Intro
Bodybuilding for complete beginners! What you need to know. Why is it so difficult for some of us to gain weight let alone gain muscle, While others are having trouble keeping their weight under control?
The main factor here has to do with what happens in our bodies and the genes we are dealt, which is mainly our metabolism. Some people have a very fast metabolism and some, a slow one.
People that have a slow metabolism means that after eating, their body takes more time to break down the food. Hence slow metabolism. This makes the body more susceptible to storing fat. While other people with a fast metabolism burn food way faster. So this makes it more challenging for skinny guys to gain weight. Because of how active their metabolic state is. This is not a bad thing. And I know you know a lot of people who would trade an arm to have a gene like that. And you might have heard people saying how lucky you are for your ” skinny genes”.
Bodybuilding 101
Now, let’s talk about the main basic concept behind gaining weight. Depending on your current weight, there is a specific amount of calories your body requires to carry out daily activities. When you consume less than that amount of calories; your body has to improvise and will literally burn down existing fats or muscle tissues for energy. This is how people lose weight. By going on a caloric deficit diet.
While on the other hand, to gain weight you consume more calories than your body needs. And in doing so, your body will have excess energy that it doesn’t know what to do with, but to grow. You can think of your body as a container which is elastic. Now when you put in more calories than needed (i.e. more energy than the required volume), the container will expand. Thus, using the surplus energy for growth. And that’s how you gain weight; by having a caloric surplus every day, eating more food (taking in more calories) than your body requires.
Fundamentals of BodyBuilding; The Science of Gaining Mass!
There are 3 basic elements, that you need to understand to kick off your bodybuilding journey. They are the fundamentals of bodybuilding, what you need to understand and tailor your lifestyle to and then you just let the magic unfold.
1. Diet: The food you consume
I know you must have guessed this one already, and yes it’s really that crucial. Think of your body as a building, a temple if you may. If you want to build a strong stable structure, you need materials, components, and resources. This is what will aid your body with the energy needed for growth and expansion. And the type of “resources” do matter. Although people with a fast metabolism (skinny guys) may seem to get away with eating almost anything; if you care about your body, you would want to nourish it the right way. So you should be conscious about what you put in your body.
The best type of food for any health & fitness lifestyle is good old natural food. this is no secret. Sticking to the readily, nature-provided sources of nourishment is the way to go. Your meals should include carbohydrates and proteins mainly and some fats; i.e a high carbohydrates and high protein diet.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are foods like rice, buckwheat, yam, potatoes, pasta, oatmeal, and the likes. Carbohydrates are what fuel your body. They provide you with the energy needed to function, carry out daily activities, and the strength you need in executing your workouts.
Proteins
While proteins on the other hand are the building blocks of the body, your temple. They help build muscle tissues and also strengthen our immune system thus keeping us healthy. Proteins are quite critical when it comes to gaining mass. They are the ones that rejuvinate our muscles, strengthen them and enlarge them. They’re stuff like beef, chicken, eggs, milk, poultry, and other animal produce. Vegetable sources include; beans, lentils, chickpeas, almonds, quinoa and nuts. You may also inculcate supplements in your diet but they are not necessary. Just from the name, they are just there to “supplement” some of your food; like in this case, your protein (e.g. whey protein). Or they act as a substitute for food to help you hit your caloric goal for the day. We will discuss more on this later on.
And also, garnish your diet with some fruits and vegetables. This will provide you with vital minerals, vitamins, and fiber that your body will really appreciate. A diet high in fruit and vegetables can help protect you against cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Starting a fitness journey, why not go all the way right?
2. Exercise
This is where the molding takes place, where the shape of the structure is determined. When you get your diet covered and taking a caloric surplus, your body will grow. You will gain mass. But the type of mass varies. You could gain muscle mass or just get fat like a snowman lol. And the latter is what could happen with no exercise. I assume we all want the former; looking beasty & shredded and not like a potato on two spaghetti legs.
