intensity and diet discipline. This is an excellent way to turn negative thoughts into “motivational fuel” in order to prove the pessimists wrong. It is best to surround yourself with positive people who assist and support your bodybuilding ambitions. This may not always be possible, but don’t ever let your thoughts and feelings be negatively influenced by the comments or behaviors of other people. That statement is not intended to sound arrogant, but every person needs someone they can trust. Just be sure that this person tells you the truth about your behavior, physical shape or other aspects in life. The bottom line is you need to believe in yourself. Take yourself and your training seriously. Think positive. Do not let other people hinder your enthusiasm and dedication to the bodybuilding lifestyle!
Visualization is a great tool to enable positive self-programming, as well as strengthening your self beliefs. Visualization is the process of imagining your success as a bodybuilder. This means that you should have a concrete vision of how your body should look after a given time period of hard training and dedicated nutrition. If you expand your vision, in order to fully see the results you would like to achieve in muscle building and fat burning, the chances will be very real that those visions will soon become a reality. Being able to visualize the outcome of your efforts in the gym and at the kitchen table before it actually comes to fruition, is an important and powerful step to success.
Visualization can be practiced every moment of the day. I personally recommend visualizing your goals just before you fall asleep at night. This is a very effective time of day because your subconscious will be programmed to succeed once you fall asleep.
Another excellent time to practice visualization is about 10 to 20 minutes before you hit the weights. In fact, this strategy is part of warming up mentally before the workout starts (see →).
Successful bodybuilders have a few things in common. One of these things is called learning aptitude. This is an essential ability for every individual whose goal is to achieve optimum results in bodybuilding. In today’s society, there are many different opinions that exist in reference to which training method or nutritional strategy will lead to the best bodybuilding results. This is why it is so important that each bodybuilder individually determines what kind of workout and eating philosophy is most appropriate for his or her life.
My own experience has shown me that it is worthwhile to experiment with different approaches toward training and nutrition. When I first began my journey as a bodybuilder, my diet consisted of huge amounts of carbohydrates each day. After all, I was a young bodybuilder who needed lots of “muscle fuel” to train hard and intensive. This approach toward eating was common in those days. As a result of eating large amounts of bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and other foods rich in carbohydrates, I was able to build a solid foundation of strength and power. I began to excel in basic exercises like barbell squats, barbell bench presses, behind-the-neck presses, barbell curls, etc. Although my form was quite impressive, I didn’t keep an accurate journal of used weights or reps for those power and strength-building basic movements.
Despite all my efforts in the weight room, my body did not resemble a bodybuilder’s physique when I looked in the mirror. I definitely had a good amount of visible muscle mass, but my muscle definition and cuts were strangely missing. Although I trained very hard, my bodyfat level was far too high. Something went wrong. Although I did not have a personal trainer, all the information I received in relation to bodybuilding success factors came directly from muscle magazines and books dealing with different aspects about our wonderful sport.
As written in the first chapter of this book, I eventually discovered a magazine article that explained the benefits of low carbohydrate dieting in order to obtain a higher degree of muscle definition. After being dissatisfied with my current training and eating regimen, I decided to give this nutritional approach a try in order to obtain muscle definition. The results of these nutritional changes greatly exceeded my expectations.
As soon as I began to reduce the amount of carbohydrates I consumed daily, my bodyfat levels were significantly reduced. After a few weeks of low-carb dieting, I began to notice a degree of muscle definition that I never thought was possible.
Of course there is more to gaining muscular definition than just carb reduction. However, when I switched from a high carb to a low carb diet, my metabolism shot up causing me to effectively burn bodyfat. Maybe the same goes for you, as well? To find out, I recommend learning as much information as possible about the different aspects of successful bodybuilding. Try the information out on your own and see what happens in regards to muscle building and fat burning. All champion bodybuilders did it this way. Trial and error led to an optimized training, eating and resting strategy that assured maximum bodybuilding results and allowed them to build championship physiques. Although trying out various methods of training and nutrition is a very important step toward becoming the best bodybuilder you can be, it is only the first step. It is equally important to interpret the signals that your body and mind while training and eating. Listen to yourself.
Ask yourself the following questions:
These are only a few of the many fundamental questions that are important for you to contemplate in order to succeed as a bodybuilder. By listening to your body’s signals, you will master the instinctive training principle (see → to →). Once you have reached a seamless mind-body connection, you will fully understand what the best training, eating and resting regimen is for your body type. Only then will you be able to receive optimum results in muscle building and fat burning.
