Best Bodybuilding Workouts

Before we begin, what I'm about to give you is relatively simple advice, consider it beginners advice. If you are serious about bodybuilding and really putting on lean muscle then I highly suggest you grab a copy of Vince's bodybuilding book. It will save you heaps of wasted time in the gym. How do I know this for sure? Because I bought a copy of it myself when I started working out and I can honestly guarantee it will help, in fact I still refer to it today.

Here is an honest review of his book on how to be lean and muscular in weeks

Let's begin...

Are bodybuilding workouts as difficult as some assume? Actually, they are not very complicated and a motivated individual can develop an amazing physique in a very short period of time. Now, some may be wondering that if this is true, then why do they have such a hard time developing a bodybuilder's physique. Often, the reason is that the bodybuilding workouts they are performing are really not the type of workout needed for their goals. That is why a clear understanding of what is involved with such workouts is suggested.

Professional bodybuilders do not perform the same workouts all year round. They split their workouts into two facets: the off-season cycle and the pre-contest cycle. The off-season cycle refers to the mass building stage and the pre-contest cycle deals with developing definition of the mass. Now, the average person does not need to pack on 80lbs of muscle mass and nor does the average person need to cut down to 5% body fat. However, a proper mix of mass building and definition training is necessary in order to get the best out of a workout.

Mass building is necessary because you cannot define a muscle if muscle does not exist! Generally, mass building workouts will center on performing mostly compound exercises that deal with more than one muscle group. The bench press would be a common example of this as it works the chest primarily and it also places secondary stress on the biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Compound exercises that work on the upper and lower body are needed. One should lift about 75% of one's maximum lift and lift for roughly 8 - 10 reps. The number of sets one should perform would be between 3 - 5.

After several months of performing mass exercises in your bodybuilding workouts, you will be able to tone down compound exercises to maintenance levels which will help you sustain a certain size. Definition exercises will then be employed at this point in order to help develop the much needed shape to the muscles. Many people enjoy this facet of bodybuilding workouts as they are not as difficult a workout to perform. Definition bodybuilding workouts entail lifting light weights for very high reps. These exercises will generally involve isolation exercises that only work one muscle group. A common example of this would entail performing 15 reps of a bicep curl with a mere 10lbs of weight. This would be performed for a relative high set count of say 5 sets.

Do you need to set aside your mass building workouts for a certain time of the year and your definition workouts for another time of the year? Not necessarily as the average person is performing bodybuilding workouts for fun, hobby, and exercise as opposed to competition. However, most will work on mass during the winter and then on definition in the spring in order to present a ripped and defined look for the summer. But, you really can devise your own schedule based on your personal needs. There are no hard and fast rules.

To get the most out of working out you need to understand how muscles work and which ones actually work together. Here are the main 2 that work hand in hand, the Chest and triceps and the Biceps and Back. As a general rule if you're going to exercise your chest do not exercise your triceps as well, do them on a separate day to prevent over training. Muscle groups should be exercised no more than 2 times per week. This is because they do not grow while your working out they grow when you are resting, therefore adequate rest is required for maximum recovery and muscle growth.

Minor technicalities out of the way, lets look at what every good bodybuilding workouts plan should include. First up, the chest. By far the best workout you can do here is the flat bench press. Most people will recommend using a barbell, however based on my own experience I believe you'll get much better results using dumbells. This targets the chest far more than a barbell and forces you to concentrate and maintain proper form throughout the movement. Next core workout is the barbell bicep curl. If your serious about adding inches to your arms this workout is simply the best, hands down.

We now come to my favorite workout, dips. I absolutely love doing dips, you can feel it hitting almost every muscle in your body in one simple motion. It targets the chest, triceps, lats, rhomboids, deltoids, traps, wrists, forearms and even your abs. By simply changing your angle whilst doing a dip you can manipulate what muscles will be hit the most. For example if you want to target your chest and shoulders more, just lean forward while keeping your body straight then lower yourself and push up, and voila. For maximum effect do 3 sets of 8-12 and rest for 2 minutes in between.

If you're wondering what a hardgainer is, it's simply a person (generally thin) who has difficulty putting on muscle mass. If this is you, i'm about to share with you my little secret I used to rid myself, yes I too was a hardgainer, of this problem. You see muscles only grow when they absolutely have to, therefore you must train them to failure. Since muscle grows to to use less energy, training them to failure will stimulate significant muscle growth during your rest period.

Here is how to train properly to failure. Do 2 sets of 10 repetitions using a medium to high weight, make sure the 10th rep really gets the blood pumping, you should not be able to do an 11th rep. As usual rest for about 2 minutes between sets, then on your third set increase the weight by 5-10% and do as many repetitions as you can. The high stress that you will impose on your muscles can only result in muscle growth. It's beyond the scope of this lens, but make sure your taking in about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, especially if your a hardgainer. Without proper nutrients your workouts will simply be a waste of time.

My final tip for hardgainers is to use 'negative resistance'. After you have lifted the weight, slowly lower it back down, this motion will further shock your muscles into fatigue and assist in muscle growth. For maximum results use this in tandem with training to failure and you will see some unreal results.