Good physical fitness depends on maintaining a balance between strength, endurance and flexibility. If you want all your efforts to pay off, look for the bodybuilding programs that are offered in specialized fitness centres.
Cut to the chase
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned bodybuilder, a trainer can help you reach the next level. If you want to drop some flab, sculpt your abs, tone your muscles, or just shed some of the evils of a sedentary lifestyle, having an established bodybuilding program will kick off your metabolism and help you get ripped fast. A trainer helps you choose realistic goals and gives you suggestions on how to get there. A trainer can also help you get sorted out with a healthy diet and cardiovascular workouts that will help you cut body fat.
Your own best workout
Bodybuilding programs are varied and depend on your goals. Some take you through cardio workouts on fitness machines such as ellipticals, multi-station machines, benches, rowers, climbers and stationary bikes. You might be put onto some resistance training with smaller equipment: lighter weights, aerobic steps, elastic bands and exercise balls. Your trainer could have you work out on stairs and benches as well. And if you have any health issues or need to favour a muscle group because of injury, a trainer suggests healthy alternatives that can actually help speed up recovery. The best part of having a personal trainer is that he or she motivates you to stay enthusiastic while you work towards your goals.
Five workout myths
Weight training comes with its own share of myths that have long been disproved by experts, and yet a lot of them still circulate around the gym.
- You have to suffer to get any benefit from a workout. FALSE.
Although you can expect to feel some stiffness at the beginning of a bodybuilding program, the exercises shouldn’t be painful. If they are, you’re either not doing them properly or you have some sort of injury.
- You’re not training properly if you don’t sweat. FALSE.
Sweating doesn’t measure effort. It’s a mechanism for cooling the body, and it varies from one individual to another.
- The best time to work out is in the morning. FALSE.
The best time to train is when it works best for you. It should be done at any time that you can easily incorporate into your schedule on a regular basis.
- You can eat anything you want if you exercise. FALSE.
You can certainly treat yourself once in a while, but to get the most of your workouts it’s better to focus on a healthy diet.
- If you can’t work out regularly, your muscles are better off doing nothing. FALSE.
It goes without saying that any kind of workout is better than nothing at all. Even if you don’t go to the gym every day, you can still get a cardio workout by walking for 15 minutes or using the stairs instead of the elevator.
