Bodybuilding – characteristics, goals and training tipsIn the Bodybuilding is often thought of unnatural looking men – and women – who have pronounced muscle mass even where "normal" bodybuilders have no muscle mass people did not even expect to find muscles there at all. It is a strength training, which aims at a large muscle growth. To achieve this, many athletes also accept the risk to their health. Read about the characteristics and goals of bodybuilding, and get tips on training.
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bodybuilding – basics and goals
Bodybuilding involves a sport that is designed to shape the body, mainly by shaping strength. A strong increase in muscle mass is the main goal. The training is mainly based on exercises on fitness equipment.
Athletes who pursue bodybuilding are called bodybuilders. They are often counted among the strength athletes. However, the focus here is not on strength, but rather on body modification.
Typical in the field of bodybuilding are Competitions. Here, bodybuilders present their bodies to a panel of judges. Evaluation criteria are about
– Muscularity – Symmetry – Proportion – Presentation – Aesthetics
Accordingly, points are awarded for appearance. To prepare for such a competition, in addition to training, is a special nutrition necessary; the aim is especially also the reduction of the body fat percentage. Other typical components for the presentation include body tanning and rubbing with oils.
Typical are deliberately displayed poses, to particularly emphasize certain muscle parts. It is performed in scanty clothing, for example only in underwear or. Swimwear.
Close-up male muscular upper body, man lifting weights
Possible dangers
In general it is of course good to do something for your body and muscles. But in the field of boybuilding also Steroids often an ie, and these can have a negative impact on health in a number of ways. For example, the excessive intake can cause
come. According to diabetologists, bodybuilding can also be dangerous, if one suffers from diabetes type 1. This is to damage the small blood vessels. The reason for this is the high increase in blood prere that can occur during training.
At values of 300 mmHg such deterioration is possible. As a result, kidney or eye damage occurs, which are considered typical secondary diseases of diabetes.
Another danger are Postural deformities, which are permanent, represent. This is to be led back on a one-sided training.
Likewise it can lead to Circulatory problems due to high blood prere come. With pure Bodybuildung one sets as a rule only on muscle training – perseverance sport is neglected. This leads to the fact that the relation between immense muscle mass and cardiovascular system is no longer balanced, which means more effort for the heart.
However, not everything you hear is true, health-wise or not – time to bust some typical myths. Bodybuilding is the central starting point of the modern fitness movement. Forms the basis of today's accepted training methods. Unfortunately, not only the profound knowledge of bodybuilding has found a home in the fitness studios, but also the typical muscle myths. We provide clarification.
Myth 1: Professional bodybuilders don't take steroids
A grotesque amption, considering the extreme proportions of today's athletes and the socio-historical development of this sport. In professional bodybuilding there are no doping controls whatsoever, which leaves all doors open to drug addiction and abuse.
But also many optical characteristics like
– extreme growth of jaw, nose, fingers and feet, and – feminized mammary glands in men
are just a few of the many obvious characteristics that can be seen as a a sure sign of doping can be considered. Since many professional bodybuilders also use oil and contrast agents to give their muscles an anatomically unnatural shape, a doping test is actually no longer necessary for conviction.
Be that as it may, the use of steroids, insulin and other pharmaceuticals is widely accepted in professional bodybuilding. Even if of course only behind held up hands.
For the ordinary athlete, this means that you shouldn't set your sights on the pros as a goal. Don't put prere on yourself with unrealistic expectations.
Myth 2: You have to train more than three times a week
A complete misconception that repeatedly scares off would-be fitness athletes. Surely you can expect faster and greater results if you train three times or even more often per week, instead of swinging in the dumbbells only on two days.
Nevertheless Progress can be clearly seen even with just one training session per week. With one or two weekly training programs you will certainly not be able to impress Brad Pitt, but you will at least be able to impress your family doctor.
As studies have shown, the positive effects on our health are significant even with minimal training. And if your doctor resembles Brad Pitt, there is no reason to throw in the towel just because there is not enough time for more training.
Back view man doing strength training with bare upper body
Myth 3: High repetition numbers tighten the muscles
A widespread misconception, which many colleagues of the writing fitness guild like to convey to the female readership. When people talk about toning the muscles, they actually mean toning the skin or. simple fat reduction.
And Fat can be lost primarily only with a diet. Those who train with high numbers of repetitions must also usually work with a weight that is too light to stimulate muscle growth.
But it is precisely this that is an important factor if the skin on the upper arms is to stop flabby. Complete a maximum of 10-15 reps and you'll be on the right track to getting a well-toned look.
