Step By Step Body Building Program For Female & Teens
BODY BUILDING FOR HER
Many women are concerned with how their bodies look. Dieting and weight obsession are very real parts of life for many women.
Body building and women really fit together well when you think about it.
Focusing on healthy weight gain and muscle fitness makes a woman look and feel a lot better.
Body building is a lot more than just dieting and lifting weights. Much of the advice given in previous sections can apply to both men and women. But women do need to change a few things when it comes to a workout plan that will work.
Some women have never considered body building as a sport because they are afraid that they will get big, bulky, and become masculine looking. Nothing could be further from the truth. A trim, solid body on a woman is extremely sexy and very healthy.
Women cannot naturally produce the amount of testosterone that men do, so it is impossible for women to increase their muscle size in the same ways that men do just by picking up a weight or two. Without artificial substances, women won’t be able to get the same bulk as men do.
However, many of the same workout advice that we give to men apply to women as well: eat 5-6 small meals per day, drink plenty of water, and get lots of rest. The workouts are the same as well although some women may want to limit their reps initially until their strength is built up.
Many women struggle with excess fat and flabby muscle tone on their thighs and in their buttocks. Because women are naturally curvier than men, working these areas makes for a very flattering figure.
To work these areas, you will want to do a lot of dumbbell squats, leg curls, standing calf raises, and leg presses. Add some lunges as well as dumbbell squat dead lifts as well for maximum effectiveness. You may want to invest in an exercise ball so that you can work your abs and make them tight and defined.
Change your workout every time you perform it and focus on one or two body parts each day you train. By doing this, you are not over-exerting muscles without giving them time to heal. Recovery is very important to the body’s muscles, so give them the time they need to heal and grow.
Many women live their lives by the numbers that they read on a scale. When you are body building for fitness, this is a mistake. Don’t concentrate on what the scale says you weigh, focus on your size and tone.
This can be calculated in the form of inches or body fat percentage. You will probably not see a huge weight loss on the scale, but you should see an improvement in your overall body’s look after a period of time.
Here are some areas that women should really focus on in their body building routine:
⦁ Upper Back
– Use pull-ups to build the muscles in your upper back which will accentuate your shoulders and make your waist look smaller.
⦁ Side Deltoids –
Side laterals and overhead laterals will help tone these muscles making your shoulders more defined and, again, your waist look smaller.
⦁ Hips and Waist –
These areas are mostly chiseled through diet by teaching the body to re-distribute body fat. It is the finishing signature to the rest of your body and will make your overall appearance look much more pleasant.
⦁ Quads –
The front muscles in your upper thighs need to be worked so that they are toned and defined. Doing lots of squats will help in this area and will complete your overall look. After all, what woman doesn’t want to have some killer legs!
Women are used to dieting and depriving themselves of food. When you are body building, however, the reality is that you need to actually eat more.
The key lies in the foods that you eat. Eat the right foods, and they will work for you instead of against you!
As a woman, you need to remember that you will not be able to build your muscle like men do; however, your approach toward body building will be much the same. The results will be different, but you will still look incredible and be able to be proud of how you look.
Many teenagers are also taking an interest in body building.
BODY BUILDING FOR TEENS
Most teenagers are not yet full grown, so special considerations must be taken when a teen undertakes a body building program.
However, you should know that this is a great time to start a workout program that you can carry through to your adult years. There are some things to keep in mind before you start, though.
⦁ DO NOT start lifting weights or undertaking an intense body building regiment before you turn 13. You can exercise before this “magical” age, but limit your exercise to low-impact workouts like push ups and sit ups.
⦁ Squats and dead lifts should never be performed either before you are 16. These types of exercises require some execution techniques that need to be performed properly or else you will injure yourself.
⦁ UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you take any type of testosterone supplements before you reach adult hood. You already have plenty of testosterone in your body. Adding more could contribute to growth stunting.
After that, you should do some serious research on different workouts and start slowly. Don’t push your body beyond its limits. You could seriously injure yourself and set your progress back markedly.
Everyone’s muscles grow in different ways, so try not to compare yourself to other people. Just get a well-balanced workout routine and perform it correctly with good form.
Diet is also important to teen body builders just as it is to adult body builders. Eat lots of protein and vegetables as well as grains and carbohydrates. Keep yourself well-hydrated with lots and lots of water and stay away from sugars.
Rest is also important since, like adults, this is the time when your body’s muscles will grow. At least eight hours of sleep is recommended, if not more.
You will be doing your body a favor by giving it time to heal from the damage you’ve inflicted on your muscles and allow them to grow naturally while you rest and build up your energy for the next day.
There are certain exercises that teens can perform that can build mass in your muscles without the risk of harming them. Some of the adult exercises won’t be appropriate for you, but some of them will. Here are a few that you should use:
⦁ Dumbbell Curls
–These will work your biceps as you lift the dumbbell from your knee up to your shoulder in a slow, smooth motion. Alternate arms between sets and remember to breathe. Concentrate on the lift and working the muscles.
