Bodybuilding for beginners

You're so used to getting into the gym and heading straight for the cardio machines that the thought of weights is pretty damn daunting. We fear what is new to us. It's just like starting anything else, you've got to overcome that fear to get anywhere with it. 

When I say stepping into the weight area I don't mean that little area with a few free weights and mats and curling some 3kg dumbells. Getting back to your plyos then wondering why you're not gaining any muscle. I mean actually lifting some weights that you can FEEL working your muscles. 

There seems to be more and more girls populating the weights area..but still not enough. 

Why should you feel as though you don't belong in the weights area? You pay for a gym membership and you are therefore entitled to use all the equipment. Why not maximize your full potential? 

WHY LIFT 

There are plenty of reasons to lift! not only is it amazing to improve and get stronger but it's also the only way to achieve that sculpted look. Hours of cardio will not leave you looking toned, lifting light weights and doing lots of HIIT won't leave you looking toned either. You need to hit the weights to get those muscles growing, so you can sculpt your own shape. lifting weights will not make you bulky, I have never felt more womanly. I naturally have a very streamline 'athletic' shape, small bum, straight up and down pretty much. When I first started I simply thought that my genetics would never allow me to get where I wanted to be, but it's really all in your mindset. 

GETTING OUT OF THE CARDIO RUT

I remember when I first started lifting weights, I was begining to lift a little more, get serious with my routines, But I saw no results because I was still doing too much cardio. It can be hard to break the habit, when I left the machines I felt guilty and soon went back to them. I mean high intensity workouts now, I used to do at least 20 minutes of HIIT a day, no wonder my body didn't change! At the end of the day, it is very hard to train like a marathon runner and do weights and expect results from it. Which stimulus will your body respond to? It will want to be repairing those muscles but it simply can't when you're constantly putting it under that much stress. 

If, like I was, you're struggling to give it up just think to yourself that something's gotta change if you want to actually make a difference. Don't get stuck in this too much cardio phase when you know yourself it's not helping, the sooner you can snap out of it the better. If you're currently doing crazy amounts and you're worried that compltely giving it up may affect you in a bad way..then ease off it. Slowly do a little less each day. Say you're currently doing an hour a day then do a 40 minute weights session and a 15 minute low intensity session post weights, then lower it more as time goes on until you're only doing a little cardio here and there are your training is mainly based around weights. 

ROUTINES AND SPLITS 

There are various ways to approach this. Some like to do full body workouts. Others like to split the muscle groups. I find it easier to split the muscle groups and really focus on each one, as do many others. 

You can split the muscle groups in a variety of ways, pull and push days for instance. Pretty self explanatory - on pull days..we pull. On push days ..we push. And wear pink. 

You could also just separate the muscle groups eg - back and biceps, chest and triceps, legs x2, one leg day could focus on hammies and glutes, the other quads and calves. Ensure your split allows adequate rest for the muscle groups. for instance..legs Monday then again on Wednesday doesn't allow sufficient time for your muscles to repair and grow.

I also include cardio into my routines. A short session post weights workout (never before) simply because I focus all my energy into my weight training. Cardio is a tool to minimize fat gains whilst I'm trying to gain muscle. You could do this, or you could try some form of HIIT training 1-2x a week. I find HIIT interferes with my muscle gains and avoid it, others may be able to use it in their routines. However, I would say if you're starting off how I did (very underweight) you do not need to worry about cardio. Put all your effort into your weight training, the intensity of your weight training alone will be enough. 

You will also require rest days, these are just as important. Rest is when your muscles are actually doing the growing, not at the gym when you're taring them down. The amount of rest an individual requires will vary from person to person, However, if you're a beginner it makes sense to take more rest days. Why? your body is simply not used to having to repair those sore muscles so fast, you may need a little more recovery time. Trained individuals seem to recover quicker. My recommendation would be to train 3-5x a week. Sometimes, less is more. 

EXERCISES

So you may not know where to start in terms of exercises to target these specific muscle groups. What I'd say is stick to the basics. Don't over complicate things, the well known exercises are well known for a reason. Here are a few of my favorite exercises to target the muscle groups listed. A very useful site to go on is bodybuilding.com as it shows you how to perform them correctly. 

Glutes - Squats - Barbell, Smiths machine, Bulgarian split squats. Deadlifts - using dumbells and barbell. Kickbacks - donkey kicks unweighted/using smiths machine, cable kickbacks. Lunges - walking and static. Leg press - higher on the platform to target glutes. Reverse hip abductor machine. Fire hydrants.

Quads - Barbell squats, Goblet squats, Leg extensions, Front squats, Leg press (feet wider apart to target the outer sweep) 

Hamstrings - Deadlifts, Dumbell deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, Hamstring curls, Squats.

Calves - Calf raises on smiths machine/leg press/using dumbells. 

