If you are looking for ways to transform your body, then congratulations you have come to the right place! Bodybuilding is the only sport that can get your body tuned up by responding to progressive weight resistance training which leads to hypertrophy. Today however, bodybuilding has become an industry and sadly the beauty of it has transformed into the supplements that you take rather than the physical and mental preparation. If you google bodybuilding workout, you will get more than 25 million results! The sport of bodybuilding has never been more popular as athletes of all sports, movie stars, pop icons are amongst the most notable ambassadors of this sport.
A simple walk to the nearest bookstore is enough to introduce you to the chiseled physiques staring at you from the shiny magazine covers, it is the rock and roll of the 21st century! With all that information in front of you it is very hard to find the right approach that is going to suit your lifestyle. Every magazine publishes hundreds of articles annually that contain “the secret” to big guns, to wider back, to chest like Arnold Schwarzenneger and etc. One thing that all those “secrets” have in common however is located at the back of the article. Once you are done with your mega boosting workout system, you need to fuel up your body. This is where companies promote their newest protein powders, BCAAs and only God knows what else.
For the potential trainee, who has never stepped inside a gym and is looking for the shortest way to achieve his dream physique all these secrets make sense! “If the guy on the magazine is doing it, I should be doing it as well, right? I mean it can’t go wrong, look at the guy!”. Next thing you know, the trainee in inside the supplements store speaking to an advisor about his goals. Powder X provides better results than all powders so far, but powder Y is even greater! If you buy however both you receive powder Z which is going to blow away your mind, your body will never be the same again, girls will be chasing you all the time man, you have to buy it! From a marketing standpoint such approach is correct because it is engaging and is likely to build up a business to consumer relationship which the paramount of a successful marketing strategy. Nothing is better than a returning customer! Ethically it can be seen as a scam because it is very unlikely that with some powder which says pure protein on top of it (with only 60% actual protein per serving) to make a difference. The perfect protein intake for a physically active individual is at least one gram of protein per kilo bodyweight on daily basis. This is the minimum amount that your body needs to replenish itself and repair muscle tissues faster so that you can train more often at a higher intensity.
Beginners who are likely to be low literate consumers are attracted by the packaging mainly that protein powders come in, their experts know that for a fact and that is why there is an egregious emphasis on the packaging. The bigger, the better results it will provide in consumer’s mind. It is quite strange to me that in magazines nobody talks about the dependence that you can develop to such products. Nobody talks about the physical impact that is followed by the emotional response. Let’s say that you are having two scoops of some muscle building powder for a month maybe two. During that time, you were able to lift about 10 – 15 kgs more with a slight physical improvement, big enough to be admired by your peers and asked what are you on? In a few months time it turns out that you can not afford this powder anymore so you rapidly stop your intake. As you do that, your strength levels drop size turns into fat or evaporates and you are not the cool guy anymore. Your body gets back to normal state but mentally you can not accept that which transcends into depression and anti-social behavior. This could be one of the outcomes that come out after an excessive usage of the so called supplements.
A universal rule that I have learned from the gym is that no instructor nor routine that somebody else made for me can be as effective as my own! Arnold believed in the mind-muscle connection which involved mental exercising as well, thinking of ways out of the box that will shock your muscles better than by simply doing what others do! As you progress with weight lifting you will learn more about yourself, about your body you will understand your strengths and learn how to deal with your weaknesses. However that comes with years of experience and for every beginner there are three exercises that you can do, something called the big three! Do bench press, deadlift and squats twice a week and you will be surprised even blown away with your results! Something that you can actually experience and will be there this week, next week and the week after as long as you keep doing it properly! Understand this, what you have in your hands is simply a piece of metal and it is up to you how to use it are you going to curl it or push it? Believe this, you are a master of your own destiny and what you can do with it is beyond what supplements or powders can do for you!