BODYBUILDING for DUMMIES

"I'm not telling you it is going to be easy
I'm telling you it's going to be worth it "

Assalamualaikum (May Peace be upon you)

I'm sure everyone of us have stared in the mirror admiring those side fats or spare tires or even some nice flabby stomach action when you wear something tight and then you go saying something like 

" ITS TIME TO CHANGE MAN "

" ITS TIME TO TAKE MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS "

" I WANT MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL PHYSIQUE BACK "

If you are anyone of the above, reading this article may just get you one step closer to your goals. I'm going to break it down as simple and as general as I can so you guys can have a clear cut about the basics of bodybuilding. Just so you know I am not a professional bodybuilder and everything is based on my experience and some reading. I find it quite easy to bring up or down my weight within a range of 8-10 kg's with my training program. No harm sharing the knowledge and ways that I have just for the sake of helping others.

First of all by definition bodybuilders are people who lift weights in order to build strength, endurance, shape their muscles and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So yeah my 6 year old niece at home picking up my dumbbell can also be considered a 'bodybuilder'.

Commonly when people talk about losing weight or fat, the first exercise that comes to their mind isss ?? JOGGING... jogging (cardio) is a great way to lose fat not to mention MUSCLE MASS too.

I personally don't want to end up like the guy on the left due to muscle catabolism ( breakdown ) because of too much cardio.

which body do you prefer?
Marathon runner or Sprinter?

Lifting weights have become something exclusive for muscular people with HD abs huge arms and stuff and this phenomenon somehow causes inferiority complex among those who are out of shape to hit the gym or even step inside one without feeling shy.

" If you know you're out of shape, all the more reason for you to be in the gym than anybody else "

PREPARE your MENTAL first before reading any further : 

• don't expect overnight miracles
• takes time, focus, and consistency
• set realistic goals
• consult your physician if you have a medical problem
• start off SLOWLY
• get ready to change your physique..!!

Now lets get down to business. Once you're mentally prepared you need to have an over view of your training style from A-Z and I'll walk you through it.

Body types

Generally there are 3 different body types :

Ectomorph  - extremely thin with a very fast metabolism

Endomorph - usually overweight with a slow metabolism
Mesomorph - athletically build and usually classified as an easy gainer

So which one are you?

The reason you need to know which category you fall in is because it will help you create a training program that is suitable for your body type and help you get closer to your goal.

Workouts

I'm no expert I can tell you that but I can share what i've been doing and what works best for me during this couple of years. So here is how I break it down

those CALVES...!!

• saturday - shoulder & calves
• sunday - biceps & triceps
• monday - national chest day 
• tuesday - back & forearm 
• wednesday - 
• thursday - don't skip leg day
• friday - rest

If you notice wednesday is empty and thats actually the day I work my other body parts which are lacking behind or i'll just have good quality rest day (lazyy)

Now off all the days listed, take a wild guess which day is the most important in my training program?

Its FRIDAY - REST DAY

Bare in mind that your muscle fibres ( micro ) are torn in the gym but grows when you're sleeping or resting. Its very important to have adequate rest to give a chance for your muscles to recover and become stronger.

Now for beginners I would recommend learning the form first of any exercise before hand whether through youtube ( I find it much useful ) or ask a friend who knows what he's doing in the gym to give some pointers. Secondly is to get the 'feel' of the movement that you're doing so that you're comfortable. 

What you MUSN'T do is go into the gym and lift as heavy as you can. This is what I often see in the gym. You will not gain anything from it rather you're risking yourself to injury. People tend to show off in the gym by lifting as heavy as they can with horrible form. Proper form and technique should be used to maximize your gains. 

It doesn't have to be SUPER heavy as long as you get 8-12 reps (repititions ). In this field you do not want to get injured AT ALL trust me cause once injured it will be nasty and takes some time to fully recover. So stay SAFE!

