BODY BUILDING DIET

In body building, your diet is one of the most effective weapons you can have if you want to achieve maximum potential.  The diet is so important to the body builder as it not only supplies the body with the energy needed to perform your exercises as well as giving you the nutrients you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A good body building diet will include a lot of protein.  It is critical for building muscle, losing fat, and contributing to the overall health of our tissues and organs.  You should be consuming 1 gram of protein for each pound of your body weight.  Body builders should increase that amount to a gram and a half per day.  Good sources of protein include meat, fish, and milk.

Carbohydrates should also be a big part of the body building diet.  Cars are a major source of the fuel our body uses for activity.  You should include complex carbohydrates in your diet through starches and fiber.  That means eating pasta, whole grain rice, and whole grain breads as well as potatoes. 

Believe it or not, fats are also an important part of a body building diet.  Our bodies need fats to function correctly and efficiently.  They are an energy source for the body and regulate most of our bodily processes.

The key for including fat in your diet is to consume the good fats as opposed to the bad one.  Good fats are the unsaturated ones found in olive oil or flaxseed oil.  Unsaturated fats are ones that are liquid at room temperature.  Saturated fats can clog your arteries and lead to health problems, so they should be avoided as much as possible.  Animal lard and butter are saturated fats and are solid at room temperature.

You should also have adequate fiber in your bodybuilding diet.  Fiber helps your body flush out impurities on a regular basis and helps contribute to weight loss.  Some good sources of fiber are whole grain as well as nuts and seeds.

Finally, you will want to include a lot of vegetables in your diet as well as a moderate amount fruit.  Fruit can cause you to retain water and contribute to a larger amount of sugar that you would otherwise need.  However, vegetables contain essential vitamins and nutrients that your body needs to operate efficiently.

A good bodybuilding diet is one that is balanced and nutritious.  You should consume the majority of your protein and carbohydrates in the morning and eat five or six small meals daily instead of three large ones.  A good diet is important to an effective body building, so know what your body needs and then go for it.

BODY BUILDING COMPETITIONS

When you are serious about body building, the next logical step is to enter a body building competition.  You’ve worked hard to sculpt the perfect body, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t want to stand up next to others who have worked just as hard and have an impartial third party decide who has the best body.

Keep in mind that body building competitions can be very intense events and the competition can be just as difficult.  You have worked to make sure your muscles are as toned as you think they can get and you have prepared for the contest, but you need to be at the top of your game when you enter the competition.

What’s important in body building competitions?  Actually, there’s a lot involved. 

To begin with, be sure you have a nice, deep, dark tan.  That means going to a tanning bed many weeks before the contest.  If you’re not comfortable with a tanning bed, you’ll need a spray-on tan the day before the contest.  Be aware, however, that many spray-on tans could make you have an orange cast.  What you are striving for is a dark look that will make your muscles pop out.

You will need to put some serious thought into the type of music you use for your posing routine.  You will want to have music that gets the crowd excited and pumped up as much as you are.  If you have music that contributes to your poses, you will most likely be a winner.

The biggest image of bodybuilders in the mind of the general public is that of a greased up guy who is flexing freaky looking muscles.  Some body building competitions prohibit the use of oils on the bodies of the participants.  Be sure you know the rules before you start competing.  But be aware that oils can make the muscles stand out in a much bigger way.  Follow the rules of the competition that you are in.

You will need to be sure that you are wearing something that will show off ALL of your muscles.  However, use caution. If you are a man, a skimpy swim suit will do just fine – much like that is made by Speedo.  For women, you will want to wear a bikini in a body building competition, but be sure it’s tasteful.  It’s not “Girls Gone Wild”, so make sure you promote your professionalism.

Bodybuilding competitions are great places to showcase a body that you’ve worked hard to make beautiful.  Don’t have unrealistic expectations, but get in it to win it!  You deserve it!

BODY BUILDING CLOTHES

When you are a serious body builder, choosing your body building clothes can be a strange decision you have to make.  After all, you have to keep in mind what you want to achieve in your body building workout – and, believe it or not, your clothes can make a difference in the effectiveness of your workout.

Some people really don’t put any thought into their body building clothes.  They throw on a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and head to the gym.  This might work for some people, but you really should put a little thought into your body building clothes.

The biggest consideration you need to keep in mind is comfort.  When you are undertaking an intense bodybuilding routine, you need to be able to move around easily.  You should wear clothing that allows you to move freely without constraint.

For both men and women, the ideal body building clothing choice would be a tank top and shorts.  This type of clothes allows you to move your body and work your muscles without the restraint of tight fitting or binding material. 

When choosing body building clothes, keep in mind that you are going to sweat.  That sweat can help you melt off body fat and can also help your muscles work more effectively.  So, you might want to choose some clothes that will keep the sweat and make it work for you.

Spandex clothing can be good for keeping the sweat in.  Spandex will hold in body heat and allow the sweat to work for you.  You may also want to wear sweat pants that are designed to keep body heat where it can work for you best of all.  Reebok even makes body building clothing that will emit peppermint scent when your body starts to sweat.  I don’t know about you, but it sure sounds like a smart thing to me!

When you are competing in bodybuilding competitions, you will want to choose clothing that can show off your body in the most tasteful way possible.  The idea in contests is to show off, the muscles you have worked so hard to build, so pick a swim suit that is a complementary color and that makes your body look as good as it has become.

So many people don’t really put much thought into the type of clothes they choose for bodybuilding, but it really can be an important part of your workout.  While being in the gym is by no means a fashion show, you will still want to dress for comfort as well as effectiveness.  Put a little thought into your body building clothes and make your workout work for you!