⦁ Dumbbell Hammer Curls
– Hold the dumbbells like you would a hammer. Alternate arms lifting from your side to your shoulder, again, in a slow, easy motion.
⦁ Flat Bench Press
– Lay flat on a weight bench with the barbell above you. Hold in a wide grip and slowly lower the barbell down to your chest and up again. Pay special attention to the way your muscles are responding to the weight.
⦁ Dumbbell Flyes
– Hold the dumbbells like you are doing hammer curls. Keep your arms straight up with your elbows slightly bent. In a semi-circular motion, lower the dumbbells slowly down to the sides of your chest. This will work your inner pectoral muscles.
⦁ Dumbbell Shrugs
– Hold a dumbbell in each hand lowered to your side with your palms facing your hips. Raise your toes up and then shrug your shoulder to work your trapezius muscles.
⦁ Shoulder Press
– While seated, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Sit straight and press them up. Resist when you are lowering them down. This works the deltoid muscles.
These are just a few exercises you can do, obviously. You may want to consult with your P.E. instructor at school or ask someone at a local gym to help you with other exercises that you can safely perform so that you can accomplish your goals.
Body building is an extreme sport that can yield amazingly satisfying results. But you must be sure that you stay committed to your goals.
Unless you are sick or there is a very, very good reason, you should stick to your workout under all circumstances. If you want to meet your goals, you CANNOT put them off just because you want to.
If your parents are concerned about your body building efforts, have them take you to your family physician and tell him or her about what your plans are as well as the exercises you want to do. Listen to what the doctor has to say and heed any advice that is offered. If you undertake this program in a responsible way, your parents will be impressed rather than worried!
Once you start seeing results in your body, you may decide that you want to enter a body building contest. These can be great motivational tools to keep you on a workout regimen, but there are some things that you should know.
CONTESTS
As you get more and more into the sport of body building, you may want to consider showing off your hard work by entering into a body building competition. There are many local gyms that hold contests as well as national competitions that are held on an annual basis.
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Before you actually enter a body building competition, you really need to know what they’re all about in the first place. Take the time to attend a competition before entering and pay close attention to the techniques the exhibitors use and ask questions about what the judges are looking for.
Do not enter a body building contest just because you’ve lost a bunch of weight. These contests are about great physiques with toned muscles – not about people who’ve lost body fat.
Your muscles must be well-defined and toned ready for display. Remember early on in the section when we talked about the “Grecian Ideal”? That’s what body building contests are really about.
Be realistic about your chances the first time out. While it is possible to realize a “Cinderella” story finish, it’s not really probable when you consider that some of the other entrants are very experienced.
Tell yourself that you’ll be happy with not being cut from the lineup or taking fifth place, for example, which is a realistic goal for many beginners.
Once you’ve decided on a competition, you need to start planning well ahead of time to become fully prepared for contest day. You need to concentrate on any problem areas you have and work them hard. Keep up with your regular routine, so the muscles that are already toned don’t lose their definition.
Think about what you will wearing during the contest and what songs you will want played while you are posing. You will also want to start thinking about your posing routine.
We’ll interject a quick note about suits here since it’s not really that complicated choosing what you’re going to wear. You have worked very hard on your body, and in a contest, you will want to show off as much of it as possible.
Pick a suit in a color that is complementary and one that is as skimpy as you are comfortable with. Just don’t over-do it – it’s not about who shows the most skin but who shows the best muscles.
With music, you will want to choose songs that will activate and excite the crowd. Judges will respond better to you if you have a lot of clapping and cheering going on for you.
Your posing style will be dictated by the music, either elegant or aggressive depending on your selection. Your style of music is important. Your mood, the mood of the audience and the judges will be set moment by moment, heavily balance by the competitor’s choices of music.
Clearly defined space in the music for major poses is usually extremely important. Some routines flow perfectly and gracefully through music without accentuating beats, but you can be confident that only a few competitors in a hundred can successfully achieve the beauty and grace of such a performance.
If you don’t have a childhood background in dance or ballet, or you don’t have a nearly perfect body with matching symmetry, try to select music with a pronounced beat where you can clearly put your strongest poses.
We can’t stress enough that you can have a great physique, but if you don’t know how to show it off, you won’t be doing any good in a contest. Posing is so very important in competition. It gives the judges an idea of what they are looking for in a contestant which is symmetry, muscularity, aesthetics, and proportions.
A good place to start learning about posing is to look through body building magazines to see how the models are presenting themselves. Try out a few of these poses while looking at yourself in a full-length mirror. What works for one person may not work for you, but it just might!
Think about the beat of your music and then choose poses that go along with that beat. Start out with your most powerful pose and hold it for 3 to 5 full seconds. Make sure that your routine flows smoothly and there is enough time in between poses for a little fun.
