Most of the people believe that bodybuilding is all about doing hard exercises in the gym and taking lots of food. Very few of the bodybuilders are aware about the fact that rest is equally important to succeed in getting a good body built. I have seen young guys and girls doing exercises in the gym blindly and giving no rest to the body. Fact of the matter is that guys do extensive workouts in the gym, almost over training but pay no attention to rest. In this article, I will tell you why rest is important to have a real good body and big muscles.

1- What do you think happens to our muscles when we do extensive workouts with heavy weights? Do you think it is the time when our muscles are built? Many bodybuilders believe that yes they build when we do extensive training. But let me tell you that during the exercise in gym, our muscle tissues are basically splitting, stretching and undergoing tearing process. So the harder you train, the more severe the muscles get torn.

2- Now the question arises, what role rest plays? Answer is very simple. Our body needs time to recover itself after such hard exercises. Our muscles need time to repair and grow. All this is accomplished when we take rest. So that is why it is advisable that you take proper sound sleep 7-8 hours a day at minimum if you want to see good results for your bodybuilding programme. Sleeping or rest not only allows you to recover your muscles but also enables your body to be ready for next day and so on. It makes sure that you do not get fatigued due to your extensive workouts and avoids different sorts of injuries that may stop you from bodybuilding programme. So take good rest and make sure when you are resting, its sound sleep or tension-free rest.

Different types of guys go to gyms to get muscles. Some of them have muscular bodies already, some have bodies of medium level and others are skinny. Let me tell you one thing clearly that skinny guys need to put extra bit of efforts to get good muscles and in most of the cases, it takes quite a bit of time to get muscles. So my advice for such skinny guys is that do not listen to what magazines say and also not to what is said by different supplement selling companies over the internet which claim to give great muscles to skinny guys in real quick time. Actually such companies want to sell out products and as a result exaggerate a lot about muscles and growth of muscles.

Skinny guys need pay attention to the following tips to get good muscles:

1-      They need a customized exercise plan especially designed for their body structure and need to follow it regularly. It is advisable to consult gym instructor or a good physician to get a good plan. Do not try to follow general plans because the one which works for others may not work for skinny guys.

2-      Proper attention is required for eating good food which is nutritious and full of calories. Again, the role of your gym instructor or physician comes into play and they can advise you a daily intake chart which can help you to have proper food regularly which satisfies your daily calorie intake needs. Lots of proteins need to be added to the food and instead of taking the food 3 times a day; five to six times intake is recommended in smaller amounts. It helps your body to have steady flow of nutrients all the day long.

3-      Rest plays a vital role for skinny guys. They must take daily rest of 7-8 hours a day to make sure that they help their bodies to grow up. It is good for skinny guys not to do too much of training initially for 3-4 months but take plenty of rest.

4-      Good supplements can play a good role for skinny guys to get good muscular bodies because they need extra amount of nutrients to build up their bodies. It is recommended to consult your physicians before taking any supplements to make sure that you get real good quality output.

Bodybuilding is a dream and bodybuilders try different methods and approaches to gain muscles quickly. Below are 5 tips to gain muscles fast:

1-      Lifting Weights: First thing you need to do is to lift weights because it is important for bodybuilding. You can lift weights in the gym or at home but make sure you lift them. In gym you definitely get a variety of weights and professional guidance to make your muscles properly. So it is better that you join a gym to lift weights rather than doing it at home.

2-      Eat lots of food and proteins: Next thing you surely need to do is to eat. You need to maintain your calorie intake to a good level to make sure you build good muscles. It is better if you can get a diet chart or calorie chart from your physician to make sure that you make up for it. You need to include lots of proteins in your diet to build muscles quickly because proteins are very important for muscle growth.

3-      Increase intensity of your exercise: Third thing is to increase the intensity of your exercise. Muscles do not get built just by doing moderate intensity workouts. You need to keep increasing the repetitions and weight of your workouts to increase the intensity and make sure that your muscles get build quickly.

4-      Take lots of rest: Fourth important factor is to take lots of rest because body needs time to repair and grow its muscle tissues. This is possible during the rest period only because in the gym, your workouts are just tearing your muscles and not building them. It is rest time when body really relaxes itself and makes the muscles. So make sure to take a sound sleep of 7-8 hours a day.

5-      Exercise Plan: Last thing you need is a good exercise plan which suits the needs of your body. The plan should be customized according to the needs of the body and you should get a right exercise plan in consultation with your trainer or physician. Once you get a good exercise plan, make sure that you follow it consistently. Being regular and consistent with your exercise plan is really the key to your bodybuilding.

Above mentioned 5 tips should be followed to get quick muscle growth and have the muscles developed the way you have been dreaming of.

