Why Warm Up Before Exercise? As anyone who knows anything about exercise is aware, in order to be effective and in order for you not to injure yourself, your fitness program should include three distinct stages: warm up, exercise and cool down.
Why Warm Up
The function of the first stage is to get your body ready. You don’t start by running from a standing start. If you do, you’re more likely to pull a muscle or do yourself some damage. Like a musical instrument, your body needs to be warmed up gradually. It needs to be prepared for activity. It’s neither sensible nor beneficial to go straight to the big weights and the sprint. Do not let yourself be encouraged to do too much by those around you. They are probably more experienced and more able than you. It is not in your interest to impress them. Work at your own pace and do not overdo things.
When your body is warmed up, your muscles prepared and your heart rate has increased, only then are you ready for the more rigorous workout. And when you’ve finished be sure to give your body time to cool down gradually. Most exercise regimes finish with simple stretches to prevent saw muscles and cramp.
Each stage of your workout is as important as the next. Sticking to such a routine will make injuries less likely and your workout more efficient. In the early stages it is especially important that you have a gradual warm up period and a cooling down session. Look after your body and it will develop properly and be less likely to sustain injuries.
The Effects of Alcohol on Building Muscle Mass
Bodybuilding and Alcohol
You’ve been out for a few drinks with the lads and it’s come to their notice that you’ve been putting on a few pounds. You’re developing a gut and it looks like you’ve eaten all the pies. You decide that today is when you’re going to start building muscle mass and losing fat. But, does bodybuilding and alcohol go together? Will you still be able to enjoy a drink or two?
There’s a good reason why today may not be a good day to start. Alcohol and body building do not mix. That doesn’t mean to say that you have to give up drinking completely. It just means that you need to regulate your drinking and plan your weightlifting exercise training sessions at times when you will not have alcohol in your system. If you are going to drink, you should do it in moderation and not straight after a muscle mass workout session.
Alcohol has a specific effect on muscles. It doesn’t reduce them but it prevents the muscles from getting the necessary support from the body which help them to recover from small tears and pulls. The blood system carries oxygen and other natural resources to the muscles to fix injuries. If the blood contains alcohol (which is a toxin) this system becomes less efficient. Oxygen carriage is impeded so that you take longer to recover and your training, therefore, becomes less effective. If you are returning to weight training without having totally recovered, you are more likely to injure yourself.
These small tears often occur without your even noticing. The body, given the right conditions, is constantly repairing itself. Alcohol in the system upsets the balance and will slow down the recovery process. If you are going to have a drink, plan it just as you would plan your exercise regime. For example, if you have a block of three days off in a row, day 2 is the best time to go for a drink or two so that you do not mix bodybuilding and alcohol.
Bodybuilding Beginner's Diet
As a bodybuilding beginner you’ve probably watched the strongman competitions and so will be more than familiar with the pictures generally associated with the genre. You know the sort of thing. A bronzed superman stands by a table displaying a typical week’s strongman fodder; fruit, vegetables, chickens, energy drinks and a good handful of burgers and the like. You may take this as an indication that these men can eat what they like. They probably can. As a body building beginner, you can’t. So, what should you eat?
The fact is that, as a body building beginner, you are in no condition to treat yourself with fast food. Perhaps later, when your body is working more efficiently, you can indulge yourself with the odd junk food, but, to start off, you need to be disciplined. A good healthy start to your regime is important. You can treat yourself when you’ve earned it.
So what should you eat? Protein, in the form of meat, fish and diary products, should be eaten in small portions several times a day. Meat should be lean and white meat and fish is generally better for you. Protein helps you to build muscle mass. Carbohydrates come in the form of rice, potatoes, bread and pasta. Carbohydrates or carbs are energy food and it is this that allows you to maintain your muscle mass workouts. Fruit and vegetables are also very important and give you natural sugars and many essential vitamins and minerals. Your body also needs fat, but only a small amount and only the “good fats” such as olive oil and the oils from nuts and oily fish. Finally, one of the most important elements in your diet is water – drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Burgers, fries and sugar-filled drinks should be avoided. If you want your body to perform properly, then you need to give it the right fuel, particularly if you are a bodybuilding beginner. If you want to build muscle mass, you must feed your body properly. Fast food will fill you full of fat and sugar and consequently will drain you of energy. You will not feel like doing your bodybuilding workouts and so will put on weight. Stick to your muscle mass workout diet and succeed in progressing from being a bodybuilding beginner to a bodybuilder with a body you are proud of.
For many bodybuilders, getting into the gym and working up a sweat can be the highlight of the week. Your time in the gym gives you time to clear your mind, a time to re-focus on the important things, an opportunity to forget about work and all it entails. However, you do need to take a break from your muscle mass workout programme every so often.
Your weightlifting exercises are doing your body good; you’re using up fat, you’re building up muscle mass and you’re making your body into a more efficient working machine. To be effective, however, you must consider pacing yourself properly. It’s easy to overdo it, and if you don’t take proper breaks and rest periods, your exercise workout will be inefficient and you will not be building muscle mass as quickly as you would like.
The benefits of regular exercise are obvious. You feel better, you look better, your body works more efficiently and you live longer, but it is important to make sure that your exercise regime includes time to have a break and relax. Working flat out can be very detrimental to your health, especially at the outset of a training programme. You can ‘burn yourself out’, both physically and mentally, so be prepared to be aware of how your body feels and make sure that you have regular relaxation breaks to allow your body to recover. Overdoing exercise can do you more harm than not exercising at all.
If you make the mistake of letting your exercise take over your life, you are missing out on all the other things that you need to be happy and healthy. It’s like having a balanced diet. We all get a lot of pleasure out of eating fatty foods, but you can’t live off them for a long time without them having an adverse effect.
When the body is relaxed and happy it releases chemicals which help to maintain a good mental balance. Without this mental wellbeing, an exercise regime will do you no good. If you feel mentally unsettled, frustrated or angry, you won’t feel the benefit. It’s to do with thinking of the body and mind as a whole. They both need to be working efficiently for you to feel good and to enjoy life.
Benefits of Bodybuilding
So, why go to all the trouble of building up your body? What is the point of all the exercise, the diet and the discipline? So, why take up bodybuilding? We explore some of the benefits of body building.
Some of the reasons why people take up bodybuilding are obvious. To start with, you’ll feel better. An efficient body will work better and make you feel better. A good physique gives an individual confidence. You’ll be more sure of yourself, you’ll sleep better and you’ll find physical tasks that much easier to do. You’ll be able to lift things more easily. You’ll be able to run or swim for longer and with greater ease.
In addition, you may be admired, not only by the opposite sex, but also by your fellow man. Most people are attracted to a good physique and associate it with power and strength. Some people body build simply to stop others regarding them as weaklings. Many do it simply for the personal challenge of self-improvement. Whatever the reason, it requires commitment, organisation and hard work if you are to succeed.
You may need to be stronger for the work you do. You may be one of those people who regularly find themselves straining and getting out of breath when faced with the slightest of physical tasks. Bodybuilding will make all the difference.
It’s good for your body and the discipline is good for your mind.
How often have you seen someone perform a physical act on television or in the sports arena and wished that you could do that? How often have you wondered if it’s too late for you to get your body into shape? With the right attitude, the right training and the right diet, it can be done. Take up bodybuilding and experience the many positive benefits that this sport will give you.