What muscles should you be accentuating? The easiest answer is all of them, but you will want to show off certain parts of your body specifically. You need to know your muscles, and we hope by now you do. Here are some areas you will want to focus on:
⦁ Front Double Bicep
Arms are out to the sides with biceps flexed and the competitor is facing forward towards the judges and audience.
⦁ Front Lat Spread
Hands are located somewhere near the competitor’s waistline and elbows are flared out showing the lats. The competitor is facing forward.
⦁ Side Chest
The competitor is turned so judges can see his profile. He has one calf flexed by raising his heel from the ground. Hands are clasped or wrist is grabbed with the back arm coming across the front of the torso somewhere below the pec line. The forward arm is pulled down and back toward the competitor’s rear. The chest is raised and flexed. The rib cage is usually expanded.
⦁ Side Tricep
The competitor is in the same basic position as the side chest except his arms are clasped behind him. The forward arm is flexed straight down showing off the triceps. The back arm is stretched across the lower back and it’s hand is clasped with the forward arm’s hand.
⦁ Abdominal and Thigh
The competitor is now facing forward. His arms are tucked behind his head and one leg is placed farther forward than the other and flexed. The competitor is also flexing his abdominal muscles.
⦁ Rear Double Bicep
The competitor is facing the rear of the stage away from the judges and audience. Arms are out to the sides and biceps are flexed. One leg is back and that calf is flexed. The back muscles are also flexed.
⦁ Rear Lat Spread
The competitor is in the same basic position as the Back Double Biceps except the hands are attached at the waist and the elbows are pulled out and the lats are flared outward.
⦁ Most Muscular – the classic “strong man” body building pose
Typically, judges will call for the competitor’s favorite most muscular pose. At this point, they have the option to hit which ever of the most muscular poses they feel make them look the best.
If you want to come up with some poses of your own, by all means do so! You know your body best of all and if there are certain muscles you really want to show off – such as your glutes – definitely do it!
When you come up with a posing routine, you should practice so that you know it like the back of your hand. If you hear your music on the radio, you should be doing your routine in your head. Every chance you get, watch yourself going through the routine and maximizing your muscle tone so that you make an impressive performance.
Have someone take pictures or video of you and be highly critical of it. You can also have someone else look at it for you and tell you where you can improve and where you are strongest. While you are posing, breathe normally and focus on flexing of the muscles. You want to appear cut and ripped as much as possible.
Quite a bit of time before the competition, you will want to start tanning. Tanned muscles look a lot better and more defined than non- tanned muscles.
If you don’t want to risk going to a tanning bed, look at a spray-on tan the day before your competition, but be advised that these types of tanning can have an orange appearance and could detract from the image you are trying to project.
During the competition, there will be a variety of rounds during which you will compete for points. Each contest is different, but most will have the following rounds:
⦁ Standing Relaxed Symmetry Round
During this time, the judges are looking for overall body symmetry in the competitors. They are looking for relationships between the muscle groups. Are they all developed evenly?
Within each specific group, does it flow nicely? Does the competitor have a symmetrical bone structure? The more evenly developed the competitor is, the higher he or she will be placed.
There is no direct flexing in this round. Competitors are viewed in what is called the Standing Relaxed position. Typically, this consists of the competitor’s heels together, toes pointed out at a forty-five degree angle, and lats semi-flared.
Every competitor has their own way of standing relaxed, but in reality it is semi-flexed. Every muscle should be tight on stage. The competitors are viewed from the front, both sides, and the rear.
⦁ Comparison or Muscularity Round
This is where the real flexing begins! Competitors are called upon to hit the Mandatory poses in this round. The judges are comparing the level of muscular development and definition each competitor has acquired in relation to the other competitors.
⦁ Free Posing Round
The Free Posing Round is where each competitor gets to express their muscularity how they see fit. Usually, this round is accompanied by music.
If there are no restrictions on oiling, you will want to apply a thin coat of baby oil to your body. This can enhance your muscle tone and make you appear more cut. Some avid body builders also advocate using Preparation H or some other type of hemorrhoid cream. These creams pull water out from under the skin. When a body builder has excess water in the skin, he or she will look smooth and undefined.
Many bodybuilders who have used creatine supplements during their workout routine will lay off about four to six weeks before the competition. Then, three to five days before, they load up again just like when they first started which will make them look fuller.
On the day before and the day of the competition, do a carb load. Don’t overdo it or you will look smooth, but try having 200 grams the day before and 300 the day of. Know your body and know what makes it look good and what doesn’t.
You should also mentally prepare for competing. Have your mind set on your goal as to why you wanted to enter a competition in the first place. Visualize yourself up on the stage hitting your poses and imagine the audience cheering you on. Mentally preparation can be just as important as physically preparing when in comes to a successful body building competition showing.
You can find some great support and guidance in a variety of places.
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