Most of the bodybuilders unknowingly start following certain things which do not work for them and finally they get disappointed and leave bodybuilding. So being a bodybuilder, we really need to avoid certain myths that are common and can bring negative results to our bodybuilding. Below are some common bodybuilding myths that need to be avoided:

1-      Following the favorites or ideals:    It is a common myth that needs to be avoided. Most of the bodybuilders start following the workouts and routines of their favorite bodybuilders and think that they will become the same. Fact of the matter is that bodybuilding depends a great deal on your body and physical structure and also on your genetic structure. So thinking that you can become like your stars is not correct most of the times. I know there are certain magazines and products that claim to bring you the same results and guarantee that you will be as good as your favorite bodybuilders. But keep in mind that such steroid products are very bad and harmful for our body. So never fall a victim to such so called bodybuilding products.

2- Training extra hard: It is a very common mistake which most of the bodybuilders commit unknowingly. They think that training extra hard will give them best results and as a result they start training their body to a point where body cannot even recover itself. Our body has a defence system which cannot go beyond a certain level. So if you will train your body beyond a certain level, It won’t be able to recover itself and muscles may go huge wear n tear and can cause you injuries. So train your body to a certain limit.

3- Pumping muscles: It is also a big myth that pumping muscles can bring good results for your bodybuilding. Fact of the matter is that it decreases blood supply to your other muscles and keeping blood to a certain muscle group for a longer period of time can really damage it. So keep in mind that it is just a myth.

You need to be consistent with your bodybuilding and get good workout plans, take good rest, have good supplements and take lots of proteins to get results. So do not run for these myths as they are not going to give you any results.

Gym plays a key role in bodybuilding and in the life of bodybuilders. Almost everyone who starts bodybuilding, immediately joins a gym for maximum results. So selection of a gym is of great importance because all you get for your bodybuilding is from this place. But question arises, which qualities or parameters you should keep in mind so that you can select a good gym. Below I will highlight some of the qualities or parameters that you should keep in mind to make sure that you select a good gym:

1-      First thing to ensure is that gym you select should be at a reasonable distance from your home. It means that you should not select a gym far away from your home or working place. If the gym is not far away, your chances of being regular at the gym certainly increase.

2-      Next thing to make sure is that you have a good professional environment in the gym. Good environment keeps you motivated and encourages you to regularly go gym and perform your workouts.

3-      You must also make sure that you have good quality exercise machines available in the gym. These machines should be modern, clean and should be present in sufficient quantity so that you do not have to wait for your turn to perform a certain exercise. Exercise equipment gives a very good idea about the quality of the gym. Good gyms have modern and good machines available.

4-      Training coaches is a very important factor to look at. Once you are in gym, your gym coach is your teacher and he guides you to make a perfect physique. So you should take into consideration not only the availability of the coaches but also their expertise. You should also keep in mind that there should be 4-5 coaches available so that you can get guidance from them easily.

5-      Last thing you would want is availability of a quality food shop available where you can get good quality shakes, supplements and other food at reasonable prices. You must make sure that good and hygienic food shop is available in the gym with reasonable prices.

Selection of a good gym definitely improves our chances of having a very good body developed and therefore you can keep in mind the above mentioned five factors before you join any gym and start exercising.

Summer is a good time to get good muscles but you have to be careful at the same time because it’s hot and humid in summer. So, different precautions need to be taken to have effective bodybuilding in summer.

1-     First thing which is important is your clothing. You should be wearing clothes which are light and have good circulation of air through them. Circulation of air is important to keep your body temperature at a moderate level and to avoid over heating of the body. You can try sleeveless t-shirts or there are different companies which are offering porous material clothing which is very useful for exercise. So having a good dress with proper air circulation is the first and foremost thing.

2-     Drinking lots of water is another very important tip for you in summer. When you are doing heavy workouts in the gym, your body is continuously sweating and losing lots of water and minerals. Taking plenty of water is very much desirable to overcome the deficiency of water caused due to sweating and also to keep the body temperature at a bearable limit. So you should be having a water bottle during your training in summer and keep taking small amounts of water during the workouts to keep your body out of dehydration.

3-     During of workouts is another important thing to look at in summer. Summer is not good for long and intensive workouts. So your focus should be on small duration workouts and you can perform long and more intensive workouts during winter. You should keep one important thing in mind that in summer, our body works twice as hard as it would work in winter. So try to be reasonable in your workouts.

These are simple and easy to apply tips that you must follow in summer to really get going with your bodybuilding. Trying to do something extra in summer should be avoided because it can easily lead to some serious injuries and as a result you may have to quit bodybuilding altogether.

3 day muscle building workout routine means that you set your plan for bodybuilding in such a way that you need to go to gym 3 times a week. You would be going to gym and lifting heavy weights that you can and first day it would be chest chest and triceps. First exercise you can perform is flat barbell bench press with 3 sets. One set should be of 10 reps, second with 8 reps and third with 6 reps and keep the weight moderate. Next exercise you can perform is doing the same exercise on an inclined bench.

Second day should be for legs and biceps. The first exercise you can perform for your legs is leg squats. You can perform this exercise in 4 sets. First set of 10 reps, second of 8, third of 6 and fourth and final step of 4 reps. Next exercise for legs would be leg press and you can perform the same amount of reps and sets for this exercise as for leg squats. Next exercise for biceps is hammer curls using dumbbells, keeping the same amount of sets and reps as in barbell curls.

