Would you like to look like this one day?

Most definitely not you say, but that's okay because chances are you never will. It took years of workouts that would kill normal people, buckets of steroids and genetics that put mortal men to shame to get Ronnie Coleman where he is today. He is an icon and inspiration for any aspiring bodybuilder nowadays.

But bodybuilding isn't only for the very elite that win the Mr. Olympia every year. It's a sport that is easily accessible for anyone. It is for you, even if all you want is to grow your muscles a bit bigger and get a bit leaner.

What is Bodybuilding?
Very basically, bodybuilding is a sport in which the competitors spend hundreds of hours in a gym crafting their bodies into great big mounds of muscle. They then compete walking onto a stage and are judged on how they look. Of course, the actual competing part is a lot more complex than that with factors such as vascularity, muscular striations, symmetry and of course the all important mass coming into the decision. So whoever has the body which is bigger, leaner and overall better is the better bodybuilder. It is the ultimate expression of vanity.

What Does it Take to Get into Bodybuilding?
Getting into bodybuilding takes a few things: A gym with weights (or bodyweight if you're feeling brave), training clothes, a proper diet (this is where everyone screws up) and determination to never give up. If one of these things is missing, don't bother starting. This is pretty much all you need to get involved in this wonderful sport.

Is Bodybuilding For Me?
Most definitely. Bodybuilding isn't only for those who are willing to take it as a career and start taking steroids. Bodybuilding is for anyone who wants to grow bigger muscles and get leaner. Which is practically everyone. What you haven't been told is how easy it is to develop a great body through bodybuilding. Magazines like Men's Health always dish out bullshit training that people eat up with a spoon because they don't know any better. Would you believe me if I told you that you could like a Men's Health cover model with 1 year of solid training?Probably not, and you won't want to either once you learn more about bodybuilding. Those men with their shit, out-of-proportion bodies are not all that they look like. After a few months of training, you will realise that I am right.

Where do I start?
Before you even pick up your first weight, go and read up about weight-training. But don't pick up the GQ or Men's Health or even the Muscle and Fitness guide to weight training. Go read about on the net. PLaces like www.bodybuilding.com tell it like it is. GQ and Men's Health will tell you that you too can have a huge chest if you do push-ups (hint: you can't) and Flex will tell you that pros don't juice it but they are big because of NO and MuscleTech. Arnold's Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding is a pretty damn good book (Arnold was an incredible bodybuilder) and is cheap too. Don't buy anything that has Joe Weider's name on it. Once you are confident that you have enough info (after about a week of reading), go and give it all you have in the gym.

Beginner's Tips:
How I wish people had told me these before I started training:

1. Never give up. No matter how bleak the situation looks, it will get better. You can experiment with your diet and training but never just throw your hands up in the air and give it all up.
2. Eat a lot of the right food. Seriously.
3. A few months into the program, you should be able to train so hard that you feel like shit after training. This is good. Keep it up.
4. A beginner's program always has the big compound movements in it. You might not believe this, but no-one starts out strong enough to base their workouts on isolation exercises.
5. You are not Ronnie Coleman or Jay Cutler and you are not a combination of both. You can't benchpress 200kg for reps and there's no use in trying to do so and lift with crappy form and injure yourself. Know your limits.
6. Lift with proper form. If you can't, the weight is too heavy and you should move down weight.

Just for some more inspiration: Jay Cutler shows us what it takes to be the world's number 2 bodybuilder.

Now go out there and give the iron hell.

Any questions about anything regarding the sport? Post them here, I can't reply to PMs.

so wheres your pic, so that we can know if you actually know what your talking about

My brother has my digicam, honest!

I'll get them up pretty soon, tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

I have a few Jay Cutler workout clips off emule and he works out like a beast,damn nice guy too.

Never been interested in this kind of thing. Wouldn't mind some more definition though. Any tips?

I dont want to get into the sport as such, or build myself to un-natural proportions, but I do want to tone, and grow my muslces, so I dont look like such a puny little bugger anymore.

Any tips on where I can start? I mean if I get some dumbells, what can I do by myself to get thing going?
I dont have access to a gym, so dont even go there please!

Thanks.

Looking forwards to your photos!

I think that things like crucnches and push ups will help. You can do this at home. I am no expert though. I am also waiting on Simon for some advice...

Simon I want you to make me hot. :(
Tell me how to shed the kilo's and become all buff.
I might even consider cutting my hair in exchange for advice, well also being that a few of the girls at varsity tell me to cut my hair every time I see them and its starting to irritate me. :(

if the girls are hawt then do it for them. if they are not... then do it for yourself. hehe

talking bout the hair only.

