In this installment of If I Could Begin Again I want to talk about something that I feel EVERY beginning bodybuilder should do.

And that is.

Getting stronger.

I wish when I first started out I read more of Bill Starr’s articles because he always writes about getting stronger.

Yes, I know he talks about getting stronger for sports, but getting stronger for bodybuilding is a very good thing as well.

Why?

Well, let’s just say you can bench one hundred pounds for a solid twelve reps.

Over the course of a couple of months you move your bench up to one hundred and fifty pounds for a hard set of three reps.

When you drop back to say one hundred and thirty pounds and can do solid sets of eight reps, you force you body to grow.

So indirectly, by getting stronger you helped yourself get bigger.

SOME COMMENTS

While I was as committed a bodybuilder as anyone, I was all over the map with no set plan of attack.

Had I focused on getting stronger on the basics like dead lifts, overhead presses, barbell bent over rows, and the like I would have been way ahead of the curve.

And this is another reason I like Bill Starr’s articles because he focuses on getting stronger on the basic lifts.

Which is really the only way for you to get bigger.

Yes, if you want to get bigger arms, getting a bigger bench and a bigger bent over row (along with gaining bodyweight) will do you more good than endless sets of curls and triceps work.

NUTRITION

Yes, while working on getting stronger on the basics is great and is what every beginning bodybuilder should be doing; there is something else they should be doing at the same time.

Eating.

And by eating I mean just good old fashioned food.

Not one of those exotic supplements you see in the magazines.

Yes, a good can of protein powder is nice, but it is not necessary.

The reason I say this is because, a lot of raw beginners are very skinny and in their quest to get bigger they may kill themselves in the gym, but eat very little.

The above is not a very good combo for gaining mass.

I know there are multiple reasons for beginners not eating enough but I think the main reason is fear of getting fat.

Yes, the fact is if you want to gain some weight you are going to have to accept the fact that you will put on some body fat.

I want to make one thing clear about the above statement, I am not advocating pigging out and bulking up by like thirty pounds.

No.

That approach may work for the pros but is simply not realistic for the average trainer.

What I am saying is that for the young man who is in his teens or early twenties and has a hard time gaining weight putting on a few pounds of body fat is not a bad thing.

Eat plenty of good food like, chicken breasts, lean beef, turkey, for protein, with the goal of getting in one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

Add in good carbs like sweet potatoes, yams, whole grain breads (find ones that contain at least five-grams of fiber per slice) and plenty of vegetables of all kinds.

Round it out with plenty of healthy fats like natural peanut butter, nuts, seeds and fatty fish like sardines and you will be fine.

And sure the occasional trip to your favorite fast food place is O.K.

If you start to see too much fat coming on add-in a half-hour of aerobics three times per week.

If this does not stem the tide, cut back on your carb sources, or if you’ve been hitting the fast food too much cut that back.

But keep the protein and fat the same.

TRAINING

Combine the above eating habits with a solid training program that focuses on the basic lifts like, deadlifts, squats, overhead presses with dumbbells, bent over rows, chins, etc. and you will be fine.

A six month cycle of working on the basics will do any beginning bodybuilder a world of good.

Stick with the tried-and-true five-sets-of-five program (5×5).

That’s five sets for five reps per set for a total of twenty-five reps.

Then when you switch back to a more traditional bodybuilding style routine and higher reps, (like eight to twelve) you will find that you are a lot stronger than you were before.

And chances are this will result in you using more weight for the same number of reps as you were before, which chances are, will lead to increased muscle gains.

CONCLUSION

Getting stronger on the basics is one of the things that I wish I would have done when I was just starting out.

So please if you are a beginner or know someone who is, show them this post, so they don’t make the same mistake I did.

Until Next Time

TRAIN HARD