" Do Not Sacrifice Form and Technique at All Cost "

There are a few patterns of workout you could use for example :

• Pyramid set - start off with a fairly light weight get 8-12 reps in then rest for about 1 min then pick up a heavier weight. In this workout pattern, its best if you could get 3 sets whereby the last set will be your heaviest weight and rep out as much as you can ( muscle failure ). Pyramid set is usually beneficial to put on muscle mass first before you can shape it. 

•  Drop set - it is the opposite of a pyramid set. Usually I will use a combination of pyramid set + drop set. For example my heaviest weight would be 60 kg I would rep out as many as I can. Then i would take off 2 plates leaving 40 kg on the bar and rep it to the max. The same process continues until you're down to your last plate 10 kg or even 5 kg sometimes. The reason for this is to BURN OUT your muscles. Its like squeezing your wet towel after washing it real hard. You want your muscles to be drained off energy.

• Super set - its basically a back to back exercise without rest. For example a bench press straight to pull ups or dumbbell curls straight to barbell curls. It can save a lot of time and can cause muscle confusion which is a good thing so that your muscles won't get used to a certain exercise and stop growing.

But for beginners I would strongly recommend trying the pyramid set first then work your way up in weights get proper form & technique before you try any advance program.

Nutrition

Now to support your new and active lifestyle, you really need to review your daily nutritional intake. Find out you basal metabolic rate ( BMR ) online. It basically means how many calories your body burns at rest and from there you could adjust the amount of calories you consume depending on your goal but don't worry too much about your calories. A man's gotta eat right?

What you can do is

• Cut out the junk food and I mean all of it,snacks, potato chips, ice cream, FAST FOOD goreng pisang, ABC, cakes, sodas, candy, NASI LEMAK and the list goes on and on.

• PROTEIN - increase your protein intake from whole food like tilapia, chicken breast ( without the skin ), nuts not forgetting whole EGGS.

• CARBOHYDRATES - complex carbs are always preferable cause your body needs some time to digest it and you won't spike your insulin suddenly. Some examples are brown rice, white rice, oats ( yukk ), wheat, sweet potatoes 

• FATS - don't get your hopes up im talking about the good fats like omega 3 and 6 DHA and EPA. You can get these from oily fish like salmon, natural peanut butter or like me I get some fish oil supplements. The good fats are the HDL and stay away from saturated fats.

• FIBRES - eat your greens and your fruits to maintain a healthy gut and it keeps you full longer with much less calories not to mention the vitamins you get from them. Furthemore fruits are delicious.. thank you Allah..!!

• WATER - always drink plenty of water everyday especially when you're in the gym. Water will spike your metabolism in the morning when you wake  up for your subuh prayer and you feel wide awake. Its the most cheapest product and by far the most important one of them all.

Dieting doesn't mean starving yourself to death. It doesn't mean vomitting everything back out after you've had your meal but the key word of dieting is to CHOOSE your food wisely. 

NEVER starve yourself in order to lose weight because thats exactly the opposite of what you're supposed to do. When you stop eating your metabolism drops dreadfully its like an engine without gas. Our unique body that Allah has granted us will always try to adapt to a certain situation. In this case when you stop eating, your body starts thinking that you're out of food and you're really starving to death in the middle of the desert. So your body will hold on tight to your fats as a reserve fuel and energy for your body to survive. The best thing to do is to eat frequently 5-6 meals a day with the right proportion so that your engine has all the fuel it needs to burn all day long. One more important thing to know is that you can't target fat loss at specific area like tummy or side fats. The only way to get rid of those fats are to reduce your overall FAT PERCENTAGE.

" No More 3 Big Meals like Always  "

My roommate is so LUCKY..!!

 Rest

This is the last part of your training. Don't get me wrong but eating and resting is part of your training too. Have enough rest 6-8 hours of sleep but I get 10 which is not good and I miss my morning lectures =.='' 

Lastly never ever put an EXPIRY DATE on a journey like this for example i'd train for a year or let me go on a diet for a month. Ask yourself what will happen when you've reach your dateline ? Bodybuilding is My lifestyle and it can be yours too only if YOU choose it to be..GOODLUCK..!!