A consistent workout regimen and a solid nutrition program are essential for bodybuilding and weight lifting success, but many beginning athletes fail to understand the basic rules of strength training and end up sabotaging their efforts. Muscle training is a science, and based on some simple physiological principles; training at the wrong times, eating the wrong foods before or after the workout, or simply not getting enough rest can result in poor muscle gains and poor performance. Make sure you understand the following basic rules of strength training so you can set yourself up for bodybuilding success – regardless of your fitness level:

Exercise Sequence – The first thing you need to know is that you cannot just do whatever exercise you want in a training session. A training session should follow a proper sequence or order of exercise. Always warm up before your exercise routine focusing on your core muscle groups. Warming up increases blood circulation and prepares your body for your exercise routine. Start with bench presses, deadlifts and squats as suggested by James Stoppani, author of the book “Encyclopedia of Muscle & Strength”. Then do exercises that focus on major muscle groups before focusing on smaller muscle groups. Just remember to work your way from your large to small muscle groups.

Keep an eye on resistance – Muscular strength will only develop if resistance is applied. To get the most out of your training, you would need to spend majority of your training time exerting 85 to 95 percent of your strength. It is important to assess what your current strength is so that you can make a point of reference on your current resistance threshold. This point of reference will then be used to set your targets for each training session. You can then log your resistance through this. You will need to update your point of reference as you develop and at the same time slowly increase resistance to get the most out of each training session.

Amount of sets and repetitions – This would greatly depend on what you are trying to achieve. You can either train to increase strength or endurance. Training for strength is best done by only doing a small number of repetitions combined with a high level of resistance. The reverse is true if you are training for endurance. You need to increase repetitions while keeping resistance to a low level. Also, take note of the number of sets you can do per session. This signifies if the intensity of your workout is appropriate for your current fitness level.

Eating right – Your eating habits should be changed to match your training goals. You can increase the effectiveness of your training by following proper diet and nutrition principles. Eating the right kind and amount of food is not enough. We all can do better by eating on the right time. Eating a combination of proteins and carbohydrates before training will help us maintain our energy level throughout a session. In addition, your muscles will grow and recuperate faster and better by eating lean protein after a solid training session. Sources of lean protein include chicken and turkey breasts, black beans, lentils, top round beef, scallop, shrimp and tuna. See a sports nutritionist for help in devising the proper diet to complement your training goals. Otherwise, you can construct your own by reading on the subject of diet and nutrition for athletes.