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Bodybuilding Get Ready for Summer

A quick guide for the NEWBIE

I will (quickly) cover several topics here, weight gain, weight loss, tanning and training. Rather than go into great detail I will try keep it simple and point you in the right direction.

WEIGHT GAIN

Again, calories cause you to gain weight. Calories and calories only. Weight gainers can be useful in your goal to gain - but if you are not getting more calories than you need you will not gain weight - end of story. THERE IS NO MYSTERY, NO SECRET, TO WEIGHT GAIN. IT IS REALLY VERY SIMPLE. If you are a normal healthy person and eat more calories than your body needs, you WILL gain weight.

You MUST count calories and be sure that you are eating enough each day. I have heard it a thousand times "I eat a lot but I just can't gain" - BULL! If you count calories you will gain. If you weigh between 150-200 pounds start out eating about 4000 calories each and every day. If, after a week or two you still are not gaining increase the calories by 500. Keep doing this, if necessary, until you are gaining a pound or two a week. As your weight increases you will have to increase you calorie intake because your body will be burning more calories. If you are gaining to fast, putting on a lot of fat, cut back a little on the calories.

Now, as to what to eat, this depends on you. First, forget about chicken breast and egg whites. If you are 17 years old and skinny as a rail you will never gain weight eating egg whites and chicken breast. If you are trying to gain weight odds are you do not have a weight problem (makes sense doesn't it). You will need to eat some high fat foods to get the calories you need - some people will need to eat mostly high fat foods to fill there needs. High fat foods take up a lot less 'room' in the stomach, and less 'eating time' as well. (If you plan to gain by eating lettuce plan on ordering about 10 truck loads a week and don't go to sleep - you'll have to eat 24 hours a day).

This is where weight gainers come in. If you have the money they can be good snacks. Your should be eating at least 4 big MEALS a day and if you still need more CALORIES you can drink a couple of weight gain drinks in between. First note: don't waste your money if you are not going to eat enough calories anyway - the drinks will not do you any good if you do not get enough overall calories each day. Suggestion: look at the calories, amount of servings, and cost. Get your best buy on calories if you are going to buy weight gainers. Real simple: if one product has 2000 calories per serving, but only has 2 servings (=4000 c total) and cost as much as another product that only has 1000 calories per serving, but comes with 20 servings (=20,000 c total), guess which one is the best buy. (If you can't figure this out PLEASE go back to school - and how did you get here anyway?)

WEIGHT LOSS

There are two ways to lose weight without getting to radical. The first, and best way, is to eat right, watch your calories and get plenty of exercise (as everyone should know).

OK, OK, OK - you need to lose 10 pounds fast for that pool party, or you're going to enter a contest in a few weeks and need to get ripped. What can you do? Carb depletion works - it 'tricks' the body into losing fat fast.

TRAINING

Basic training. If you are new to weight training, or just started, you're in luck. Just about anything you do at first will give you results. The keyword here is intensity - you must train with intensity to get the best results. If you just took up training take it easy for the first few weeks. Get use to the movements and learn the correct way to train. There are a number of books available at most book stores that can outline a good program, or if you can afford it you may hire a trainer. Short training articles are OK for advanced trainers who are looking for something to add a little 'spice' to their workouts - - but if you're fairly new to weight training it will take a good book to cover everything, or most of, what you need to know. Most of the books are good - just look for one that you feel will fit your 'style'.

INTENSITY. This is the key to becoming more advanced, if you want to improve a little more - or go beyond average. Regardless of how you train - intensity is what gets results. After you have a few weeks of training under your belt it's time to get serious. Regardless of how many sets and reps you do (if you do not understand this you will after reading a book or hiring a trainer), if you do not train with intensity you may get little to know results. What is training intensity? Generally it can mean two things in this context, training 'fast' and training 'hard'. Your last rep should be just that - if you can do one more rep then do it! - then another! Train to the point where you can not do one more rep. Another way to increase your intensity is to perform the same amount of 'work' in less time, this is also effective.

Check this issue, back issues, and be sure to stop back for future issues of NBAF Mag for plenty of training tips!

Last note: If you are taking steroids, you can train just about any way you want, and as long as you train intensely. The important thing to remember is that it is easy to 'over develop' a favorite body part - giving you a unbalanced look.

TANNING.

(Brown - good, Sun - bad)

A nice brown body always looks good on the beach (or at least better than marble white), but we have all heard the horror stories of stepping out into the radiation storm. Again, and you've probably heard this before, take it slow. If you chose to tan do it a little at a time. It is important to remember that it takes several days to see the final result (for the pigments in the skin to change), don't mistake red for brown. A good way to 'check' your progress, while 'sunning' is to poke yourself with a finger - if it leaves a bright whit spot where you just poked YOUR DONE - get out of the sun! If your skin gets red a few hours after being in the sun then you need to cut back on your sunning time - remember if you burn you will have to start back over (not to mention the long term damage you are doing to your skin). If you get a little pink afterwards then you are getting about the right amount of sun to tan. A good suggestion is to never tan two days in a row. Give your skin time to 'recover'.

If you are one of those people who are as white as a ghost, get mistaken for a group of seagulls on the beach, have...ops - sorry got carried away there. If you are one of these people the safest thing you can do is to stay out of the sun. Tanning creams are not for you either - they work OK on people who have darker skin to start with but tend to turn 'white' people orange - although they are better now than in the past. There are bronzers on the market now that will give you a tan for-a-day, and work well. These are basically make-up, they 'paint' your skin with a tan color - and was off when your through. Unlike tanning lotions they have no effect on your skin color.

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