Bodybuilding Workouts to Gain Strength and Confidence!

Bodybuilding workouts are sets of some specific individual movements which you perform during your exercises that complete the transformation of your body. You need various routine activities to make your body in good shape and condition.

In this article, you will learn about how bodybuilding workouts can effectively bring about change to your physical appearance and performance!

Bodybuilding workouts give your body the transformation you need to boost your strength and endurance for strenuous activities. From just training and conditioning your body for other familiar sports, bodybuilding now has also been acknowledged as a serious competitive sport. It happened when people became obsessed with the perfect physique of the human body, wherein the goal is to lose most, if not all, of nonessential body fats and make the muscles more defined.

But in this article, we will focus more on how to use it to maintain a good shape and condition of your body. And hopefully, as a reader, you may give more importance to bodybuilding workouts to improve your health, and also gain confidence and self-esteem in work and life.

So first off, you need to make sure your body type and the various parts of your body to lose the nonessential fats and build more muscles. If you are now decided, you can choose the different types of bodybuilding workouts and equipment you need to use.

Doing bodybuilding workouts is not for the faint of heart. You will need not only patience and discipline of your mind and body but the determination to focus and reach the goals you have set. So, here are some quick tips to guide you on your workouts. These tips are going to help you achieve your body goals.

Bodybuilding Workouts Quick Tips

For beginners, choosing the right equipment is very important. You can start with the necessary equipment like a set of dumbbells and barbells. As you read along, you will learn about the different equipment that you can use in most training facilities, or you may buy and build for your personal gym.

Do some warm-up exercises

If you are now ready to lift some weights, always make sure that you start with warm-up exercises first to condition your nerves, bones and muscles. Squats, deadlift, and barbell bench press can be kick-start exercises. As you will do some other activities other than those, you should know the proper stance and form of each use.

Know your muscle group and workout schedules

Our body has a different muscle group. Your muscles in your arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back and legs should have scheduled exercises weekly. It is essential that you have a workout program. As a beginner, you will need a professional trainer to guide you in your workout. Another option is to focus on the basic exercises at home with a video tutorial. For more serious bodybuilding workouts, you can go to your fitness or training facilities in your community.

However, for you to be able to reach your body goals, you need to allow a maximum of four days and a minimum of three days per week for your workout. When you have the proper programming of your bodybuilding workouts, you can increase your exercises every two weeks. Make sure always to have the appropriate posture and never forget a weightlifting belt for lower back protection and other straps and braces for your knees and wrists. Always keep this in mind to prevent your muscles and tendons from unnecessary wear and damage. Any sudden increase in your workout can result in severe damage to your body, including bone fracture.

Food intake for your muscles

Of course, you should always eat the required food with good proper nutrition rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Drink lots of fluids that are high in electrolytes. Adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables can also help your body to recover fast. Never skip a meal when you are doing your workouts. Avoid junk foods, alcoholic beverages, smoking and other harmful vices as this would ruin your body goals. Also, you will need enough sleep to provide enough rest to your body.

Factors that may affect your Bodybuilding Workouts

Other than harmful vices, you will be encountering other factors that may affect your bodybuilding workouts. Most common in all the health condition issues you can have is about your muscle growth and development.

Bodybuilders surpass muscle growth by increasing the capacity to lift. Weight lifting in proper form can create changes in your muscles. These changes to your muscles can lead your body to have more strength and power.

However, the sudden shift of exercises can damage your muscles, which may affect the building of new tissues. Activities that involve lower bicep curl can do more harm than an upper bicep curl. Injuries like a bicep strain or even a tear can happen if you will be brash in your bodybuilding program. Make sure you perform these exercises in average duration. You can have less repetition (reps) for about 45 to 30 seconds of activities. Let’s make sure that we never get hurt or sick in our road to a lean and fit body.

Training before Bodybuilding Workouts Plan

What you can do to prepare your body for a full-time bodybuilding workouts plan is to undergo regular lifting and training. Having enough practice can help your body muscles grow and develop faster and recover in a shorter time. It is essential for beginners who want to be involved in bodybuilding workouts.

Proper training always follows a good plan that may focus on each muscle group or do workouts for the entire muscle group. You can start with some basic training then level it up to full-blown workouts. There are techniques in doing workouts, which can help your routine more comfortable to follow. Make sure you always keep a record of the exercises you have been doing while training. So, it will be less hard for you to determine your workout plans later on.

Preparation for your Workout Plans

Bodybuilding workouts can be challenging for those who are beginning to be in this line of getting physically healthy. For beginners, it will be, literally, a massive change in your physique and body structure.

