BodyBuilders Wanted!

Seeking BodyBuilders as Motivators

I have tried DailyBurn a couple times now, and often got frustrated with the need to log on regularly – often perceiving it as a total waste of my time. I now realize it was simply an easy excuse for me to “slack off” and revert to my old habits.

As such, I have gone ahead and hired a Personal Trainer – it hasn’t taken me long to realize the great value in being truly accountable to someone. I’m looking forward to some major muscle growth and body fat loss over the next few months.

I used to competitively row and was pretty intense with bodybuilding ‘back in the day’ … it feels great to get back into the sport, really not sure why it took me so long. Now I’m looking for fellow Bodybuilders, from beginners to pros, interested in chat, helping and generally supporting each other in the bodybuilding sport. I am a strong advocate for non-steroidal Natural Bodybuilding and prefer fellow bodybuilding motivators to be of the same mindset.

I have also formed a Natural Bodybuilding Group and hoping for new members who are keen on contributing to the group’s information database and general discussions.

Natural Bodybuilding is whatever you define it to be! I choose to define it as “Bodybuilding with the goal of a healthy body”, which means that total physical and mental health are the goal and any cosmetic results are only a by-product… but what a great by-product :-)

I originally started with DB because I was/am a hardgainer and wanted to increase mass. After accomplishing this last year I started getting into the bodybuilding mindset to see just exactly what my body (and mind) are capable of. I don’t consider myself to have a wealth of knowledge on the topic since I’m still a beginner, but I’m willing to bounce different ideas with the members of this group, which I just joined.

I don’t consider roids to be an option, and the only supplements I use are whey powder and (sometimes) creatine.

Same here i used to train a lot back in the day when i played rugby ect while at college / school

While im not out to get huge thought it might be a good group to keep me motivated on the off days when im thinking why do i do it if it makes me feel this sore lol :)

@Nightfirez you don’t have to train that you feel sore. I feel sore only once a week when I do body weight workout. when I lift weight I almost never feel sore but I improve anyway;).

Not a body builder, but just wanted to say welcome back! I hope your trainer keeps you going. :) We’re good for that you know.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

Sounds great – welcome aboard and please feel free to post any relevant articles they may be helpful in the Natural Bodybuilders Group … a great way to build up a bit of an educational resource.

When I was younger I was bodybuilding for muscle mass and power lifting. Now, twenty years later, I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum in that I am bodybuilding for lean muscle and a svelte appearance – which means lower weights and higher reps.

As an aside, I love that ‘deep throb’ muscle soreness after a great workout … really feels like you did something. But I also agree totally with Simi_FIT that having muscle soreness is not a necessity and it does not correlate to a great workout.

However, to offset that lactic burn I have found keeping well hydrated (with just water – around 12 to 14 cups per day) and ensuring adequate vitamin D intake really does help minimize that “sore” feeling in the deep muscle region.

I find that, psychologically, feeling soreness keeps me on track when it comes to nutrition. I think to myself: “in order to repair the tears in the muscle, I better be eating the right amount of protein and carbs to aid my recovery.”

I’ve heard that the longer you train, the less soreness you’ll feel, but I’ve been consistently strength training for a year and a half and feel the same amount of soreness as when I first started.

@Alyx soreness depends on exercises (and other thing of course). If you do the same exercises for a few months then muscles and your body get used to them so you don’t feel so much soreness. This is not for sure but it’s one of the factors that can affect to soreness.

I love how you just contradicted what u said :)

I generally only feel sore mainly triceps at the mo as I have added 100 pushups routine to my work out :) but it’s all good

Also good point with the hydration i have been slacking a bit and not getting quite the amount I should

Bearing in mind i have only been training properly for around a month maybe 2 at a push i expect to have some :)

How are you liking the 100 push-ups routine? I plan to start that this week-end and incorporate it into my overall workout – push ups were never a favorite of mine, but I really want to incorporate more bodyweight only workouts. I’m looking for a local welder to build me an outdoor chin-up/pull-up/leg raise and dip rack – then I can get really serious about a bodyweight workout routine.

Here is a neat fact on Vitamin D which I recently came across – In addition to its health benefits, vitamin D is also helpful in promoting muscle growth because your muscle fibers have vitamin D receptors and, when adequate vitamin D is provided, studies have shown that these receptors encourage greater leg and grip strength. When vitamin D is plentiful, it interacts with receptors, signaling genes to increase muscle strength and mass. Basically, vitamin D gets converted in your body into a steroid hormone (1,25-dihydroxy?vitamin D), so it’s logical to conclude that vitamin D has a muscle-building effect. Excess vitamin D is then stored in fat tissue so that it will be available for future use. While your body can’t increase its receptors, getting in an adequate amount of vitamin D will help make sure that your body is able to maximize strength and muscle mass by saturating the receptors that you have.

Take this much: There are two types of vitamin D, D2 (ergocalciferol) and D3 (cholecalciferol), but the cholecalciferol version has been shown to be the more potent form for enhancing muscle building. For best results, supplement 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 once or twice a day with food.

I have been four weeks into a serious weightlifting routine with my personal trainer and I swear that the vitamin D and good hydration do wonders for my muscle recovery and truly limit overall soreness…

Not a body builder, but I am on a very strict body building diet. which anyone can gain ideas for their own food intake from. I’m 40 so lifting for a competitive competition is out of the question for me, even though they have 40+ contests. I want to lose this bit of fat and get some more definition.

