Bodybuilding of Arnold
...uilders, and it is they who organise - Mr. Olympia. So how do you go about gaining muscle? The general strategy adopted by competitive bodybuilders is to make muscle gains for most of the year and approximately 3-4 months from competition attempt to lose body fat. In doing this some muscle will be lost but the aim is to keep this to a minimum. There are many approaches used but most involve reducing calorie intake and increasing cardio. I know you all want to know what the secret is behind this; hard work and determination is the secret. In order to achieve muscle growth, bodybuilders focus in three main lines of action: • Resistance weight training • Specialized nutrition • Adequate rest to assist growth Resistance weight training causes tears to the muscles being trained. These tears in the muscle contribute to the soreness felt after exercise. It is the repair to these tears that result in muscle growth. The high levels of muscle growth and repair achieved by bodybuilders require a much specialised diet. Bodybuilders usually split their food intake for the day into 5 to 7 meals of roughly equal nutritional content and attempt to eat at regular intervals. This is thought to allow greater absorption of nutrients. It is recommended that bodybuilders receive 1 to 2 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight to help the body recover and build. Many bodybuilders prefer to alternate between solid food and protein powders. It is believed that the best times for bodybuilders to intake protein is immediately following a workout and before going to sleep. Supplements can help muscle gain, although some are unproven and many are ineffective. One supplement which has been proven to help bodybuilders gain and maintain size (without unhealthy short term side effects) is creatine. Some bodybuilders may use drugs to gain an advantage especially in professional competitions. Although many of these substances are illegal in many countries, in professional bodybuilding anabolic steroids are used in high level competitions. Some negative side-effects accompany steroid abuse, such as liver damage and a decline in the body's own testosterone production, which can cause your testicles to shrink and possible infertility. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is also used by some of the larger bodybuilders. HGH is incredibly expensive. The most common problem in bodybuilding is overtraining. It refers to when a bodybuilder has trained hard over the course of a training schedule and is extremely fatigued due to lack of required rest from previous workouts. This is thought to decrease muscle growth and inhibit strength gains. It is thought that muscles need between 2-3 days to recover fully. Related to overtraining is rest. Without adequate rest and sleep, muscles do not have an opportunity to recover and build. About eight hours of sleep a night is desirable for the bodybuilder to be refreshed a...