Once you determine your individual training, eating and resting requirements, these results must be practiced both in the gym and in the kitchen. This will help you achieve optimum results. To achieve your bodybuilding goals, you must be willing to pay the price of what is necessary to succeed. Proper commitment and the dedication to train as hard as possible under a strict diet is a crucial element in helping you achieve your best shape ever.
Discipline is the key that opens the door to outstanding results in bodybuilding. It is important to exercise efficiently and stay in tune with your diet, in order to achieve optimum progress in building muscle and burning fat. You must also get enough rest between workouts so that your muscles can repair themselves and growth can occur. When other people decide to stuff themselves with candy, ice cream or other junk food and stay awake all night long, discipline is what keeps you eating fresh fruit and helps you go to bed early. This is only one example of a disciplined behavior that a dedicated bodybuilder utilizes when striving for optimum physique progress.
Never miss a workout – except due to illness. Organize your daily activities in a way that there is enough time to work out and eat regularly. Discipline grows stronger the more it is practiced. Imagine throwing a stone into a lake with a smooth surface. First, a small circle is seen around the point where the stone glided into the water. Then, new and bigger circles start to appear.
It is the same with discipline. If you are able to keep your eye on all aspects of successful bodybuilding and try your best to integrate those aspects into your daily activities, you will be assured excellent results.
Although it is important to live a disciplined lifestyle to succeed as a bodybuilder, it is equally important not to overact to training and eating habits. You don’t have to eat chicken and rice all day or keep your social activities to a minimum.
Of course, you have to take your workouts seriously and watch the food you eat. However, bodybuilding is meant to improve the overall quality of your life, staying healthy and feeling well physically and mentally. You will get the most out of your training regimen with a somewhat relaxed, albeit attentive attitude.
Did you ever go through a contest preparation period or prepare for a photo shoot? If so, you strived to be in your top shape for both occasions. If you have already experienced a few brutal months of training intensely and strict dieting, you know what pain and abandonment feel like. Training to be in peak shape will bring you in touch with your inner self. It will also test your pain tolerance. In combination with a disciplined diet, those final weeks before your big day (contest day or photo shoot) will put a lot of pressure on your body and mind. You have to be completely focused and totally committed to presenting your audience and/or photographer with an optimum outcome of the efforts you have gone through during the preceding weeks and months. Winners strive to attain their goals with all their power, stay focused and show stamina in order to make their dreams come true.
Striving for peak bodybuilding performance requires a certain degree of readiness. It is crucial to exceed existing levels of strength and intensity when training your physique. Outstanding results in muscle building and fat burning never come easy. Champions are willing to go beyond their limits. They are constantly trying to set new personal records in relation to weight room training (i. e., weights used or reps performed).
Although it is important to reach new, higher intensity levels during workouts, a kamikaze attitude has to be avoided. In a quest for excelling as a bodybuilder, you have to take care of staying healthy, strong and injury-free. Always be aware of “safety-factors” in bodybuilding like warming up, eating good food and getting enough rest. Handle your body and mind with care. If you avoid physical injury and mental burnout, you will be better prepared to handle your daily workout.
As soon as you step into the gym, all that counts is your upcoming workout. Be sure to tune out all disturbing factors that could enter your mind and hinder your focus. If your business or employer is putting pressure on you, try to not to think about it when you are focusing on your routine. Do not make any compromises concerning this. Try your best to increase your rep range with a certain weight or do the same number of reps with a heavier weight load. Concentration and persistence work hand-in-hand to achieve this. Disturbing thoughts have no place in your quest for peak performance. Concentrate on how your muscles feel during your exercise. Focus on how they extend and contract while performing rep after rep with perfect technique. Enjoy this great feeling that your body is giving you. Keep the flow while attacking the weights. It can be sometimes difficult to fully concentrate on working out due to outside factors, especially when the gym is very crowded. The actions that are going on around you can result in distracting your concentration. However, with some practice this will no longer be a problem. If you learn to optimize your concentration during training, almost nothing will let your attention slip away from your workout. Once you have experienced a workout done with full concentration, you will know the difference between a totally focused exercise session, compared to a less dedicated workout.
Achieving your best results in bodybuilding takes time. You must organize your daily workouts, eating plan (five to six meals daily) and sleeping regimen into your day’s daily activities. In addition, if there are high demands regarding your job and social responsibilities, you need excellent organizational skills in order to put everything together under one hat.