Most people do not even know what body building is. It is not just upper body lifting as you can body build any muscle of the body. Bodybuilding does not mean you are going to look super huge and veiny in like 2 weeks of training. Just like being an amazing athlete it takes years of work to get that way.
Bodybuilding is lifting that requres higher reps (10 to 15 reps), and it requires fighting through the burn. (Meaning at 10 you should be feeling the burn, if not the weight is too light!) You get the best gains in body building when you push yourself to the point of failure. Here are the reasons you should consider body building in your program.
1. Increased Body Flow
To put it simply, when finished a bodybuilding workout you will always look huge and feel bigger than usual. This is because to fight through that burn, more blood rushes to the area being worked. Your body’s veins naturally become larger, and creates more veins to return the deoxygenated blood back to the heart more effiently.
2. Increased Muscle Size
This is the best way to get your muscles larger enough said! (10-15 reps is the range for hypertrophy)
3. Greater Capacity to Lift Heavy
A bigger muscle has the potential to be a stronger muscle (if the weight program is done correctly.) You start recruiting more muscles as you feel that burn to accomplish the lift.
4. Increased Lactic Threshold
Body building workouts thrive off of working through the burn, that burn is lactic acid. If it is a part of your sport may as well get used to the feeling.
5. Different Way of Training
It is a form of training that many athletes have not tried out and actually. When many people lift high reps they lift to the magic number 10 and think they are done whether they are tired or not. Lift until failure but keeping that weight within that 10-15 rep range.
Do not shy away from adding more reps with a bit less weight as their are many advantages that can be gained from this. Body building, one rep lifting, olympic lifts they all have their place in a season.
(original image by gerhard.1962)
