Bodybuilding Routines - Bodybuilding and your Training Errors (Part 1)

Eating like a pigeon: There’s nothing simpler than the fact that if you are not putting on weight, you just have to eat larger quantities so you can grow more body tissues. That means not only more proteins but also more carbohydrates and even fats.

I would like to clear up the myth that you can gain muscle tissue by training alone. It is only possible if you eat enough and then you will gain weight and consequently bigger muscles. Otherwise the weight you lift is irrelevant, but if you are gaining weight then you are both performing and eating in the correct manner.

Intensity Intensity: What bodybuilders like most is to train hard, boast of training hard, do the impossible, triple drop sets and forced reps, and anything else that will leave their body in a state of suffering. But the a serious problem that arises is that although the muscular structure can get back to normal within a short time period, the central nervous systems are basically f**ked. It can take up to a month or so for the CNS to get back to good working order after so many failure training attempts, meaning that getting back to normal training at these weights could take up to several weeks.

Why oh why oh why would anyone want to do this? Your muscles recover from almost any stimulus within 72 hours but if you have stressed the CNS so greatly that it can no longer apply any force then you will become de-trained as the CNS recovers. By the time your preparedness is back up to a high level the fitness gain from training has almost completely gone.

This works out fine at the start, but this type of training will soon catch up with your body if you don’t reduce those loads or you could be forced to start back at those initial load levels. Frequency and total load are the two main factors in successful training for both size and strength! so why should anybody minimise either of them on purpose?

Single factor training: Probably 99% of ordinary people in gyms are currently training according to single factor training theory, or the principle of super compensation. Probably 5% of elite strength athletes are training this way and they are all bodybuilders. Now I know most people are not even aware of what dual factor theory is so here is a brief explanation. Single factor theory treats fitness and fatigue as existing to the exclusion of each other.

The best example being that if you are tired with sore muscles post training, then you should completely recover before beginning to train again. This is called super compensation theory, which states that fitness is begins to decrease at this point and then will gradually rise back to its initial point just before you begin your next work out. Training should then take on a slightly increased weight load which pushes your fitness up a level. And so on.

Dual factor theory considers fitness, fatigue and preparedness as being factors apart but not exclusive to one another. Your long-term ability is considered to be fitness and it changes gradually and is not related to fatigue. Your immediate ability is considered to be preparedness which is what you can do NOW but is not influenced by fatigue.

Dual factor theory states that you are able to train until extreme fatigue and even under the condition of negative preparedness but still able to see improvements in fitness on the long term. To put it another way it’s not that you can’t recover between workouts, YOU SHOULDN’T.

Macronutrient fascism: “Carbs just suck”, “You get fat by eating fats” and “Just eat protein to get more muscle”. No and a big NO. We need all of then in some form or other. Each person might be different in personal needs depending on personal objectives, but to actually cut one of the macronutrients out of our diet is plain dumb.

Certain macronutrient combinations have certain effects and to completely remove one from the equation (e.g. no carbs or no fats) just isn’t going to cut it. Personally I would take an isocaloric diet as being a good starting point for health and strength.

Lifestyle what lifestyle?: Now then, if you’re the sort of bodybuilder who just does biceps on a Friday night in order get that pumped up sort of look so you can go out clubbing and pull, then you really do need a good kicking. If your goal is to achieve a bigger and stronger physique then you will have to make some difficult decisions in your like, otherwise all that good hard training of yours will just go right out of the window.