Third day you need to do shoulder exercises and first one of course would be barbell shoulder press. Again, you can do it in 3 sets. One of 10 reps, second of 8 and third of 6 reps. Last exercise you can perform is front and lateral raises using dumbbells. You need to keep the number of sets and amounts of reps the same. If you take meals in split way i.e 5-6 times a day then this exercise can bring you good results in just 6 weeks or even less. So follow this workout plan to get quick muscle gain.

Different bodybuilders spend different amounts of time during their exercises at gym. Some spend an hour, some spend an hour and a half and some even spend 2 hours at gym during the training sessions. Question arises, which training session length is optimum and can bring you best results. Studies have shown that our testosterone level reaches at peak in about 45 minutes and then starts decreasing after an hour. So it means training length of 45 minutes can get us good results. Even if you desire to have more exercise, you can divide your workout lengths into 45 minutes per session for morning and evening.

Another question is that how fast or slow you need to perform your repetitions. Different people have different views about this. Some say that you need to perform your repetitions slowly and some say you need to do them fast. My experience tells that performing repetitions faster can bring you good results provided that you have proper control over your repetitions. When I tried to perform the repetitions slowly, very slowly, i found that I started losing muscles instead of gaining them. But when I tried otherwise, I started to get good results but keep in mind that proper control is important. I performed repetitions faster but I was able to control them properly. Besides controlling, you must also make sure that you keep your angles right. What I mean is that every exercise has certain angles which need to be followed to make sure we do it rightly. So if we can control our angle, we can get the real worth of exercise.

So summing up, you need to keep your training session for 45 minutes in length and also make repetitions faster provided that you control your weights and do exercise at right angles. If we lose angle or deviate significantly, our body starts losing its shape and sometimes even look funny because of improper shape. So follow the instruction of control and keeping correct angles to get best results.

Creatine is basically a nutrient which occurs in our bodies naturally. It comprises of 3 amino acids namely glycine, methonine and arginine. The basic purpose of this nutrient is to supply energy to our muscles particularly it provides bundles of energy when we require it during heavy workouts.

Using creatine supplements is very important because it provides you energy to perform your workouts. All of us are aware of the fact that we need huge amounts of energy to make sure that we continue to perform exercises and heavy workouts. Creatine provides us desired energy by increasing the amount of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) in our body. The energy of our body is physically measured by the amount of ATP in our body and creatine is the source of increasing it. Another big benefit of using creatine is that it helps body to restore and regenerate muscles after heavy workouts. Creatine does so by releasing phosphates in our body which combine with ADP to form ATP. So when you take this supplement, you start feeling yourself stronger and more powerful which is a by benefit.

Another benefit of using creatine supplement is that it helps us to gain weight. Average weight gain for those who take creatine supplements is around 15 pounds a month. However, a minor setback is that when you will take creatine supplement, you will feel water retention in your body. So some weight gain as a result of using this supplement would be because of water. Also, bodybuilders when using this supplement may feel bloated or sometimes may have puffy eyes. But if we compare the advantages of this supplement, which gives our bodies tremendous amounts of energy and help body to regenerate muscles as well, we will find that these side effects are very minor in nature.

In short, you can take supplements having creatine to get good results in your bodybuilding. Side effects as mentioned above are very minor in nature and can be over looked.

Bodybuilding is not just exercising but exercising properly on proper equipment and under proper guidance. So do not think that you can get this all in your home made gym. You may like to use your home gym as a start point to your bodybuilding but do not think it as a way forward to keep going with it. Bodybuilding is a professional sport like all other sports and needs professional environment to get results the way you want. Below are some of the important benefits of joining a professional gym rather than trying at home:

1-      Professional guidance to achieve good results without any side effects or injuries is very important and of course you can get such guidance in gyms under the supervision of your gym trainers or instructors. They tell you what exercises you need according to your physical structure and how to perform them correctly. Besides, they make sure that you take proper diet and proper supplements to get best results. You cannot get such guidance about your exercise plan, diet and supplements at home. So think joining a proper gym.

2-      You cannot buy all the equipment that is required for various muscles of the body to boost them up. Again, you can get all this equipment at gym by paying nominal fee and get most benefits out of it. So at home you do not have variety of equipment to perform your exercises for all body parts and as a result, you end up only getting some muscles but not most.

3-      Professional environment is a key to exercise and work like professionals and ultimately get professional results. You can never get professional environment at home and get distracted by number of things at home during your exercise. So you need concentration and dedication to achieve best results for your muscle growth and this can only be possible at a professional place like gym.

4-      Finding a partner for your exercise is good because he can keep you motivated and also helps you to perform certain exercises which you may not perform alone. So, again you can find such partner at gym instead of home.

So make sure that you join a professional gym to get good results. Just use home gym as a start to your exercise, if you want.