Bodybuilding Training Mistakes To Avoid

Bodybuilding is a complex sport with much to remember and a lot that you can potentially get wrong. Fortunately the mistakes made by those starting out are often predictable so be warned against a few of the most common mistakes that are made by beginner bodybuilders. Avoid these and you’re golden.

Not resting, so many people starting out with bodybuilding underestimate the importance of taking time off to recuperate. In fact it’s not even just beginners who make this mistake, but often serious bodybuilders who have become so single minded that they don’t want to take steps backward by slacking.

However not resting properly is actually one of the biggest steps back you can take and will result in overtraining leaving you feeling weak and tired and demotivated in the gym.

It’s a phrase that’s whispered in bodybuilding circles, feared and revered, but overtraining can lead to you massively damaging your gains. Even if you don’t become overtrained however you still won’t benefit from all your hard work if you don’t rest as this is when your body repairs the microtears in your muscles that lead to hypertrophy (muscle growth).

Not eating correctly – if you don’t eat correctly you’ll set your training back, full stop. However that doesn’t just mean getting lots of lean protein, many bodybuilders actually have the opposite problem, focussing too much on protein and neglecting other foods.

One common training mistake is to completely leave out carbs in fear of gaining fat from them. This is a bad move because carbs give us energy, and without energy you can’t train, so limit your carbs but don’t eliminate them. At the same time don’t forget the importance of your vitamins and minerals as these too have strength benefits and can protect against colds and other diseases that might set you back.

Using steroids – Steroids take away from your personal achievement, they do irreversible damage to your body and they alienate you from your friends and family. Furthermore, steroids are damaging the sport of bodybuilding by making it the sport of ‘freaks’ and making it impossible to get into without breaking the law. Just say no.

Only training the ‘attractive’ muscle groups – so many people I know only train their pecs, biceps and abs. These are the three that make them ‘look’ strong and attract ladies. However what they don’t realise is that it also puts uneven stress on their joints and ligaments, damages their posture and makes them appear top heavy.

Your legs are your biggest muscle group and so by training them you’ll burn off way more fat than you possibly could with just training for big arms and will subsequently have more visible abs. For bigger looking biceps you need to train your triceps which should make up 2/3rds of your arm. Don’t be a fool and neglect the muscle groups that you don’t think matter – they are all just as important.