Myth 4: A low-fat diet is the best way to get slim
Although most of the fats in the average diet are detrimental to health and anything but diet-friendly, the total abandonment of any fat sources would torpedo their diet goals hard. Fat, especially the healthy polyunsaturated lipid acids, are of essential importance for our body's own hormone production.
If you get less than 10% of your calories from fat, the production of testosterone and growth hormones comes to a standstill. However, it is precisely these hormones that are important so that we actually use up our fat reserves during our diet and do not lose muscle mass. Reduce your calorie intake by reducing fats and carbohydrates equally, rather than condemning fat as the only macronutrient.
Myth 5: Training sessions must be at least one hour long
Unless you are on steroids, hard bodybuilding workouts are difficult to sustain for more than 30-40 minutes. If you still try it in the long run, you risk slipping into so-called overtraining and thus deprive your muscles of the energy they need for recovery.
Aim for 20-30 minutes of heavy lifting per training session. Then, if you still have time and energy, you can fill up the remaining workout with lighter exercises without hesitation. Sit-ups are without a doubt a good. Fundamental exercise. The main problem here, however, is that most athletes act completely opposite to their usual training habits when it comes to abs.
Instead of attacking the future six-pack with intense sets of 10-15 repetitions, do 50 or more trunk bends. And not infrequently even daily.
Physiologically, however, abdominal muscle fibers are not built any differently than the fibers in your arms in any way. And would you maltreat their arms every day with 50 repetitions curls?
And while we're on the subject of abs: Building a six pack is one thing. Make it visible, a completely different. You will only be able to observe your abs in the mirror if your body fat percentage is correspondingly low. And to achieve this, despite sit-ups, you can not avoid dieting and endurance training.
Myth 7: Only when the muscles burn, you have set the growth stimulus
Sports science is still in the dark about at what point during training the muscle was sufficiently stimulated for an adaptive response. Moreover, one is not even sure whether one can make a definitive statement about this at all or whether muscle growth takes place under different conditions for each athlete.
However, one thing is known for sure: that burning muscle says little about building muscle. The burning pain that occurs during the last repetitions of a training set can mainly be attributed to the accumulation of anarobic metabolic byproducts that cannot be broken down fast enough.
But burning is not completely uninvolved in muscle growth either. Because recent studies have shown that the accumulation of lactate, which is ultimately responsible for muscle pain, leads to a greater release of growth hormones.
Myth 8: If you put the dumbbell permanently in the corner, your muscles will turn into fat
One of the myths that could not be more grotesque and yet is surprisingly often used as an excuse not to get too bulky, because one day in old age the muscles would become fat packets. However, it is a physiological fact that muscle protein cannot be converted into lipid acids. This myth probably came to life because quite a few former top bodybuilders and weightlifters gained a lot of mass in the abdominal region after their active careers.
The real reason for this observation is probably that the ex-champions have maintained their high-energy diets even after their competition period. If you no longer have the time to work out because of career changes or a new addition to your life, you not only need to adjust your workout plans to the new circumstances, but also critically review your diet.
Myth 9: You need to eat a lot after a workout
One thing is undeniable: when you've pushed your muscles hard, they crave nutrients to kick-start the regenerative and adaptive processes as quickly as possible. Until the 1990s, it was still believed that iron athletes needed to consume vast amounts of food after workouts to make maximum progress.
Today we know that muscle athletes after training Mainly quickly available protein Need to curb the catabolic processes in their organism and simple carbohydrates to replenish the glycogen stores. In plain language this means a protein drink made from whey protein as well as glucose.
A complete meal is not superior to supplements in this case. Because the body needs too much time to build up a "real food" to digest, so you would not take advantage of the so-called anabolic window.
Myth 10: Fat loss only works in harmony with a lot of endurance training
Those who run many kilometers on a treadmill or bicycle ergometer undoubtedly consume a large amount of calories. The basic requirement to get rid of unpleasant fat pads.
During long endurance activities, however, our organism unfortunately draws not only on the body's own fats for energy, but also on muscle tie. And just that we want to build up in the Bodybuilding laboriously. The key to fat loss. Simultaneous muscle maintenance leads via interval training. With rapid sprints alternating with short periods of recovery, you can rev up your metabolism in a few minutes so that it continues to burn lipids diligently even hours after training. If you can't muster the necessary intensity for interval training or want to do conventional endurance training for health reasons, you can curb the impending muscle loss by supplementing protein before and after the training session.