Bulking and cutting

In the picture we have Jay Cutler, classic old school bodybuilder. Bodybuilders have to go through different phases in order to gain so much body mass. It is impossible to gain just muscles without gaining any fat (if someone does suspect him of steroid use).

That’s why bodybuilders have a period they call “bulking”. Usually bulking is done in autumn and winter, because obviously you wanna cut for the summer body. While bulking your aim is to gain as much muscles as possible, but you acknowledge that you will put on a layer of fat as well. The weights that are lifted in this period are usually greater than in the cutting phase, and the repetitions are less. What makes bulking easier than cutting is the diet you have to respect with each. While bulking, it is not so important to calculate every calorie you take in, but rather to give your body enough energy to grow, maybe even more sometimes.

In the cutting period what bodybuilders try to achieve is burning down the un-wanted fat that came along with the mass you’ve gained in the bulking period. The cutting period is characterised by dropping down the weights and doing more repetitions, trying to get the muscle to get more ripped and also get rid of more fat than normal. A certain kind of cardio is made while lifting weights in a fast manner, but muscle mass in not lost.

 

In conclusion, both bulking and cutting are necessary for a great physique, and they should be gone through and respected. If done properly, it is impossible that you do not gain mass and afterwards lose the fat. Lately, more and more people recommend that you start with a cutting session, so you start off with less fat overall. Afterwards go get the mass of the bulk,and then cut down the fat again, to get the desired body.

Bodybuilding vs Powerlifting

I can’t stress it enough how people don’t understand the difference between bodybuilding and powerlifting. Long story short, body building is about contracting the muscle while powerlifting is about moving the weight.

Notice that in bodybuilding, you always try to isolate the muscle and make him do as much work as possible on its own. On the other hand, in powerlifting usually more groups of muscles are used in order to move a way bigger weight.

Even though they are different sports, they can be practiced by the same person.

A bodybuilder will always have to train his muscle to failure in order to achieve the sculpting of the body that is the final objective. On the other hand, powerlifters are not so concerned about their looks, but training their muscles for as much strength as possible in way less reps than a bodybuilder. Form is not so important for a powerlifter, but for a bodybuilder is everything because a correct form of exercise dictates the future shape of the muscle you’re pumping

You would say that a muscle that is bigger in shape should be stronger in abilities. This is not always true and it can be vice-versa, depending on each person individually. It always depends for what you have been training your muscle before. So you might a see a bodybuilder that is “huge” and he might not have a very big mass-to-strength conversion, and you might see a powerlifter that does not look impressive from a social point of view but will probably lift a bigger weight than the bodybuilder.

Exercise changes lives

Unbeatably changing your body for the better can change your life in a lot of different ways for the better. Ironically enough, moving our bodies gives us more energy. So if you are being always “tired” maybe you should hit the gym and change the situation.

 

Bodybuilding can give you a boost of confidence, makes you feel better about your overall image and that’s for a reason: because changing requires discipline, which can later be applied for a lot of things after mastered through exercise. Fitness also strengthens your bones, because they become stronger in response to having to support certain wrights

 

Health wise, exercise fastens your metabolism and improves the immune system. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is knows to eat a lot, way more calories than a normal human being would eat daily, and still he is not fat, he is an Olympic champion. It all depends on how you spend the energy you get in. While working out, you clean bacteria from out of the lungs, decreasing your changes of getting sick or catching other diseases.

 

Exercise is a reflection of character and personal values. You always have to chose between what you want now and what you want the most. It takes strength both mentally and physically to maintain your workout and diet routine through all the temptations. If you are able to push through, you will be left with a mindset that will be stuck to you for life and will be useful in a lot of other things.

 

Why protein is important

Protein is made up of amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle. Having enough protein intake is essential for optimum muscle growth, even though some people should eat way more protein. When you workout, the muscle tears apart because its been worked. Afterwards, it starts the process of recovering and preparing for future workouts. Then it needs protein in order to do so.

 

Combining protein with vegetables, milk products and sees is essential for reaching the body that you want.

 

A person should eat 2g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day in order to obtain muscle growth.

 

Drinking water is also very important. It will help the digestion to function properly, so that enzymes don’t remain on the stomach tissue.

 

Without protein, we would not be able to develop our muscles in any kind of way. That’s how important protein is to a good looking body and a healthy lifestyle

 

Everything depends on your objective

 

While starting to work on your body there are certain approaches that you can take,. Those were the ‘objectives’ I kept on talking about before. The main ones would be powerlifting, bodybuilding or crossfit. Those are three different types of bodies you can chose to work for.

Each require a different type of training in matter of time, intensity, and habits. Each requires a certain type of diet to respect. What they all have in common is that they require motivation and consistency.

 

Powerlifting is the sport in which athletes attempt to lift as much weight as possible. The bodies of powerlifters are bulky and massive, usually with very wide core and tights, also strong legs. The diet of a powerlifter is mainly based on protein but also there is a huge carbohydrates intake as they need more power to push more weight. This leads to also more body fat percentage.

Bodybuilding is the sport in which you need to contract the muscle while moving the weight. The objective for bodybuilders is to isolate the muscle in order to make blood go through it. The muscle has to be stretched on the bottom of the movement and flexed on the top on the movement. A bodybuilder’s diet is very structured and planned, calories are counted to the last one.

Crossfit is another approach to build your body that is more athletic and slim in composition. Crossfit relies on original movements of bodybuilding done in a very intense way and against the clock. It brings a lot of cardio as you move the weight in such a fast rhythm

 

Basic exercises

Each muscle has a certain number of ways it can perform movement. Here are some basic exercises for each group of muscles:

 

Traps: Dumbbell shrug

Shoulders: Standing military press, side lateral raise, upright cable row, side lateral raise

Chest: Dumbbell bench press, butterfly, incline dumbbell press, cable crossover

Triceps: Lying triceps press, triceps pushdown

Biceps: Preacher curl, seated dumbbell curl, ez-bar curl, hammer curls

Back:Wide-grip lap pulldown, one-arm dumbbell row,chin-up, seated cable rows

Quads: Leg extension, leg press

Hamstrings: Seated leg curl, lying leg curl

Calves: Standing calf raises, seated calf raises

Abs: Crunches, Ab crunch machine