5 common bodybuilding mistakes

When you feel like you're stagnating, it's important to take stock, or to take a hard look at your sporting activity. Sluggishness and routine can lead you to make mistakes that block progress.

1- Not eating enough

This is probably the most common mistake made in bodybuilding. Diet- and we can't stress this enough- remains the mainstay of muscular activity. Muscles cannot grow efficiently if the body lacks the nutrients and vitamins needed to compensate for catabolism.

2- training too long

This mistake is most often made by young athletes. The misconception, propagated by the uninitiated, is that to be more muscular you need to train for longer. The quality of a session is not determined by the number of hours spent in the gym, but by the intensity of the session .

Prefer a short, intensive session to a long, unproductive one. Between 1H15 and 1H30 maximum, including warm-ups.

3- training too often

In the same way, training that is repeated too often is detrimental to an athlete's progress. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, you mustn't train the same muscle too often, to avoid hindering recovery. Following a session, the muscle must repair the micro-traumas associated with muscle destruction. This recovery takes place by compensation, i.e. by producing more fibres in preparation for the next session. This process takes time, between 2 and 3 days.

the other mistake of training too close together is over-training. The body is tired after a session. If you don't let it recuperate, you're drawing on its resources and remaining catabolic.

4- Not stretching

Many bodybuilders don't stretch (we're talking about stretching outside sessions).

This may be due to a lack of time or willpower, or because the sensations caused by stretching are unpleasant. However, stretching has many advantages.

They avoid and prevent injuries, increase strength, improve blood circulation and promote recovery. Finally, they reduce tendon pain.

If you don't do them, you're taking away one of the greatest benefits of strength training.

5- Sleep better and longer

Sleep isone of the pillars of muscular progress. It's during sleep that our body produces growth hormone. This hormone is linked to muscle growth. Without it, progress would be minimal. The hormone is released during the deep sleep phase. Going to bed at regular times, preferably early, enables better production of the hormone and better recovery for the session ahead

Author Alexandre CARPENTIER

Bodybuilding Champion N.A.C 2012

Alexandre shares his experience of bodybuilding with MegaGear blog readers