If your fitness goal is to gain muscle mass, or to tighten up your figure, your first goal must be to gain strength. Which may mean that you have to change how you think about weight training, as well as your overall fitness goals. Of course, before you embark on any exercise plan, you should talk to your doctor. Never begin a strength training or cardio program without doing so under the supervision of a qualified physician to prevent injuries as you train.

One of the first things you have to do is to challenge yourself to work outside your comfort zone, and mentally decide to push yourself just a little bit farther than you have been. Once you’ve made the decision to do that – there are 5 rules that will help you accomplish your goal.

Goal #1: Quit thinking about size – and strive for strength.

Don’t think that you have to train like a hard-core bodybuilder to gain strength. Single-joint exercises that target specific muscles won’t increase your strength – you need instead to think about training like an athlete, and incorporate exercises into your workout that target multiple muscle groups at one time. For example, rather than doing leg extensions, grab some dumbbells and do some lunges or step-ups. You’ll build strength and burn more calories, while also increasing muscle growth far faster than simple exercises.

Goal #2: Spend more time in your “discomfort zone.
The term for this is called “Progressive Overload” – basically, your trying to make sure that spending more time doing exercises that are making you work harder. The best way to do this is to cycle your workouts. Let’s say you normally bench press 150 lbs. Rather than doing 3 sets of 10 of bench presses for the rest of your life, shake things up a bit. Try doing 3 weeks of 3 sets of 10 at 150 lbs,, then 3 weeks of 4 sets of 5 at a 175 lbs, then another 3 weeks of 3 sets of 8 at 160 lbs, then a final 3 weeks of 5 sets of 4 at 185 lbs. By the end of 12 weeks – you’ve increased your strength for this workout substantially!

Goal 3: Work Explosively

Don’t just lift – raise that bar as fast as you can while remaining in control. The best weight-training exercises for this are Squats, Clean & Jerks, and even things like Body-Weight Squat Jumps, where you stand with your hands behind your back, and squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Jump as high as possible, resting 3-5 seconds between jumps – try this 10-12 times!

Goal #4: Be Unstable

Do more unilateral exercises. Think about this – maybe you can take a barbell, and do barbell curls with 60 lbs. of weight. But, can you take a 30 lb. dumbbell, and with one arm do those curls? By having each limb work independently, you’ll work it that much harder!

Goal #5: Balance

Most workout movements are “push” movements. Balance that with exercises that are “pull” movements. For example – if you do a set of pushups, follow that with some bent-over rows. Doing lunges? Then follow that with some back extensions. Doing shoulder presses? Then follow up with come chinups!

Overall, what your trying to accomplish is to shake up your body a little bit – changing up the routine can help break your body out of a rut, and move past the plateau you might be at in terms of increasing your strength!

When you begin to plan your home strength training workouts, remember that there are other variables that can affect how fast you’ll see results.  Be sure to eat properly, get the right amount of rest, exercise frequently and change up your workout intensity.  Keep all of this in mind and there is nothing that can keep you from improving your strength, conditioning and fitness!

A rule of thumb prevails for bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is all about working hard and rest is hard to do. The male bodybuilding process is refined with the weight lifting process and it also includes the different ideologies of an aesthetic body, mass and tone, the process of bodybuilding is simple as it appears and can be something really exciting for men.

Men often like the activity of bodybuilding and it always ascertains the visual aspect which most of the men enjoy and in some caser it also enjoys the popularity to some other level. However, the concept of bodybuilding is different from weight lifting and always includes the ideology of shape, mass or tone. In whatever section it is categorized, in thing is for sure that male body building is a complex matter and it is relegated under a single category. The men’s masculinity and their body building goals are little. Traditionally, body building is considered as a sport which is practiced by men and it is regarded as one of the popular sports.

The Art of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding isn’t a simple process as it will appear something exciting to do. All the workouts which are being performed may bring you fame and reputation and it certainly requires a hard work and patience for building a body. For a novice, who is starting up with bodybuilding as he targets to pose in a competition, he should always take the first stride with a trainer. When he is working out with a trainer he will be on the right track to achieve his bodybuilding goal.   Although, if you are overdoing some exercise, the trainer can guide you whether you should continue with it or it should be stopped to avoid any fatal disease.

The Aerobic style

For most of us, the primary goal of working out is to control fat and the choice is always there to maintain a standard level of mass for the body and to burn the calories. An easiest form of working out (especially recommended for girls) is aerobic because it is one of the workouts which burns your calories more and this increases your aerobic capacity and may turn out in to an elite marathon runner. Aerobic form of bodybuilding also helps you with swimming, long distance running and cycling.

Some Great Workouts

Great workouts can be possible when you are putting all your dedication and will strictly adhere to a workout routine. In case you have an aim of competition in a bodybuilding competition, you need ton follow all the guidelines and have to follow that always. Another important is to choose the correct time for the working out. For a physically fit body and for conducting all the exercises of the bodybuilding, a person should have well working organs. Thus, it is necessary that you should take a good care of your health as well and intake of proper food and liquid is a must to keep the body active and healthy from inside. Another important factor is to choose the gym and its equipment correctly so that your money should worth it.

Many think that bodybuilding is a modern day activity but it really has its roots in the ancient 12th century. India was where the first methods of bodybuilding training and related eating programs developed. Over the next 300 years, the people in India were having phenomenal success. The prototypes of dumbbells and free weights happened during this period. Weight lifting and body building found it element at the time.

It was not until the 1800’s when bodybuilders came into the western world like Eugene Sandow. It was not soon after that bodybuilding contests sprang up in the early 1900’s validating hard work showing their bodybuilding expertise. Bodybuilding competitions became a whole regime during this time. The first father of the modern bodybuilding movements was Sandow. He had frequent public appearances in organized exhibitions to guarantee his voice and ideas were heard. He also started a pioneering magazine on fitness called “Physical Culture”.

The authorities of the Olympic Games were pushed by Sandow to include weightlifting and bodybuilding as one of the many events. His tireless efforts in weightlifting awarded him one of the major attractions in the Olympic Games starting in 1896. It still this day is one of the most viewed events in the modern games.

When bodybuilders such as Charles Atlas arrived in the bodybuilding circuit around the 1900’s, the sport became even more widespread and lucrative. His legendary ads quickly engulfed much of the press and spread over the world, penetrating deeply in the psyche of all American men. Who wouldn’t want to look like Atlas with a great body?

Exercise equipments began gaining popularity quickly in the marketplace. People became more conscious of their bodies and the way the training should be performed. They learned how to eat properly, the exercise equipment to use in order to sculpt their bodies into a perfect shape. This was the beginning of the fitness industry forming as we know it today.

Of course, once the Tarzan and Hercules movies became a rage in the 1950’s and the 1970’s bodybuilding and weightlifting took off. The quest for the beautiful body and attention like Steve Reeves increased drastically.

Gold’s Gym and the World Gym, founded by Joe Gold took on a cult status in bodybuilding as many entrepreneurs scrambled to dominate the industry.

Weightlifting and bodybuilding were at odds to segregate themselves to become a sport by each group. The 1970’s created a new phenomenon in the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger as he took the world by storm with his incredible carved body of muscle. He also entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s best developed man and became a cult idol in his own sport.