You’ve been hitting the gym fairly regularly these days. Up to this point, you’ve been spending a lot of time on the treadmill and the exercise bike. But, each time you go, you feel a deeper and deeper desire to pursue bodybuilding.
That’s why you’re here: you’re ready to get started, and you want to know how it’s done. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place. Here is our full guide on how to become a bodybuilder.
Focus on the Diet
This might shock you, but lifting weights is not the most important part of bodybuilding. Do you know what it is? Your diet.
If you’re not furnishing your body with the right nutrients, you’re going to have an extremely difficult time building muscle. In most cases, you’ll have trouble increasing your strength as well.
So, what does a good bodybuilding diet look like? We’ll discuss some of the specifics below.
Getting the Adequate Number of Calories
If you want to gain muscle, you need to consume more calories than your body burns. Gaining muscle while in a caloric deficit is possible but difficult. And it’s certainly not something that a beginner bodybuilder should be attempting.
See, calories provide energy to the muscles. If there aren’t enough calories in the body, not enough energy can be provided.
As such, you need to find your caloric maintenance number and exceed it by between 250 and 500 calories a day. How do you find your caloric maintenance number? Well, you could use an online tool.
Note, though, that these aren’t 100% accurate. In truth, you just need to experiment a bit until you get a good feel for it.
Count your calories and determine whether they’re causing you to gain or lose weight. Then, adjust slowly until your weight stagnates.
Splitting the Macronutrients Correctly
The bodybuilding diet is highly focused on macronutrient splits. The macronutrients include protein, fat, and carbohydrates. If you’re eating too much of any of these, you will struggle to increase muscle mass.
Now, what is a good macronutrient split? A standard bodybuilding split would be 55% carbs, 30% protein, and 15% fat. This would mean that, out of all the macronutrients you eat in a day, 55% of them are carbs, 30% of them are proteins, and 15% of them are fats.
There can be some variation here, but this is a good place to start.
Identifying Bodybuilding-friendly Foods
Now, it can be difficult to find foods that accommodate your caloric limits and macronutrient splits. But rest assured, they’re out there.
Some of the best bodybuilding foods include grilled chicken, fish, dairy products, and smoothies. Many bodybuilders use whey protein powders, as it’s high in protein, low in calories, and easy to incorporate into most foods.
For more information on the matter, read this.
Establish a Weightlifting Routine
We’ve discussed the diet. Now, let’s talk about the weightlifting routine. To gain strength and muscle, you need to engage in muscle building exercises, generally at least 3 times a week.
Though there are many different types of weightlifting routines out there for you to utilize, as a beginner, you should be focusing on routines that feature compound exercises. These include lifts that hit several muscle groups (i.e., squats, deadlifts, benchpresses, etc.).
Generally speaking, it’s wise for beginners to get their strength up as quickly as possible. This is best accomplished by doing full-body workouts 3 days a week, lifting as heavy as possible at each workout. Doing this will eventually get you out of the beginner stage, at which point you can pursue more complex exercise routines.
Muscle Building Tips
Lifting weights is both physically and mentally strenuous. As such, it’s not uncommon for new bodybuilders to get burnt out. To keep yourself going, do the following.
1. Track Your Progress
First and foremost, you need to track your progress. Record your weights and reps for every exercise you do. Then, gradually scale up from workout to workout.
Not only will this help you to get consistently stronger, but it will also ensure that you’re always progressing. This is important for your self-esteem.
2. Eat Before Lifting
When you go to the gym to lift, you want to be firing on all cylinders. You can’t do this if you lack energy.
How do you ensure that you have enough energy to lift? By eating right before you go to the gym.
3. Rest
You can’t become a bodybuilder without exercise. That said, you can’t become a bodybuilder without rest, either. Resting your muscles (and your body and mind in general) is just as important as working them.
You should leave at least a day of rest between the working out of a muscle group. So, if you hit the chest hard on Monday, you should wait until at least Wednesday to do so again. If you’re doing full-body workouts, you should avoid exercise completely on your days off.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re getting plenty of sleep. Make sure to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. This is necessary not only for the building of your muscles but for the health of your mind as well.
4. Consider Supplements
Eating a good diet alone can get you the bodybuilding results you want. That said, they’re bound to get you there slowly.
If you want to speed up the process, you should consider taking supplements. Supplements improve your energy levels, allowing you to maximize every workout you have. As a starter in supplements, read this article about how to take SARMS.
And That’s How to Become a Bodybuilder
And there it is; that’s how to become a bodybuilder. Put these tips into action, and, soon enough, you’ll have the physique you’ve only dreamed about.
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