Preparations for workouts should start with yourself since you will be going to establish your focus and discipline. So, before you begin to have some exercises, make sure you have the time and enough determination. Time is precious for everyone. Therefore, bodybuilders should balance time for their workouts, family, job and other essential things.

Also, you will need to determine what kind of body movements you will execute for certain body parts of yours. The specific parts of your body need distinct exercises to enhance and make your muscles more pronounced.

For your front legs, you can do squats, lunges and box jumps. Deadlifts, hip raises, good mornings and step-ups can bring shape to the muscles behind your legs, especially your glutes. On your shoulders and triceps muscle parts, you can do overhead press, bench press, incline dumbbell press, push-ups, and dips. The movement to pull your muscles in your back, biceps, and grip includes pull-ups, bodyweight rows and dumbbell rows. Last, your muscles and lower back need planks, side planks, and exercise ball crunches, mountain climbers, jumping knee tucks, and hanging leg raise.

These exercises need appropriate sets and reps to see the full effect in your body. In doing sets and reps, avoid doing many activities with 10 sets in each body part. Excluding training and warm-up, you can have about three to five sets per exercise. You can repeat the sets up to 8-10 times.

Know your limitations in your workouts

Bodybuilding workouts need time for each exercise before proper execution. For instance, you can rest for about a maximum of five minutes for three repetitions of the heavy lifting for strength and power. With four to seven repetitions, you can have about two to three minutes of rest.  And one-minute rest if you will make 13 repetitions in lifting for endurance.

Well, you should do the heavy lifting as long as you can carry it. For at least 45 minutes and a maximum of one hour, make sure you follow your workout plans to maximize the time you have. If you go more than an hour, that can give an opposite effect in your body. Keep in mind that you need to have more intense workouts with less time consumed to get better results.

Intense but straightforward routines will be useful if you are enjoying it. Over time, you will get familiarize with these routines. Given that, you can add some additional movements or mix other exercises with your routine to get you off in getting bored with your workout. You can also swap your routines. But before doing this, you should consult your bodybuilder trainer or gym instructors for more accurate workout plans.

Your bodybuilding workouts according to your capacity

Your workout plans depending on your ability to maintain a perfectly shaped body. You can start with simple tasks as a beginner. Some strategies for a bodybuilding workout for beginners include squats and deadlifts. Always remember to have the proper posture and support in doing your squats and deadlifts. You can do these thrice a week. Make sure you do alternate exercises on this one.

Doing the upper and lower split is best for intermediate bodybuilding workout. You can do movements with your biceps, which can impact your back muscles as well. Also, you can do training on your lower body days. You can have this routine three to four times a week.

Preparing your body for more intense workouts, you can do movements in your legs, push and pull workouts. In this scenario, you will have three different sets of exercises weekly. These routines are for advanced bodybuilders. You will do movements for your legs, then chest, shoulders, triceps, and lastly back and biceps muscles. You can do this for four days a week with an alternate routine.

Adding more weights and more repetitions with your workout plans can be set as for advanced bodybuilders. You will need to focus on each body part; therefore, you will need more time to recover from each body part.

Perfect Attire to do your workouts

When doing exercises, either at home or your local fitness centers, you should always be in proper workout attire. The typical attire when doing your workouts will be the following: sports shoes, preferably those cross-training ones, dry-fit or sweatshirts and gym shorts for men.

Yoga pants or cotton leggings, gym shorts, cross-training shoes, sports bra and comfortable shirts can be wearing of women. Also, make sure you wear socks, carry a face towel, and bring hair ties or bandanas to the gym. Further, never wear jewelry and accessories that may harm you when you do your workouts.

Always remember that you’re not there to do a fashion show but do your regular workout to get a well-defined, sleek and fit body.

The perfect equipment for your toned body shape

A perfectly shaped body can only be defined and achieved with appropriate equipment. You cannot transform your body in an instant or without doing some effort or any hardship. There are different equipment that you can choose for your workout.

Workout equipment at home

As a starter, you can have simple equipment that you can use at home. These are handy, which need only small storage space. Here are the lists of sports tools and weights that you can have:

Mini-looped resistance bands

Resistance bands will give more muscles to your glutes and hip as you will be using it to your lower body part exercises. You can use different bands that can provide you with varying resistance.

Jumping Rope

This is a standard exercise tool that is good for a cardiovascular workout. It can give you an overall movement with just a long string.

Mini foam roller

A balancing tool is essential for your bodybuilding workouts plans. You need to practice your balance to be engaged and challenged.

Yoga Mat

Simple yoga mat does not always fit your routine, especially when you are getting too sweaty. But it can be useful for those who do yoga and exercise preparations.