BODY BUILDING ANATOMY

The anatomy of body building includes knowing what muscles are located where and how they are grown most effectively.  It can be confusing, so as you read this article, find a mirror and locate the muscles on your own body.  When you are body building, knowing the anatomy of your body can be very, very helpful.

Of course, you know where your neck is.  There are two basic neck muscles that you can focus on in your body building.  The upper Trapezius runs down the back of your neck from the nape of the neck to the shoulder. The Levator Scapulae runs next to the first five or six cervical vertebrae in your neck.

The Trapezius muscles run down your back from the nape of your neck to the waist on either side of the spine. In bodybuilding terms, these muscles are referred to as the trap muscles.

The deltoid muscles are located in your shoulders. The anterior delt is in the front part of the shoulder, the middle delt runs down the side of the shoulder, the posterior deltoid muscles runs down the back part of the shoulder. The rotator cuff muscle runs just below the anterior delt from the armpit straight out.

The muscles in your chest are the pectoral muscles. 

Your tricep muscles are located in your arms.  They run down the sides of the arms from shoulder to elbow.  The biceps, on the other hand are located on the inside of the arm.  There are also very distinct muscles in the forearms.

Your abs are located in the stomach area – or abdominal region hence their name!

In the legs, you have the quadriceps muscles in the front – or quads.  The muscles in the back of the legs are located in the calf, or lower leg, and hamstring which is the upper leg.

Other major muscle groups you will want to focus on include glutes – or the buttocks, the lats which are in the upper back, and the lower trap muscles which is the lower back.

Knowing your anatomy when you undertake a body building program is a very important part of effectively growing your muscles.  When you know the various muscle groups in your anatomy, you can build those muscles and concentrate on them during your workouts.  In body building, knowledge of human anatomy isn’t difficult when you know what you are looking for.  Know your muscles and succeed in your body building goals.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER BODY BUILDING

There’s probably no one more well-known in the body building world than the governor of California.  Arnold Schwarzenegger made body building a household phenomenon with the release of his 1973 movie “Pumping Iron”.  He has been granted the honor of single handedly making body building an everyday term.

When Arnold first started out in his bodybuilding career, he was just a young man.  He started out as a “98 pound weakling” and grew into Mr. Universe.  His transformation was an incredible display of body building might, along with some amazing dedication.

There is probably no better body building story than that of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  He worked a variety of jobs, including that of the street worker in Santa Monica, California.  The entire time, he was also devoting all his off hours to honing and sculpting a beautiful body.  In 1970, he was awarded the ultimate body building title of “Mr. Universe” and became a household name.

He kept on with his body building until he decided that a film career was the way to go.  He found success as an actor in such films as “The Terminator”, “End of Days”, and “True Lies”.  While he never won any type of award for his acting work, he still garnered the respect of many Hollywood elite for his strong performances in these films.

Arnold's first approach to bodybuilding was fairly atypical. When he was 13, he played soccer, but felt very dissatisfied with a team sport. "I didn't like the fact that I couldn't be personally gratified" he declared. He tried other endeavors: track and field, boxing, javelin throw and weightlifting. But only when his coach suggested he tried working with weights (to strengthen his legs), Arnold found his true vocation.

When he first walked into a gym, he was literally awed. "I found myself in a gym, in awe of muscles I had never seen before and of which I didn't even know the correct name. The bodybuilders were powerful, Herculean. Before my very eyes, my true future opened up: I had found the answer I had been looking for." Thus began, at 16, the career of the greatest bodybuilder of all times, the man who would be crowned Mr. Olympia for a record seven times.

As his physique started developing, so did his self-confidence. Very soon he discovered the thing somebody described as the "power of size". And, as his muscles grew, so did the respect he was receiving from his peers. The growing of his muscle mass started influencing his relationships with other young men and, of course, with women too. He realized that some women were decidedly turned on by his physique, whereas others seemed to be disgusted by it. "I wanted to become even bigger, so that I'd be able to really impress the girls who dug muscles and... Irritate even more the ones who disliked them."

Arnold Schwarzenegger is quite possibly the epitome of the body building ideal.  When you are serious about your body building goals, you could do worse than following the advice of the great governor of California!

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BODY BUILDING

The American Body Building company has been around since 1985 and is thought of as the premier body building company with nutrition products that have been serving serious body builders for years.  They are the only sports nutrition company in the industry to produce all types of products for body builders around the world.  Their products range from ready-to-drink sports beverages to nutrition bars and body building supplements.

They believe that you will achieve your peak performance is a combination of what you eat, the efforts that you make when training, along with the amount of recovery and rest that you get.  They subscribe to the proven theory that when you combine effective nutrition with an intensive workout program along with the rest that you will achieve your body building goals.

American Body Building provides what you need to make your body building program achieve the results you’ve always imagined.  Their products are tested extensively and have been proven to work by people who are in the know when it comes to body building products.  They strive to give their customers the ultimate experience in body building supplies and will stop nothing short of giving you the best that they have.

When they manufacture their products such as supplements, vitamins, and energy drinks, they are made in the most conducive environment so you can be sure that you are getting a quality product made in a quality plant.  When they acquire their ingredients, they require those companies to provide certificates of authenticity to be sure that they are using the best quality that they can find and then pass it on to you.

You can find American Body Building products all over the place when you are looking.  Many gyms carry these products and you can find them online as well at www.americanbodybuilding.com.

Those who are serious about their body building goals know that when they choose American Body Building products, they are getting quality along with service that is unmatched.  It is so important that you know what you are getting before you order it.  When it comes to supplements or nutritional additives, American Body Building products are definitely among the top in the industry.

Their parent company is Optimum Nutrition and they also provide quality products along with exceptional customer service.  When you choose an American Body Building product, you will be getting way more than you ever thought.  You will be getting quality products and exceptional customer service that can’t be beat.  Trust this company and realize your body building goals.