Back - Lateral pull downs, Wide grip pull ups, Dumbell rows, Barbell bent over rows. 

Shoulders - Shoulder press, Lateral raises -seated/unseated, Rear delt flies, Rear delt raises- seated/unseated, Arnold press, Single arm linear jammer, Front raises.  

Chest - Barbell/Dumbell bench press, Dumbell flies, Press ups, Incline/Decline press. 

Triceps - Overhead cable tricep extensions, skull crushers, Tricep dips/pulldowns. 

Biceps - Curls - barbell and dumbell, Narrow grip pull downs, Pull ups. 

CARDIO EXERCISES 

Low intensity cardio or LISS - Using the bike at a slow pace, raising heart rate slightly. You could do this post session for 15 minutes or have an allocated day to do it say for 30minutes. 

                                               - Incline walking, again..low intensity but raising the heart rate slightly.

                  

HIIT - if you're trying to gain muscle make this short but effective, I'd only really do HIIT for 15mins max. 

                                              - 20s sprint, 40s rest repeat 20x

                                              - Create your own circuit.

HOW HEAVY

There is no real answer to this, but you should be really feeling the effects of those weights. When we train, our body will only adapt when it feels it needs to. So say you're curling those tiny dumbells the bodies like..yea yea whatever I can handle this, who needs muscle growth anyway. When you're curling as much as you can for say 15 reps 4x and by the 15th rep you're getting pretty hot and sweaty, you're almost unable to contract that muscle and your head is telling you 'NO MORE PLEASE' that's when your body is like 'shit son, we better change for next time because we gotta be able to get this done easier' That, my friends..is why muscle grows..your body talks to itself and grows. 

I will give you an idea of where I started though, I used to curl 6kg dumbells. I now curl 12.5kg fairly easily (although by the last set I am dying) 

Now, you will hear you gotta lift heavy a lot. When I first started out I thought, this must mean like ridiculous weights..but no, it means..heavy for YOU. If you can feel it working, you're tired..if you're aching..it's working. So what the girl over there is squatting 80kg? She can, because her muscles have grown and adapted..she started somewhere too. Lifting heavy does not mean injuring yourself, it means challenging yourself. 

REPS AND SETS 

(OLD ME) *goes to weights machine* *sets at lowest weight* *does 34 reps* *leaves*

Reps and sets are useful, they give structure to your workout, they allow you to challenge yourself, give you a starting point. For instance, by the 10th rep you may be dying, but say in 3 weeks time you're doing that 10th rep and you're like EASSSAAAAAY. So you up your weights. 

Do I go heavy for less reps or light(er) for more reps? 

I say mix it up, your body is made up of muscle fibers, some more stimulated by the heavier weights, some more stimulated by greater volume. So, it seems logical to stimulate both. You could try supersets (one exercise directly after the other, so say 10 reps of press ups, 10 reps of chest press..repeated 4x) for a high volume exercise. Then your next exercise could be heavier for less reps. For lean muscle growth, stay between the 8-15 rep mark. Some exercises you could do more, like bicep curls I do 21 reps (it's killer) 

Resting between sets, allow yourself some time for recovery between sets. It doesn't have to be long, especially if you're not going CRAZY heavy and putting too much strain on your central nervous system. Generally, females need less time to recover between sets (because we're superhuman, and have more estrogen) so allow yourself about a minute between sets in general. This could change say if you're lifting crazy heavy or you're supersetting but I stick to this as a general rule. 

TIME

You don't need to spend ridiculous amounts of time at the gym, my workouts are done within an hour. You may read about some people hitting the gym twice a day or spending hours in the gym. This works for people who are either on steroids, eating stupid amounts of calories or are athletes. I don't mean say going to the gym to do some light stuff in the morning like LISS and stretches, then gym at night doing a weights session in the night (this is okay, if you're cutting for instance) I mean in terms of hitting those muscles hard twice a day. You need time to recover, get your workout in, stimulate those muscles to grow by putting strain on them, train to failure or very close to it and get outta there. 

In terms of when should you go..any time. Seriously, whenever suits you best. I love morning workouts, some people love evening workouts, all preference. 

BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR SESSION

Make sure you warm up before you start your training, get that blood pumping to the muscle by maybe doing a little body weight movements or a cardio machine for say 5 minutes. 

Post workout stretch those muscles to prevent injuries, foam rolling is also an important addition to your routine. Doing these two things post workout could mean a speed up in recovery as well as a way of ensuring you don't injure yourself. 

SUPPLEMENTS 

There are so many things out there that claim to have crazy muscle building effects. Truth is, there are things that will give you the extra edge but the important things should be your training and nutrition, as well as the rest you give your body and the amount of sleep you get. There are a few things that I would recommend however. Whey protein is just such a simple way of getting in that extra protein, I definitely suggest it if you're looking to get that lean and toned look. BCAAS are also useful, they are the building blocks of muscle synthesis. 