Dumbbells

Your dumbbells have always been a staple and the essential tool for weightlifting. It is either adjustable or fixed weight. It can be light or heavy as to your capacity. Women are commonly the patrons of dumbbells. It is also best for isolated muscle exercises and heavy lifting.

Kettlebell

This tool is not the same as your usual dumbbells. Kettlebell increases your strength by putting heavyweight in your workout. You can use kettlebell during squats, overhead pressed and deadlifts.

Equipment for Training Facilities

For bodybuilding workouts, simple and necessary equipment are not enough to create a perfect and toned body. Besides the dumbbells and kettlebells, you will need the interventions of advanced workout tools to have your body goals.

The appropriate bodybuilding equipment is designed to use by professional or advanced learners. In a training facility, you will find the gear that will cater to your needs. Therefore, we are providing you with the list to know what kind of equipment you will need to use.

Squat track

This equipment gives you a full body exercise, which focuses on thighs, hips and glutes, quads. It also increases your bones and ligaments strength.

Barbells

In using barbells, it involves all your body muscles. Since it was developed for strength training, you need to use it carefully. Avoid careless handling of barbells and always seek for the trainer’s guidance.

Bench Press

This equipment is used for upper body training exercises that can build strength. While lying on your back, it can empower your biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest and upper back.

Incline Bench Press

Unlike the ordinary bench press, the incline bench press focuses on a single muscle part. You can observe that pressure is applied in your shoulders and triceps.

Cable and Pulleys

You will need this equipment if you want an overall effect on your body muscles. By attaching your grips at the end of the cables, you will feel the strength in your chest and shoulder areas.

Pull-up Bar

Among other equipment, this will give you the exercise you need for strength. By pulling yourself up, you will make a grip and hand position that will demonstrate resistance on your biceps and triceps.

Smith Machine

If you want to have a perfect squat form, you can use this machine. By doing so, it enhances your strength to your shoulder, triceps, and traps.

Preacher Bench

Do you want to train your biceps for a perfect barbell lifting? You can use the preacher bench to focus training on your biceps, brachialis and forearms. It is good beginner equipment for weight lifting.

Lat Pulldown Machine

Lat pulldown machine is best to keep your muscles at upper and lower back in good shape. Your biceps and lats can be beneficial by pulling downwards toward you while keeping your elbows and back straight.

Leg Extension Machine

This is the perfect equipment if you are trying to do a self-therapy to your injury. You can also use this to prevent any muscle damage in your legs.

Leg Curl Machine

Leg curl machine is the equipment that will tone and shape up your legs. Just lay your stomach while facing the floor then lift your legs upwards towards your lower back. You need to squeeze your top and hold for a second or two your hamstrings.

Abdominal Bench

This equipment focuses on your abdominal muscles. It keeps you to perform lifting without weakening your abdominal muscles.

Let us work out those stiff shoulders

Now that you are familiar with most of the equipment, we can focus on different muscle parts of your body. Let us start with bodybuilding workouts for shoulders, shall we?

Shoulders are one of the most in-demand parts of your body. It is the foundation of your everyday tasks. Therefore you have to secure the strength and endurance of your shoulders. Among the parts of your body, your shoulder can do a full rotation in 360 degrees.

But some people experienced having stiffed shoulders from time to time. Upon waking up or doing heavy chores at home, they observed painful limitations in their movement. As they have felt this, they tend to use muscle pain reliever from time to time. Many don’t realize that little changes in your shoulder muscles cause the pain.

Before starting to do bodybuilding workout shoulder for your muscles, you have to ensure that you have enough calories and protein intake. Poor diet also contributes to the poor performance of your muscles.

Workouts for muscles can include the barbell shoulder press that can enhance your shoulder functions. Exercises that you can do to strengthen are barbell shoulder press, dumbbell side laterals, and bent over dumbbell rear-delt raise.

For simple exercises, you can start using dumbbell with a more extended range of motion. By doing so, the joints of your shoulder will have the most weight. Then muscles from your front, middle, and rear shoulder will come to work on it.

Double the Workout with your Arms – Biceps and Triceps

After we work with your shoulders, let us do the workouts with your arms. Bodybuilding workout arms compose of your biceps, triceps and forearms. Balancing your exercises in these three is somehow challenging.

For instance, if your workout will focus on your biceps and triceps, you will create an imbalance build with your forearms. Doing bodybuilding workouts for biceps and triceps, you have to consider balancing to your entire arms.

