Bodybuilding Tips, How To Perform A Safer Workout Routine

December 6, 2009 by Ricardo d Argence
Filed under Muscle Building

1) Warm-up. For some, the notion of being told to warm up is akin to a clich. Well, it is never a good idea to rush in and hit the weights because this can lead to a number of problems along the lines of serious injuries.

A proper warm up leads to the increase of the body’s core temperature which opens the door for your metabolism to get into high gear. This also aids in lubricating the joints which is also incredibly important. Basically, you will be getting your body ready to get into top shape prior to lifting heavy, excess weight.

A warm-up should consist of 5-10 minutes of moderate cardio work on a treadmill, stationary bike or other such device. Investing a little time with light stretching will also help prepare for the weights. It is also helpful to take the weights and perform 1-2 light sets before your “real” sets begin.

2) Stretch. Failure to stretch leads to a serious problem: your muscle bellies may shorten over a period of time and this will make you less flexible.A lack of flexibility will lead to a malformed appearance as well as scores of other common problems that are best avoided.

When a supporting muscle stiffens or ends up becoming shortened, it may start interfering with the proper groove of your exercises. This may not prove problematic at first, but over time, training increasingly “wrong” will place a lot of extra stress on the joints, ligaments and even unintended secondary muscle groups. The cumulative effect of this over several years can greatly undermine your bodybuilding efforts.

Stretching between your sets flushes out the presence of lactic acid and its byproducts while also bringing forth fresh nutrients. This makes you stronger for the next set you seek to perform. Then, the post-stretching will help you recover in a faster manner in between workouts. The bottom line here is when you stretch slowly and without any bouncing, for 30 seconds or more, you will reduce the potential for stress on your joints.

3) Control. There is great temptation with loading up on heavy weights and cheat your way to the conclusion of a set. Controlled cheating is an intensity boosting technique many prominent bodybuilders advocate.

But, cheating should really only be performed at the end of a normal set in order to gain additional reps. Swaying or using momentum from the second rep on means you have selected too much weight and you can’t workout effectively.

Another aspect of control to employ will center on avoiding any means of bouncing, jerking or partially moving through the sheer force of necessity. In other words, when you stop halfway down in the negative phase of a biceps curl due to being unable to handle the exercise you are using way too much weight.

4) Strong Abs. The midsection is home to the stabilizer muscles that hold the body together. When you fail to build a solid, balanced midsection, you will always be in danger of suffering a problem when performing overhead presses of other such exercise.

Would you want to find yourself in such a scenario when performing an overhead press? Ab tension is a major key in making sure this exercise is performed safely. That is why so many people will work their abs as support to such heavy lifting.

5) Safety Precautions. You don’t buckle up in your car because you expect to crash. However, if it does happen, you’re very, very happy that you took the two seconds to do it. The gym works the same way.

Likewise, attempting heavy barbell bench presses to failure without a spotter is little more than Russian roulette. You can even up the ante by using “monkey grip” (thumbs on the same side as the rest of the fingers) for the added thrill of potentially dropping 300 lbs on your face.

None of this is rocket-science, keeping these 5 steps in mind won’t guarantee an injury-free life, but the odds and the severity of any incident should be drastically reduced.

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