DIET

This is very very important as you may know. It's very easy to get lost among how much we're meant to be consuming etc. I've said it before and I'll say it again, everyone is different. There are some girls who can literally consume 300g of carbs a day and stay lean, these women are obviously magical women, and I envy them. Some people will have to eat half of that to stay lean whilst increasing their fats/proteins. However, there is one common factor here. Although carbs AND fats are essential in muscle growth and just to maintain the body. Protein is a very very important one, protein at the end of the day is the building blocks of muscle. You need to be eating protein to gain muscle it's as simple as that. I used to find it hard to fit my protein in, and would sometimes end up going waaay below. I have found that eating frequent but smaller meals to help me with this. As well as high protein snacks like total 0% and whey. Try and avoid low calorie snacks, as in..foods that are 'healthy' and low calorie (but full of chemicals) that barely fill you up, or provide you with anything you need. Not in the way I'm saying, don't enjoy the stuff you like, but when you head to get a snack don't think to yourself..what is the lowest calorie thing possible I can give myself? Think..what is the best thing I can give myself to fuel my body and leave me satisfied. 

Pre and post workout nutrition is also important. Don't go to the gym feeling weak and don't leave the gym and neglect food. Post workout protein and carbs are a winning combo, they induce muscle synthesis and the quicker you can get them in the quicker that will get to work. 

Rest day food. I often get asked about this, you don't NEED to lower calories on rest day. I mean, your muscles are repairing and you may need that food to help rebuild. However, if your carbs are very high on a training day, you could reduce them slightly on a rest day, simply because you just won't need as much fuel that day. You could adjust your macros by upping fats/protein and lowering carbs. 

MEAL FREQUENCY AND TIMING 

You don't need to worry so much about this. It's more a case of whatever fits your lifestyle. But I do think that starving yourself all day and cramming in ridiculous amounts of calories at a certain time isn't too optimal for muscle growth. Simply because the body responds well to frequent meals, every time you feed your body is ramps up that metabolic rate, it tells itself it has fuel, and starts building. Not everyone will have time to eat up to say..6 small meals a day, 3 seems to be the magic number these days, and that's fine. Just as long as you're getting those macros in. 

FINDING BALANCE 

Time off the gym is okay..no really, It's actually okay. Life can get in the way sometimes. Sometimes it's a case of, you've simply got too much on your plate at once and you can't make it. Other times, you'll simply want to go out with your friends instead. Fitness is a lifestyle, but when I say lifestyle I don't mean everything you do must revolve around being fit and healthy. No, I mean that fitness should be a part of your life, it may be a major part of your life but seriously, don't let it drive you crazy to the extent that you can't enjoy a slice of cake on your friends birthday or miss a workout because you're spending some quality time with your family instead. 

Yes, to do well in fitness, you must remain consistent and work hard. It means early mornings, late nights perhaps. But your own sanity, happiness and health should always be your main priority. For instance, you're going on holiday and you're worried about your diet and training whilst you're out there. Eat relatively healthy if you choose to do so, if you prefer it, do some form of exercise whilst you're there, but don't feel as though you're losing everything you've worked hard for if you treat yourself or take a few days off. It's perfectly fine, you're allowed to have time off, you definitely won't be helping yourself by stressing out over something that won't affect you in the long term anyway. 

GYM ETIQUETTE 

There are a few unspoken gym rules. I mean they are spoken about a lot through social media, usually people complaining about others doing something annoying at the gym or joking about it but not so much in the gym. First and foremost, re-rack those weights, when you're finished with those 50kg db's you just benched the hell out of (I joke) put them back for someone else to use, they won't be obstructing anyone and someone else will be able use them then. Pretty simple stuff here, put stuff back where you found it. If you're in a busy gym, try not to waste time on machines, don't just sit on a machine and wait there for a bit whilst you check your instagram, get shit done and move on to the next machine. This is optimal for your workout as well as others. Be generous with your weights, if someone wants to jump in between sets and they gym is super busy..(the voice in your head is allowed to say 'no, be gone you vile human') but just smile and say yes, it's just gotta be done sometimes. Sometimes, being in a busy gym will literally take all of your tolerance to bare it, when all your machines are taken up, you're keen to get on and get out, and you're getting pretty damn annoyed just embrace the bustle (easier said than done) but definitely stand your ground there, if someone goes ahead and just takes one of the weights you're using or jumps on your bench even though you'd reserved it don't be afraid to step on up say something about it. Like I said earlier, just because you're a girl..and there's less girls in weights area it does not mean that you're less entitled to be there. Don't just give up on weights because the thought of it is stressing you out, terrible excuse, get on it.