Bodybuilding workout for arms include bicep workout—you can do barbell and dumbbell curls. Bodybuilding workout arms will enhance muscles function in your upper arm between elbow and shoulder. You can also try doing hammer curls and reverse curls for the muscles in the lower portion of your upper arm, connecting the bottom half of the bicep of your forearm.

To balance your tricep workout, you can do a lying tricep press and close-grip bench press. These exercises will make the muscles below the portion of your upper arm between the elbow and your shoulder.

Make sure that your workout for your triceps and bicep are the same intensity and volume of repetitions and sets.

Easy bodybuilding workout for your forearms

The routine with your triceps and biceps should be applied the same with your forearm workouts. However, you will need more patience to build your forearms to balance with your triceps and biceps.

To build well-shaped forearms, you will need to do the palm-up barbell wrist curls over the bend. This forearms workout will define and create more muscles under your arm. Also, you can have palm down barbell wrist curls over the bench to build strength on the top and outer portions of your forearm.

Moreover, easy workout for your forearm can be achieved by doing the following tips.

1. Exercise your grip by holding something in your hand. Make sure you should only lift weights that you can keep. Over time, you can add some weights or plates as long as you feel lighter with the current grip that you have.
2. Do your regular bicep curls and chin ups but make sure your hands or palms are facing to each other. By doing this, muscles in your forearm can create more grip, building more stamina for your forearms.
3. Create more force by finding other options aside from barbells and dumbbells.
4. Do some extra movements like climbing or pulling up some things in your training facility. These workouts can enhance muscle functions in your forearms.

Precise Bodybuilding workouts for your chest muscles

Your chest muscle is essential for perfect upper body shape. And to have the ideal form, you will need to make sure you are doing your routine correctly.

For instance, rest your glutes on your bench. When doing an exercise for your chest, your recommended secured position is lying down while weightlifting. As you will do this, never raise your glutes to lift more weight. According to experts, by boosting your glutes, you are more prone to have an injury. So, keep your glutes and hips firmly stuck to your bench while doing your workouts.

One of the bodybuilding workouts for chest muscles that you can do is dumbbell pullover. This bodybuilding chest workout enhances your chest muscles by creating pressured weight and motion that will keep your elbows fixed, and closing and opening your arms in front of your body. You can do push up which strengthen your chest, arms and shoulder muscles. Different workouts that you can do are a pec-deck flyer, decline bench press, cable crossover, dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell fly, incline bench press, reverse-grip bench press, and bench press.

As you will do these exercises for your chest, make sure your trainers will assist you. As a beginner in bodybuilding workout, you will need guidance from a professional trainer.

Create Abs muscles with an excellent workout

Now, let us move on to perfect core muscles through bodybuilding workouts abs. You can do some of the exercises like superman plank, hollow body rocks, side plank, and dead bug.

For superman plank, this workout can make your body to have an advanced level core exercises. You can start in plank position and begin to raise your left and right foot off the floor simultaneously.

In hollow body rocks workout, lying on your back is the first step. Then you can raise both your hands and feet. You will need your head, chest and legs off the ground, forming like a human rocking chair. Your movement should be back and forth to create pressure in your abdomen muscles.

Moreover, you can do side planks on your left and right. This workout leg involves with your hip and knee on its side position. Your motion will be compared to as one who is doing cycling. Your body should be in a straight line when you begin to raise your top leg. You can do this both to your left and right positioning.

Lastly, you can still have in your list, this abs workout bodybuilding technique—the dead bug. To do this, you should be in a lying position with your heel barely tapping the floor. Performing this exercise, you need to extend your arms and legs alternately. If you will reach your right arm, the opposite goes with your left leg. If you extend your left arm, then the right leg will do the opposite as well.

Learn to appreciate well-built back muscles

Did you know that you can develop your muscles in your back? Well, there are bodybuilding workouts back that was designed to define them. As this is a large muscle group, you will have to add more volume and intensity to your back muscle workout. Make sure that you will do the exercises for your back in a perfect form.

Correctly built muscles at your back are a sign that you are doing your workout accurately. To maintain your workout, you need to continue doing the next bodybuilding workout back:

1. For lower back, you need to do the hyperextension and stiff-legged good mornings. These exercises pinpoint the cause of your problem in the scapula. So, you will create movement at the top of your buttocks and bottom of your spine.
2. For the middle portion of your back, the exercises that you need to do are bent-over barbell rows and seated cable row. These muscles are interconnected with your scapula and the spinal column since it is placed in the middle part. It provides rotation of the scapula.
3. For the muscles in your back that center aligned with your armpit or what we called lats, you will need to do pull-ups, and wide-grip pull down.
4. Your traps in your back need workouts like barbell shrugs and upright rows.