So your a fan of Ronnie?

What you think of Dexter? That dude has the perfect look I reckon

Read up on Simon's post,it has some great links.You'll find anything you need there.

What do you think about A-Nitrox ??
Im thinking about taking a course..

I have never heard of that. Is it one of those supplements that promises to keep a positive nitrogen balance in your blood? If so, then I wouldn't bother, they're not worth the money that you pay. Eat egg, it has a similar effect.

Dexter is amazing. He doesn't look like Ronnie and Jay in the sense that he isn't all mass. He is the perfect shape for a man, an X. He has massive shoulders, a skinny waist and huge thighs. The ultimate physique. The reason he doesn't win is because nowadays all people want is size (which is wrong). If it were all about symmetry and physique then Dexter would win hands down.

Gitano: A set of dumbells is all you need to start weight training. Provided that you get something that functions like a bench as well, then you can do that as well. If you want to grow however, there are a few things that you must do:
1. Train hard. It's no use simply lifting the dumbell off the ground. You must feel the burn every time you do it. Start off with a 4x12 routine. When you get stronger, you will be able to move down to a 5x5 or a 6x4 routine or so. That's when you'll start packing on mass like crazy. Also, don't go running. Ever. If you are worried about fat, walk up a hill a few times. If you want size, cut the cardio. This will shock most people, but it's true. Sprinters are incredibly fit but they have huge muscles, even on their upper body.

2. Eat right. I can't stress this enough. Go read up on the internet about this. I know you're probably looking for a diet plan that is perfect for you, but you're not going to find it. The first dietitian I went to (she did diets for a lot of our olympic athletes, no wonder we didn't do better) didn't know fuckall. I lost massive fat while I followed her eating plan but I was gaining no muscle. If you want muscle, you have to eat a lot. Also, if you are skinny, chances are the fat you gain will be minimal. Here's what I ate before exams started:

Breakfast: 100g Oatmeal. 5 eggs, 1 egg yolk
Brunch: 40g biltong, an apple (eat a lot of fruit)
lunch 100g oatmeal or some pasta, depending on if I felt like cooking. I would chow down on some vegetables like peas or carrots (all raw, of course) and then I would eat a whole packet of that woolworths deli meat. If I could, I would go chicken breast.
Afternoon: Protein shake. Don't be fooled, they're all the same. I use Evox because it's cheap and it tastes great.
Supper: Tons of veggies and meat. I really pig out here. If you want muscle, eat carbs at supper too. I don't know where this 'don't eat carbs at dinner' fad came from but it's bullcrap. The body functions in a far more complex way than that.
8:30 PM: Protein shake then it's off to bed. Don't deprive your self of sleep. You'll also know that you are training hard enough because you will want to sleep a hell of a lot more.

Here are some links that will get you started:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbmaintrain.htm
http://www.t-nation.com

Just browse around, read a few books. There really is no straightforward solution to any question concerning bodybuilding. Another thing that all those worthless magazines won't tell is that everyone's body is different. A lot of the time it's a huge difference. If it works for someone else, it might not work for you. So experiment.


Here's a tip for definition: When you go to gym superset everything you can and train for an hour straight. This will probably involve you training the whole body every time you go to gym but you will become crazy defined. Supersetting is where you don't pause between your sets. Say you came to gym to work quadriceps, chest and calves. If you wanted to superset you would bench press, walk over to the calf raise machine, do your calf raises then walk straight to the squat rack. You would repeat this until you're finished. You won't become incredibly strong and you won't put on much mass either but you will become super defined. Why? Effectively, you are doing constant weight lifting for an hour straight. Sure, you're lifting weights that are a lot lighter, but you are getting one hell of a cardio workout, this means you will burn fat super-fast and your muscles will grow.

Thanks Simon, all looks good, Ill start reading around!

Sad to see people aren't more interested in this

I only just noticed this thread, was thinking about starting my own but since this one is already here I'll just continue.

I've been doing body building for quite a while, more than a year now on and off.

The website http://www.abcbodybuilding.com is the best site I've found for information on this stuff, and they have an excellent forum.

I can never keep the motivation up for this though, especially the diet part which is the most important. My diet is relatively good at the moment though, high protein foods, very little fast foods and sweets etc..

Recently I've been following this article on ABC Bodybuilding called 12 weeks to fat burning, the diet and the workout. Or something like that. It's just a basic workout program and diet aimed helping you burn the most fat while also increasing your lean muscle mass.

After following this program almost exactly (except the diet) for about 4 weeks now, I am very impressed with the results. I've already almost got a six pack (which is my main goal right now) and my body fat has dropped quite a lot and become more stable.

