Best Bodybuilding Supplements
photo credit: edbrambley
The days when body builders took steroids to boost their muscle mass have long gone, and those who attempt to use anabolic steroids in an attempt to get a competitive edge run a very high risk of being caught and stripped of any titles they have won – some would say that being caught is inevitable.
So how, then, do body builders manage to build such huge muscles that seem far larger than those of other professional athletes? Is it because they spend so long in the gym and are very dedicated? Well, yes, body builders have to have great dedication, but they also take supplements. These supplements are 100% legal and don’t have the nasty side effects of the old anabolic steroids, such as “roid rage”. You will find several products that are designed to boost your body’s levels of anabolic hormones or are describes as having an “anabolic effect”.
Unlike the old illegal steroids, these bodybuilding supplements do not add any hormones into your system. Instead, these supplements stimulate your body so it produces more of its own androgens and testosterone – the male hormones that enable bulky muscles to be laid down on the skeletal frame. Some of these body building supplements increase energy levels as well – common ones include creatine, NOx (nitric oxide) increasers, HGH (human growth hormone), and ZMA (which is a combination of zinc and magnesium, both of which are vital in testosterone production). These supplements are either used singly or in a “stack” or combination of several products. Some lines of body building supplements include products that come ready “stacked” for ease of use – to see some examples of common pre-prepared stacks(complete with celebrity endorsement by a Mr Olympia champion) , follow this link.
Of course, that’s not all. Muscles aren’t built of air. All body builders take protein supplements and eat a very high protein diet. When building muscle mass – and this advice works for those who want to look a bit more toned or bulk up, as well as for those who want competition-level muscle bulk – taking a high protein supplement, usually in a shake or as a bar, is essential. This protein should be taken in combination with a small amount of glucose. The powder type of bodybuilding supplement is particularly handy for increasing the amount of protein in the diet, which all bodybuilders do.
Casting a glance over a discount supplier of these supplements, you can see that the protein supplements available to bodybuilders (and others) come from a range of different sources. Dairy-sourced protein supplements are the most commonly seen, with whey a popular choice, closely followed by casein (casein, just in case you were wondering, comes from the curds in the combination enjoyed by the legendary Miss Muffett before the spider arrived: curds & whey). Egg protein is also very popular and is suitable for those with dairy intolerance. Egg protein is sourced either from the whole egg or from the egg white only (just as an aside, powdered egg protein is also used in tree plantations – it’s applied to young trees to deter rabbits and hares from nibbling on them). And for vegetarians, soy protein supplements are also easy to find.
Other supplements that are commonly marketed as bodybuilding supplements but can be taken by anyone include multivitamin tablets and diet pills, especially the types of pill that increase energy levels and/or the metabolism, as this not only strips away excess fat (no point in having a really ripped torso and abs if those abs are buried beneath a spare tyre) but also supplies the extra stamina needed for the gym sessions (an hour or more) needed to build serious bulk.
Bodybuilding, Is It Unhealthy?
This is a very common question in today's society that has been sensitized to the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs in sports and from many of the health warnings that go along with the supplements that bodybuilders use. So is bodybuilding healthy? Or better yet, can it be healthy? Well lets take a few moments to try to answer that question.
First of all you have to evaluate your goals. Are you considering bodybuilding for the purpose of competition or looking good? Or do you just want to be stronger, more fit, better at a sport? These are very different options and can be attained at very different levels of dedication. The first is much harder to achieve and because of this there is a greater temptation to push the limit and try things that are unnatural and potentially unhealthy. The second is just like anything that you do in moderation, a good and very healthy thing. It doesn't require as much dedication or specialty training and isn't nearly as hard to achieve. So let's hope and assume you are choosing the second of the two options what are the benefits?
The first and major benefit is that you gain strength through bodybuilding. Strength is very important because it protects your joints and bones from damage due to trauma or repetitive type injuries. Lifting weights has also been shown to increase and maintain bone density, an especially important thing for older women who have to pay a lot of attention to preventing osteoporosis and all of the pain and risk involved with that disease. Increased strength also means increased muscle mass which is good for several reasons.
First muscle is the great regular of glucose metabolism. It is very sensitive to the effects of insulin and helps the body to maintain normal glucose levels and decreases the risks of diabetes mellitus. Muscle also has a very high rate of metabolism and is a very efficient consumer of calories that are stored up in fat cells. This makes it easier to maintain your weight and to avoid all of the harmful effects of obesity and high body fat.
So if you were considering bodybuilding please save yourselves a lot of trouble while at the same time squeezing the maximum potential for enjoyment of this life by doing it in a healthy fashion. Don't use steroids but do get to the gym and pump some iron.
Arm Exercise For Great Arms!
The aim for beginners to weight training must be to lay the foundations for the intensive workouts that their bodies will eventually be subjected to. Obviously successful bodybuilding involves bringing together disparate elements such as nutrition and rest but choosing the right exercises is crucial. In this article we'll outline the barbell exercises that will enable new bodybuilders to develop the general strength and body conditioning needed.
Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you'll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we'll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.
Biceps brachii – The Two muscles at the front upper arm that run from the elbow to the shoulders. The biceps is actually a smaller muscle then the triceps. It is on the front of the upper arms. There are two heads of the biceps muscle (hence the bi in biceps).
Beneath the biceps is the brachialis, a flat muscle group that runs about half way up the upper arm bone from the elbow joint. From the rear you can see the brachialis as a well-defined band of muscle between the triceps and biceps when a muscular bodybuilder flexes his/her arm.
Triceps brachii – The Three muscles at the rear upper arm that run from the elbow to the shoulder. The triceps is a three-headed muscle that is on the back of the upper arm (hence the name tri in triceps).
Forearm – The several smaller muscles that run from the elbow to the wrist. There are three primary muscle groups in the forearms. The forearm flexors lie along the inner sides of the forearms. The forearm extensors run along the outer sides of the forearms. And the supinators that lie on the upper and outer sections of the forearms.
It is essential that when you do any exercise that you perform the movements correctly, if you don’t you will receive less then optimum benefit from the exercise. It is very difficult to unlearn bad exercise habits, so it is best to learn the right exercise technique from the very start.
The key to developing the arms is to avoid overtraining these small muscle groups. The arms are used as secondary muscles in almost all chest, back, and shoulder exercises. For example, the biceps are used when doing any type of rowing movement for the back. The triceps are used when doing any type of pressing movement for the chest and/or shoulders. And the forearms are used whenever you have to grip the weights.