Tuesday, November 6, 2007

5 steps to safe bodybuilding

5 steps to safe bodybuilding
Bodybuilding takes hard work and the discipline is
enormous. Building your body will require you to work
around very heavy weights and irons. To guarantee that
these items do not have a detrimental effect on your body's
muscles, you must take a few safety precautions or injury
can set you back for months. Begin by reading lots of
material on the best bodybuilding practices. Careful
instruction in the appropriate lifting methods will pay off
in the long term. Do not forget some of the most important
and most overlooked methods of protection. These are the
warm up period and the cool down period including
stretches. Here are 5 essential techniques from the gym to
protect your body.

1) Always start with proper warm ups. The warm up and cool
down periods should last for at least 15 minutes. I like
to start with a stationary bicycle or elliptical to get the
blood flowing. 10 minutes of this exercise will make a
huge difference in your performance. 5 minutes of
stretching will follow to get the muscles use to what will
come along.

2) Start by going from low to high. What we mean by this
is start with lighter weights first. After one set of this
size, move up to the heavier weights. This lets your
muscles get the idea of heavier lifting and prepares them
for the increase of your body's strength.

3) Determine exactly what your limits are and how far you
can go. Only you can determine what the limits of each
muscle group will withstand during bodybuilding. It is
good to always challenge the limits of your muscles but be
careful not to strain them beyond their capacity. Even
expert bodybuilders can cause terrible damage to their
muscles by going beyond their limits in pursuit of bigger
muscles.

4) Bodybuilding training is not a competition every time
you set foot in the gym. It is a process for gradually
building muscle mass and toning your body over time. You
are not proving anything to yourself by hurting your
muscles. Take your time as you increase the weights. When
you feel you may be over exerting yourself, back off of the
weight amount and increase the reps. Muscle definition and
building muscle mass is a result of calculated restraint.
Aggressive risks will only set you back from the goals you
have designed.

5) Always have a spotter when training with free weights.
We can not over emphasize this point enough. The spotter
should be closely matched to your size so each of you can
assist in the other person's muscle building workout. If
you find yourself in a troublesome position, the spotter
can quickly jump in and help out. You can then act as
their spotter and this serves to increase your motivation
and accountability. Each partner will not let the other
off of their goals easily. No one wants a visit to the
hospital. Your spotter will prevent this at all costs.

Bonus - an often overlooked method to stay safe in the
bodybuilding sport is the use of mirrors. Why do most gyms
have mirrors surrounding the weight areas? The form and
method of lifting weights is very important. Lifting
weights off center or lifting weights improperly are a
major contributor to pulled muscles and injury. Start
using lighter weights in the proper form with mirrors and
watch your bodybuilding efforts explode.


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