To be fair im loving the 100 pushups routine im incorporating the squats and sit-ups too the way the plans are put together is solid and works!
I generally mix up a bit of body weight to break up my routines my trainer has moved me up to only bad thing im finding is the extra 60 odd pushups on chest / back days are a killer lol
But its working im on week 4 at the moment considering when I started I just about managed 8 pushups now I can crank out 30 in one pop

I take a broad spectrum multi vit mainly as they were on offer at the time though the odd thing I have noticed is taking the multi vit’s i actually shred a bit more fat keeping to a similar cal intake haven’t quite figured that one out myself though im not complaining

Hehe I wasn’t trying to contradict myself. I love the fact that I still feel sore. But for those who don’t enjoy it, I’ve heard that it does go away eventually, or at least goes away to a certain degree…

EDIT: Sorry, this is Alyx, I was not aware that my wife was signed in instead of me.

like Dashiz, not a bodybuilder but lifting while trying to rid myself of some of that excess fat…

i’ve started doing fewer reps with more weight in my current routine and other than the “good” soreness (you know, the feeling you get after a good workout) i’ve been noticing sore shoulders…not the muscles, but the joints…could it be that i’m trying to lift too much and need to slowly progress rather than move up in weight quickly?

i’ve always had issues with my left knee joint being “weak”…squats and leg extensions are tough on me because that knee just isn’t what it used to be – old sports injury i believe…

what I’ve been doing not sure if its right or not but seems to work is after my normal sets 15 x what ever Kg I bump it up by 10kg and try and hit another 5 reps just to finish off or at least finish me off my muscles know about it but my joints don’t seem to feel as bad the day after
the one that I really noticed was doing the butterfly machine I could actually feel my shoulder sockets almost grinding my left one seems much improved lately and my right feels like it is catching up while its slower progress working my Pecs out but I went for lower weight more reps to keep things going
Though saying that when I bench incline / decline I don’t notice it at all

I know in the last 2 months I’ve put on 1.7% body weight in muscle so I’m kind of thinking I might need to let my joints adjust a little

Or maybe i should considering taking more cod liver oil / similar?

Have you guys tried ATG squats? Regular squats were giving me knee issues but ATG (ass to ground) puts less stress on the knees and incorporates the hamstrings a lot more.

@Alyx two of my friends injured their knees with ATG squats but I don’t know if this was just “bad luck” or this exercise isn’t so good for your joints.

I’m not sure what your friends did, but ATG squats should be started with low volume to get the form right (forget the ego). You should also strengthen your hams with stiff leg deadlifts or power cleans or else you won’t be able to go as low as possible. You also should never pause at the bottom, it should be one quick down-and-up movement, pushing up with the hips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawBY5p29fQ

ATG Squats were more commonly known as Deep Squats when I was heavy into lifting fifteen years ago – they are great and actually, when done with proper weight, put less stress on the back region and more on the legs. An excellent article on the structural benefits of ATG squats can be found at Deep Squatting

Nightfirez – my left shoulder region is a weak spot for me, so I do dumbbell butterflies at lower weight and higher reps, keeping an eye on strict form and stretching it out to the max, I’ve always found that it quickly helps strengthen the area nicely.

My personal preference has always been dumbbells first, barbells / e-z curl bar second and machines last as far as workout options go – I find machines limit range of motion too much.

@CrankyGoat: “My personal preference has always been dumbbells first, barbells / e-z curl bar second and machines last as far as workout options go – I find machines limit range of motion too much.”

You think the same as me. I don’t like machines (maybe that ones with cables) especially not that Smith one or butterfly etc. I always train mostly with dumbells and barbells, just for hamstring I use leg flexion machine and that’s it.

good ideas on shoulders, maybe i’ll try adjusting to see if that helps…and might also toss in some ATG’s too…

I had a totally awesome workout tonight – it feels good to see progress in both weight and reps. I’ve been playing around with my nutrient intake a bit and increasing my complex carbs a few hours before working out (baked potato) – seems to be doing the trick, as it has consistently improved my workouts without a glycogen fizzle out…

Just curious what others eat before their workout, and when??

I like to train in the morning and I usually do it fasted. I try to keep my workouts to about 30 minutes so that I don’t experience a glycogen crash. But this is when I am on a fat loss phase though, so strength gain in the form of more weight or reps isn’t as important.

When on a bulking phase, I try to eat Total cereal or oatmeal an hour or so before workouts. If I am going in the morning and need a quick fix of carbs, I would take dextrose mixed with whey within 30 minutes of my warmup exercise.

Alyx, I’ve heard oatmeal is good prior to a workout but for whatever reason I’ve never gotten into it very much – which I should, as it is both easy and nutritious. Do you use any particular type? Such as slow cooked steel cut?

When the weather gets cooler, I also plan to try organic canned pumpkin heated up with a sprinkle of cinnamon about an hour prior to my workouts – that’s supposed to be awesome for maintaining steady insulin levels and a good carb source… plus it’s easy :-)

As an aside – I also much prefer working out in the morning, but simply don’t have the time available – so I have to make do with working out after work. Not the best scenario, especially after a hectic workday, but I have to make the best of it or I would never get a good workout in otherwise. Over the past couple of months, after some experimenting, I’ve found a 30" run just prior to weight lifting helps to ‘de-stress’ me from work and prep me for a focused workout.

I actually use instant oatmeal, which is higher in the glycemic index. I put some whey powder on top after it is cooked in order to slow down the rate in which the sugar will reach the blood stream.

As far as workouts are concerned, I just feel so much stronger in the morning. I definitely agree with not wanting to train after work. If I miss my morning workout I wait until late in the evening to go to the gym because ether A) you just want to relax after coming home from work or B) the gym is jam-packed between 5pm to 7pm.