What I am trying to say is that you get to direct how you want your temple to look-like, and this is done through exercise. When you workout, you put your body muscles in a state of tension, hypertrophy, for some time. This will lead to your muscle reaching their limit aka failure. Because you are literally breaking your muscle tissues down. You are sending signals to your body telling it that this is the kind of pressure that you are now dealing with, which you need to be able to withstand. And your body has no choice but to adapt, the survival instinct that we humans are very good at.
So the next time you eat, your body will enter a repair mode for the muscles that have been broken. Your muscle tissues will be rebuilt bigger than they were before. This is your body’s way of getting ready to cope with that kind of new intense pressure next time it’s in that position. So this is how we get stronger and bigger through our body’s adaptative mechanism that is activated during workouts. And you get to direct all that excess energy into building muscles and growth. Thus, gaining the right kind of weight. Moreover, the more muscles you have in your body, the more efficient your body becomes in burning fat.
3. Rest
Some might not have guessed this or quite understand how important rest is for the body. But it is so paramount when it comes to bodybuilding. With the increase In food intake and the physical activity you are now subjecting your body to; it needs time to reboot and process all of that. After having a good workout session, your muscles are broken; they are in a state of failure and need food to rebuild. But more importantly, they need time for the rebuilding process to be effective.
Note! It is highly recommended that you do not spend more than an hour in the gym. For the kind of goal we are working towards, anything from 45mins to an hour is enough. Because your body’s testosterone and growth hormone peak between 45mins to 60mins into your workout. Anything after that will counterintuitively hurt your gains. Thus, make sure to efficiently work your muscles to failure within that time.
And when your body is at rest, for instance at night when you’re sleeping, that is when your body grows. That is when your growth hormones are most active. So tailoring that with the already induced failure from your workout will give your body the best environment to leverage all those inputs for optimal growth.
A very important factor I would like to brush on is…
The importance of drinking more water.
First of all, our bodies are made up of 60% water. Yes, more than half of you is made of just water. These are the fluids that our body requires for transportation of nutrients, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, and maintenance of our body temperature amongst other things. This is even more vital for us as bodybuilders because:
- Water is needed for any metabolic process including protein synthesis; which is simply muscle growth. And the more efficient you can make this process, the more efficiently you will build muscle.
- Water helps clear out toxins; especially for us taking a high protein diet, it helps clear out urea and excess nitrogen. We are eating big to gain weight, so we need even more water to help our kidneys do their work.
- Water keeps us regular; Too little water and the body steals it from other organs in the body such as the colon. This could lead to constipation. Water helps you digest your meals efficiently.
- Water helps individuals who have too much salt in their diets; If water retention is a persistent problem, this might be because there’s too much salt in your diet. The higher the sodium intake, the more the body tries to retain water to dilute its concentration. So you either reduce salt intake or drink more water.
IN Conclusion
Bodybuilding- gaining muscle mass is all about inculcating the 3 fundamental habits in your new lifestyle; Eating good and more, working out, and having adequate rest. It sound simple but that’s really all it takes. Plus one other very-essential ancient factor; Discipline. This is a lifestyle journey you are embarking on and not a 4-week hobby that you “try” and then quit when you don’t feel like it. Neither is it a summer body goal you are working on, which irrespective of the result, will no longer matter, ones summer is over. This is no clickbait, there is no magic pill. This is as real as it ever gets. The blood, sweat, and ( the possible) tears type of commitment. It’s going to require patience and persistence to engrave it into your DNA, for life. And once you get a taste of it, you will never want to go back to where you were before. An obsession maybe, but a healthy one. A lifestyle. Your new way of life.
Bodybuilding is not just about the looks you are aiming for at the end of the tunnel. It’s more about the journey before you get to the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s the things you’ll pick up along the way, lessons it will teach you, and wisdom you will garner. Building dicipline through bodybuilding will give you a parculiar quality that will spill into all the other areas of your life. I know this sounds a bit cliche and cheesy but I dare you. Start now, put your all into it and watch yourself evolve both physically and mentally. This is something that you will never regret getting into. In contrast, your future self will be grateful for you making this decision.
I’ll like to know what you think in the comments down below. And I am also looking forward to hearing from you in a few weeks time. Your life is a novel, the pen in your hands and it’s your job to make it interesting. Make something happen. Cheers.
