Achieve Bodybuilding Gains with the aid of a Successful Bodybuilder!

Last week I talked to a client of mine who had been very busy working over the Holidays,{as this is the peak season for his business} and he had not been able to work out as much as he wanted to in the gym and also he has not been able to get in all the meals that he needs to on time either.He was very frustrated and wanted to just drop the whole program for a couple of months until things got a bit quieter for him at work. I advised against doing so for the following reasons:

1. Stopping the training would lower his metabolism which in turn would lower his energy levels and thus make him less productive at work.

2. Though he couldn’t get to the gym as often, getting his workout in and following the diet as much as possible would prevent him from losing valuable muscle mass while in turn putting on the pounds.This in turn would then prevent him from getting depressed as he sees his body going down hill.

3. Once his work load decreases he can start hitting the gym more often and following the meal schedule again, he will be in good shape and his body responds very quickly to the more aggressive schedule. This is a very different scenario than the one he would have encountered if he would have stopped training and dieting altogether, as in this case, he would have needed to use at least a few weeks to get his body conditioned for the weights again and it would have taken him an extra week, or maybe even two, to get rid of any body fat that he might have gained depending on how bad the diet was.

Be Flexible, Be Consistent, Be Prepared Therefore, having said that, in order to be successful in bodybuilding you need to have the right mindset. Bodybuilding is both a physical and extremely psychological endeavor. Of course, we all get frustrated when our schedules are affected by work, or any other life circumstance that may be thrown our way. Life is full of monkey wrenches in case you haven’t noticed and it does not make it easy for us to get our workouts and meals in. Therefore, we have to fight aggressively and plan ahead if we want to get our workouts and meals in.

As bodybuilders we must keep our eyes on the ultimate goal, which is always to gain more muscle mass whilst reducing body fat. In order to accomplish this we must be consistent with our training and diet. If for whatever reason the program that the bodybuilder has mapped out is too much of a time commitment at a certain period in life, then the solution is to change the program so that it fits our time schedule. For instance, a few years ago there were periods when I had to work very long hours every week, I changed my training so that I could visit the gym 5 days a week for 30-45 minutes of weight training. When I had no time to do cardiovascular exercise, I would superset antagonistic muscles in order to get some sort of cardiovascular effect. That is all I could manage to do at the time. I always tried to get my training in before work, but if for some reason I couldn’t then I always had lunchtime to make it up or later in the evening after work. Worst case, there was always the weekend for makeup sessions. Regarding meals, I always brought in all of my meals with me pre-prepared and also enough Meal Replacement Powders for those times that I was really on the run.

Some of you for whatever reason may not even be able to do more than a couple sessions a week. If this is the case, then dont worry;simply make the most of the time that you do have available to train. At the end of the day the key to making lasting bodybuilding gains is that you have a realistic goal that can be executed consistently, not trying to follow one that looks really good on paper but cannot be executed. You will get to where you want to go, it may just take a little bit longer depending on how much time you can dedicate to reaching your goals.