Five Simple Steps to Body Building

When it comes to bodybuilding, there are many rules and routines that one must follow in order to successfully achieve a perfectly sculpted body. Here are a few rules about weight training and gaining muscle everyone can easily follow.

The first rule is about dieting. For people who wish to gain weight and lean muscle mass, eating at least four to six meals a day is essential. These meals should be eaten every two to three hours. This is an important rule because eating only three square meals a day will provide nutrition to the body for just a few hours. If the body feels it needs more nutrition, a starvation mechanism will activate and the body will begin to consume its own fat and muscle. Eating six meals a day will give the body constant nutrition throughout the entire day, saturating the body with protein, carbohydrates and fats.

With your body saturated and filled with plenty of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, lifting is the next step. In order to stress your muscles and shock them into growing, compound exercises such as the bench press and squats are essential to any training routine. Compound exercises allow for maximum efficiency and recruits as many muscle groups as possible, shocking your muscles into growing. Bench press, for example, not only works the chest but also your shoulders, deltoids and triceps. These synergistic muscles help relieve direct work from the main muscle group, allowing faster recovery time and increasing the growth process.

Another simple and easy rule to follow is to keep your work-out time within seventy-five minutes in the gym. Working out more than that will over train the body and will actually cause your cortisol levels to rise, resulting in a degradation of your muscles. In addition to keeping your work-out sessions under seventy-five minutes, remember to train every other day. Training and stressing your muscles day after day will over-train your body. Not only are your muscles being worked out but your nervous system is also being stressed. It's not just your muscles that need a rest. Your entire BODY needs the rest. Your body only needs a specific amount of stress to stimulate muscle growth; too much stress will only lead to muscle degradation.

Immediately after your training session, drink a protein drink mixed with a little maltodextrine, dextrose or any simple carbohydrate to boost your insulin levels. Research has shown that a boost in insulin levels after training stimulates protein synthesis which leads to quicker muscle growth and recovery. After training for at least six weeks, take a two week break from working out. Your body may hit a plateau from being used to all the stress. This two week break allows your body to recuperate and in many cases break your plateau level for bigger muscle growth.

The last rule, and most simple rule to follow, is to manage your anger and excitement. Just be cool. Don't over-exert yourself at work, home or anywhere else. Getting angry can cause excessive calorie burning, energy your body could be using to help grow your muscle.