There’s nothing quite like hitting the gym with the force of a thousand angry gods, clanging and banging, pumping the iron like never before, and walking away having had one of the best workouts of your life. Bodybuilding is an incredibly rewarding sport, and is perhaps a metaphor for life itself, in that you get out of it what you put into it. With that being said however, it certainly is not easy, especially if you’re fairly new to the whole bodybuilding scene. Building muscle takes patience, dedication, knowledge, and discipline, and you certainly need to know what you’re doing. Unfortunately many bodybuilding newbies often make a series of common mistakes, which instantly hinder their gains. To ensure you don’t make the same mistakes, here’s a look at 3 common bodybuilding mistakes to avoid making.
Spending all your spare cash on supplements – When you begin training seriously, creating a supplement stack is extremely exciting. You find yourself being lured in by clever marketing and advertising campaigns, and you convince yourself that these supplements are your secret weapon to getting big and jacked. A well thought out supplement stack will certainly help you out, there’s no denying that, but if gains are your goal, you should first ensure that you’re spending much of your spare cash on whole foods. There really is no substitution for whole foods, so if it’s a choice between healthy, wholesome foods, and supplements, food should win every time. By all means purchase supplements if you’re happy your diet is on point, otherwise, spend your cash on healthy foods instead.
Training too frequently – Okay, you’re now ready to step up your training and are now looking to get bigger and more jacked than ever before, so what do you do? Well, surely you should train as much as possible, because the more you train, the more muscle you will build, right? Wrong! When you lift weights, you destroy muscle tissue. You build muscle when you rest. Many bodybuilding newbies will train 7 days per week, or perhaps twice per day, for several hours at a time. All this does however, is break down muscle tissue, and not give your body enough time to recover. If you want to build muscle, you must ensure you are getting enough sleep and enough rest as that is when you will grow. To begin with, 3 – 5 days in the gym is fine.
Not getting enough protein – Protein is vital for muscle growth and repair, so without protein, our muscles simply will not grow. To build muscle, trainers and nutritionists generally recommend you consume at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. So, if you weigh 190 pounds, you should be taking in 190g of protein a day. Per meal, aim for around 35g of protein at a time, and again, try to focus on whole foods such as eggs, meats, fish, seafood, etc. A couple of your meals however, can come in the form of a protein shake.