Right now my average body fat is around 10.5%, although I have gone as low as 9% at one stage. For anyone interested, generally for guys if you have been working your abs and want a six pack, make sure your body fat is below 10%. If it's over 10% nothing will show!!

I'm pretty clued up on different workouts, dieting, etc.. etc.. so if anyone wants to know anyone feel free to ask

I do consider what I do to be bodybuilding, I will however never put in as much time and money as the professionals do. And no ways will I enter any competitions, too stage shy for that.

bodybuilding.com is definately a site to go see. also, stock yourself up on some protein whey and start pumping some iron! most ppl fool themselves by thinking gyming 24/7 will turn them into giants! WRONG!! rest is just as important! by the way, ronnie coleman is a monster so is marius pudzinowski (dunno bout the spelling)

Definitely, whey protein is the way to go

I use something called USN Fast Grown, comes in 10Kg bucket for R465, really the best I've found.

It has about 46g of Protein per serving, and about 60g of carbs. And the protein it gives comes from eggs, whey, and some other.

A cleaner and better supplement to use it just plain whey as it gives the best quality protein usually with less than 5g of carbohydrates! This does however also make it not taste so good. The more carbs, the better it tastes in general.

The best place I've found for all kinds of supplements is http://www.springbokpharmacy.co.za and they deliver to my area for free which is a big plus

If you gym too much you will end up burning more of your muscles than anything else. Since at certain times it is actually easier for your body to break down your muscles when it needs energy, than it is to break down stored fat.

It's recommended that when doing body building you have at least 8 yours of uninterupted sleep a day, and a nap in the afternoon if possible (haha).

When you sleep, or rest, this is when your body rebuilds the muscles that you have been destroying at the gym.

getting a quick power nap right after your gym session helps too so does eating simple carbs after your workout. i use USN dynamic protein whey platinum spec, 44g protein with 4g carbs per serving. tastes terrible but works i also saw a protein intake calculator somewhere on net. will look for url

For me, those pics are such a turn off... I hate the way guys look who does this stuff to the extent of the pictures shown in Simon's starting post.... Having good definition, a well toned muscular body and a six pack is fine.. but going beyond that is just so not nice... It freaks me out completely... The veins that stand out and all that...I just dont like it....

Why distort the wonderful male body and decrease the delicious male... yeah you know what I mean.....

Why do guys and the women who do it, like doing this to themselves? What is it about it? I dont have a problem with people wanting to get fit, or wanting to be a bit more muscular or wanting to have a six pack or something... I mean I have a toned body myself and my stomach is defined because of the sports and exercise that I do...but more than that... like those pics.... Why would people want to do that?

i completely disagree with that!! i think ronnie coleman looks beautiful in that pic. in a non-gay way ofcourse:) i would love to look like the hulk one day... just tired times as ripped!

errrr...... yar right!!

Almost all the women I have spoken to about this, say exactly the same thing

The guys who do that are very strong, and who push themselves to the limit. It takes a lot of dedication to get as big as them. And in most cases a lot of money as well. Supplements are not cheap.

But my luck with girls is already very bad, that's another reason I'd never get that big. Wouldn't wanna make my luck even worse.

My goal at the moment is basically what you said above, good definitio, well toned muscular body, six pack, and also good general fitness, since I was never so good at cardio

frankly i don't give a hoot whether girls like the look or not since i'm not doing this to make girls happy. sure it is a bonus if they'll like it, but mostly its for me.

... psychological disorders....

I have two friends who are too big in my and most of the girls I know's opinions.

BUT they are the two biggest man-whores I know as well. Not that that is a good thing, but the point is that there are more girls who want to them, than many other men out there.

lol. my roommate is also the biggest guy i know, though i can't say that he pimp because that dude sets his standards way too high btw, psychological disorders? more like human nature

Luckily the nicer one of the two mentioned above (the only one of the two I would call a friend) is VERY chill. He NEVER gets angry, even when he is taking roids.

All I know though, is that if I had a sister I would have had to bulk up a LOT to keep him away from her.

haha. big bodies are great. but its so so so hideous when chicks have muscles coming out of every crevice, and chicks with visible veins... no no

Chicks should be soft (not flabby), but firm. Too muscular chicks could just as well be men.

I think it's fine if a girl is a bit muscular. You get get girls who like playing a lof of sports and work out to do better in them.

But definitely not too muscular, that just looks aweful

My gym partner is bigger than me at the moment, but he does work a lot harder. Thinking I'm finally starting to catch up with him.

it IS nice when a chick is toned, but the moment her calves are bigger than your biceps, you know you got a problem

I agree.

I don't even wanna imagine that..