Excelling in bodybuilding requires mental fortitude and discipline, above all.
Bodybuilding is a proper art form that requires time, dedication, and consistency to excel. It’s not merely about spending hours in the gym lifting weights. Aspiring bodybuilders should focus on continuous improvement and refinement, never believing they can stop or rest on their laurels. Even when they reach their physical goals, the journey of self-improvement must persist to stay ahead of the competition.
There are numerous perspectives on what defines a great bodybuilder. However, this article will emphasize widely accepted principles, showcasing essential qualities and guidance on this journey. Let’s delve into what it truly means to be an exceptional bodybuilder.
Overview — Who Is a Bodybuilder?
A bodybuilder is an athlete who uses weights for resistance and strength training to build and improve the body’s muscularity. The goal is to be aesthetically pleasing with lots of muscle, low body fat, and a strong X-frame (broad shoulders and lats and a smaller waist). Of course, the art of bodybuilding isn’t particular to men; women can be bodybuilders, too. Being a bodybuilder means adopting the lifestyle of regularly hitting weights and competing at high levels.
So, if you’re thinking of becoming a bodybuilder, it’s important to note that it isn’t just a process, but a lifelong journey that never stops. It takes sacrifice, patience, determination, will, consistency, a strict meal plan, and ample time in the gym.
So, How Can You Become a Bodybuilder?
Building a bodybuilder’s physique worthy of the stage will take years. However, beginners will see motivating results after a few weeks. Studies show muscle thickness changes after eight weeks with constant resistance training (1). Below is a list of valuable tips for becoming a bodybuilder.
Education
Committing to the lifestyle of bodybuilding requires a lot of studies and research. This helps you get a base knowledge of what you’re getting yourself into. Looking out for gyms in the area or talking to a professional bodybuilder or coach helps, too. When researching, it’s essential to note the equipment, types of strength training exercises, and how they could help your bodybuilding goals.
Strength training exercises include:
- Free Weight Exercises: These consist of dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells.
- Stationary Machines: These are major machines (plate-loaded and cable machines) like leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, and shoulder and chest presses, which can be used to build multiple muscle groups.
- Resistance Bands: Elastic bands that improve overall fitness and build muscle and strength (2).
- Bodyweight Exercises (Calisthenics): These exercises require using your bodyweight to build strength and muscle. Some examples are push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, squats, lunges, planks, and crunches.
Do comprehensive research on these types of exercises and the target muscles. You can do a lot of strength training research to help you better understand the training that suits your body’s needs and prepares you for your bodybuilding journey.
Plan a Follow Through Fitness Routine
It’s important to map out a fitness plan to achieve your bodybuilding goals. It helps you track your progress and makes addressing any necessary changes easier. A good fitness routine enables you to target all muscle groups, not leaving anyone behind. Committing to a good fitness routine will allow you to progressively overload, which is crucial for muscle growth and strength.
A fitness routine could contain different exercises that adopt distinct movements. It can be an isolation exercise, which means using a single joint, or a compound exercise, which recruits more than one joint and targets multiple muscle groups.
You can also try different training splits that are effective and guarantee to hit multiple muscle groups over a period. Here is a list of some training splits you can try below:
- Bro Split: This training split allows you to train one or two muscle groups weekly.
- Push-Pull-Legs Split: Regarded as one of the best training splits. This training split hits every muscle group by grouping each part of your body into push, pull, and leg exercises.
- Five-Day Split: You train multiple muscle groups over five days weekly.
- Upper-Lower Split: This splits your upper body training into the upper and lower body.
Nutrition & Dieting
We must emphasize the importance of nutrition in bodybuilding. Apart from lifting weights for muscle growth, what you eat equally affects how your muscles develop. A good meal plan will help your muscle and strength development (3).
Now that we understand that eating right is suitable for your bodybuilding goals, what are the right foods to eat so we can build muscles? The simple answer is eating the right macronutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Protein helps build muscle quickly, and having at least one gram of protein daily is necessary. You can find proteins in white eggs, meat, fish, and beans.
Complex carbohydrates are the primary energy sources your body cells and organs need to perform functions. This can also help with the necessary energy for your exercises. You can find carbs in oatmeal, bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole grains. Healthy fats help our body absorb the essential vitamins our bodies need. Fats also help boost your testosterone, which is vital in bodybuilding.
Tracking your calories is also important to keep your body in check. To lose weight and gain muscle definition, go into a calorie deficit and do the opposite, a caloric surplus, to gain mass. Ensure that you eat mainly whole foods throughout the process for best results.
What It Takes to Be a Great Bodybuilder
Being a great bodybuilder means consistency in training around the clock. Bodybuilders focus on different aspects of their training during various periods, such as the off-season or in-season.
Training During the Off-Season
The off-season is a period during the calendar year when bodybuilders focus on growth areas. This period usually lasts three to six months, depending on the training goal. During this period, you also add a lot of lean muscle and focus on building strength.
Competition Preparation & Training
Competition prep depends on the type of bodybuilder preparing for a major competition, but it’s usually, on average, eight to ten weeks out. During this phase, you try to cut as much fat as possible and focus on building muscle and definition. You also stick to your training split and try to avoid getting any injuries leading to the competition. The key is to train hard, train smart, eat right, and work on your poses.
Recovery
Training hard is essential to be the best, but it’s also important to rest. Tasking your muscles can be detrimental if you don’t get adequate rest during the off-season or on-season. Know when to deload and take breaks from the gym, and focus on active recovery. Efficient recovery will allow you to train harder and respond to training more positively.
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References
- Refalo, M. C., Helms, E. R., Robinson, Z. P., Hamilton, D. L., & Fyfe, J. J. (2024). Similar muscle hypertrophy following eight weeks of resistance training to momentary muscular failure or with repetitions-in-reserve in resistance-trained individuals. Journal of sports sciences, 42(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2321021
- Lopes, J. S. S., Machado, A. F., Micheletti, J. K., de Almeida, A. C., Cavina, A. P., & Pastre, C. M. (2019). Effects of training with elastic resistance versus conventional resistance on muscular strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis. SAGE open medicine, 7, 2050312119831116. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312119831116
- Iraki, J., Fitschen, P., Espinar, S., & Helms, E. (2019). Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 7(7), 154. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154
