There are many mistakes that a bodybuilder can make in their diet to not get the full results that they are looking for. The following are just a few of these mistakes. Avoiding these kinds of mistakes can get you moving in the right direction.
The first common mistake is using supplements all of the time or even as replacement for meals. A nutritional supplement is exactly that, a supplement. It is to be used if you cannot get the nutrients that you need in your daily diet. Using it on top of other foods or instead of food will never help you achieve the goals you have. There are some supplements that help build muscle or burn fat, but if you are not eating right along with the supplement, they will do little to no good for you.
Another big mistake that bodybuilders make is not drinking enough water. If you have a lot of muscle on your body or you are trying to gain more, drinking the standard eight cups of water a day is not going to cut it for you. Muscles increase your metabolism, and your metabolism burns fat and helps process the ingredients in food that you eat. If you do not get enough water into your body, it makes it harder for your body to break down complex nutrients, such as protein, which means it might not make it into your body.Also, by drinking plenty of water, you reduce your risk of fluid retention, which can give the appearance of weight gain. It is recommended that a bodybuilder drink at least ten cups of water a day. You need to drink even more during the summer when it is very warm outside and during and after work out sessions, because you are sweating so much.
A huge mistake most bodybuilders make is eating too much or too little protein. It is so easy to get protein nowadays, especially with protein bars, shakes, powders, etc. In order to gain on muscle, you need to eat one gram of protein for each pound of lean bodyweight per day. If you spread this number out across six meals when you are starting that is great. As you progress, and your training get harder and you want to build more muscle you can build the amount of protein you need. You want to increase the intake slowly, though, moving no more than .10 or .15 grams at a time.
Similar to protein, many bodybuilders eat the wrong kinds of carbohydrates. Most bodybuilders will eat just any kind of carbs they can find. But not all carbs are the same and too much of bad carbs can cause you to simply gain weight, not muscle. You should look for a diet that helps you eat complex carbs. Complex carbs will take longer to digest, and burn more fat while being digested.
The fifth big mistake that bodybuilders make is cheating with their meals too often. Making the choice to be a bodybuilder requires a lot of commitment, especially when it comes to your diet. It is okay to cheat every once in awhile, but some people slowly start to cheat more and more, until they are gaining fat and losing any momentum they had.
A great idea for body builders is to make a menu for each week. Then have a friend or family member make sure you are sticking to the menu. If you cheat on one of your meals that was not planned as a cheat meal, they will be the ones to make sure you follow it the rest of the week. Accountability plus personal discipline is a great formula for success in bodybuilding.
Need more ideas? Here are some successful Body Building Techniques
The most successful body building techniques incorporate proven weight routines. A weight routine is a set of exercises, done in repetition, that develops specific parts of the body. For example, to build chest muscles, a body builder may use a weight routine that incorporates flat bench press (3 repetitions), bench dumbbell (2 repetitions) and inclined bench press (3 repetitions). The other important function a weight routine serves is to split a training program so different muscle groups are used.
Building Biceps
Dumbbells are a common piece of equipment used to build bigger biceps. The most popular technique to get the desired result is to hold the dumbbell closer to the inside of the plates. Routines for building biceps include dumbbell curls either inclined or standing, or both.
Building Chest Muscle
Good chest muscle building exercises are routines that incorporate bench presses and flyes. An even more effective way to build chest muscle is to split the chest into 3 zones – upper, middle and lower. By working each separately, using exercises that specifically target that area, you can build up some impressive chest muscle fairly quickly.
For instance, do your upper chest exercises on a 30-45% incline bench. Incline barbell and incline dumbbell flyes are excellent for working upper chest muscles. On the other hand, the lower chest muscles are best exercised using a 30-45% decline bench. You would use decline barbell and decline dumbbell flyes to build these muscles. A flat bench works best for the middle chest muscles. So you’d do flat barbell and flat dumbbell flyes on a flat bench.
Moving Onto Shoulder Training
The shoulders are made up of 3 main muscles – the lateral, anterior and posterior deltoids. Effective shoulder training to get big shoulders requires working all 3. The anterior deltoid usually gets some work in chest workouts. To build up the lateral and posterior deltoids requires additional exercises targeting these two muscles. Generally the best way to do this is with heavy barbell and dumbbell pressing in short reps as opposed to a lot of rep work with lighter weights. You should also focus on shoulder exercises that work effectively with progressive overload, a technique used to progressively add more weight to what is being lifted.
Matching Up The Back With Back Exercises
The back is one area many body builders overlook. But if you want your back to match up with those impressive chest, shoulder and bicep muscles, you will need to include back exercises in your bodybuilding routine.
Good workouts for the Lower Trapezius or lower back muscles include stiff-legged good mornings and hyper-extensions. For the middle back muscles or Rhomboids, you can do a seated cable row and bent-over barbell rows. Your Latissimus Dorsi will benefit from wide-grip lat pull-downs and pull-ups. And last but not least, try upright rows and barbell shrugs for your Trapezius.
But before starting any body-building workout, be sure to warm up properly. This will reduce the risk of damaging muscles and tendons. Stretch the muscles you’re going to be working. Also avoid lifting more weight than your body can capably handle to avoid serious injury.