Workout your legs to have better support

The importance of bodybuilding workouts for legs is as essential with your stamina in your arms. Many skips to do workout leg training because they believe that they already have strong legs. But without proper leg workouts, muscles in your legs tend to tear apart when they are not prepared for intense activities. You will feel a burning sensation, shaking and in some way, your legs will resist if your force beyond what it has been prepared for.

To prevent this from happening, you can do the following activities to make your legs strong and capable of intense activities.

1. Barbell full squat

It involves extension and flexion when the hip is in pull out position. It pinpoints the portion of your upper leg and knee.

2. Hack squats and Leg extensions

This is the exercise when your hip is flexed while in pull out position. It locates your muscles in front of your legs.

3. Barbell Lunges

It increases movements in your hip joint and knee bending capability. It strengthens muscles in the middle part of your thigh.

4. Lying Leg Curl

It targets specific muscle areas in your back middle side of the thigh. It improves axial rotation in your hip joint and knee.

5. Seated Leg Curl

The lower inner portion at the back of your thigh is the muscles to workout in this exercise. It improves knee flexion and hip extension.

6. Standing Calf Raises and Seated Calf Raise

You will also need to upgrade your ankle flexion. So, we are doing this exercise to increase the function of the back portion of your lower leg.

Bodybuilding for Women: A quick start

Bodybuilding workouts are not only for men. Women can also do bodybuilding. There are many ways to start exercises for women without making things complicated for them.

You can still maintain your feminine look and appeal. How can this happen? Here are a few tips to start your bodybuilding workouts plans. According to fitness experts, you can achieve your goal in a 90-day workout.

Workout tip # 1: Thrice a week in do your workout in your fitness center to test your barbells. You can start by doing simple squat and bench lifting. Then after a while, you can increase your weights as long as you develop muscles initially.

Workout Tip # 2: Choose the right cardio. Sometimes your favourite cardio is not the appropriate cardio for your body. Cardio exercises include biking, running and swimming. If you are running, you could alternate it with sprint, walking or jogging. Make this routine about ten minute’s training daily.

Workout Tip # 3: Your eating habits and lifestyles are the keys to maintain your body shape. Even if you are doing well with your workouts, it should be included in your routine. Make sure that you have a meal plan for the week. It will prevent yourself from eating other unhealthy foods.

Workout for Health Benefits

Doing exercises will sure give you benefits aside from well-toned body shape and confidence to your body. In many ways, bodybuilders experienced many improvements with their health.

Here are the lists of benefits in doing bodybuilding workouts:

1. It increases metabolism and normalizes blood pressure. With your workout plans, you can reduce chronic diseases symptoms. Regular exercises mean a lot to our health.
2. All the good moods of people doing exercises are because of the chemical from the brain called endorphin. Given this, it will make you worry less and reduce negative emotions that will threaten your sleep.
3. People having more exercises compared to those who have no time in exercising had lesser stress. Stress brought many adverse effects in our life once it was there. So, to avoid stress, you need to make a plan for doing regular workouts. Doing exercise is a medium to relieve yourself from stress.
4. You can feel the same with anxiety and depression. One way to address some negative feelings is to do regular workouts. The effect of treating at an early stage the depression and anxiety can be felt as you will get older.
5. Workouts relieve tension and stress; therefore, it can relax any one’s mind. It leaves a positive impact on the psychological and physical health of an individual.
6. Bodybuilding workouts increase your focus and concentration. Having an active lifestyle improves your mental capacity.
7. Food absorption, when doing regular workouts, are strictly healthy foods. Rich in calorie and protein are the essential foods if you are doing bodybuilding workouts.
8. Water is essential while doing workouts. You need to keep your body hydrated. Most importantly, you need your brain to detoxified and oxygenated.

Thoughts to Ponder:

In doing bodybuilding workouts, it is essential to know your capability as future bodybuilders. As beginners, you will need the full guide from a professional trainer. Indeed, it is beneficial to learn more about bodybuilding. But there are side effects.

The side effects can be experienced if you are doing your workout improperly. You can experience dehydration, not eating enough food, an overdose of multivitamins, taking dangerous stimulants and not enough sleep.

Make sure that you are doing your workout correctly. It is crucial to balance your workout for perfect form body. Making balance and well-toned body shape, it has a good effect over time.

Furthermore, you can maintain the excellent body shape you desire by eating the right food and doing the same routine exercise. Making yourself fit both mentally and physically can make a difference in your life. In terms of judgment and self-control, you can also achieve a connection between mind and body.

To wrap up, bodybuilding workouts with proper skills and equipment can help you achieve your goals to have perfect and well-toned muscles.