Useful Bodybuilding Resources

The Internet is full of information about bodybuilding and fitness. But a lot of it is not particularly useful to average everyday people. There's a bunch of stuff that's written by professional bodybuilders and is not practical for normal people. On the other hand, a lot of what's out there is untried and unproven and might not have any basis other than some guy's theory. With all that's out there, it's tough to find stuff that's actually useful to me. When I do find something useful, I am sure to bookmark it so that I can easily find it again when I need to. In this blog, I'm going to be sharing some of the useful links I've come across.

   Bodybuilding.com has been extremely useful to me over the past few years. It's free to make an account and post on the forums. Some professional bodybuilders use the forums, but it's mostly used by normal people like me. You can really learn a lot from reading these forums. 
   Workout Generator by Men's Health is something I discovered fairly recently, but it's been useful to me for getting some new ideas to mix up my workouts. They say that to keep making progress, you need to keep adding variety to your workouts. It's a pain to always think up with new workout ideas on my own. So this generator is a handy tool for me. 
   Amazon.com is a great place to buy protein and other fitness supplies. I've tried other places, but it seems to be less expensive at Amazon. My favorite kind is the Gold Standard Whey and Gold Standard Casein. Amazon is a great place to buy just about anything. On one hand, it bothers me that corporations like Amazon and Wal-Mart have such a monopoly on the market. But on the other hand, they do have the cheapest prices. 
   Calorie Calculator is a useful tool if used properly. You enter your age, gender, weight, height, and exercise level, and it tells you how many calories you should be eating if you want to maintain your weight or lose weight. So if I'm bulking, I add around 500 to the number this shows and if I'm cutting I subtract about 500. You can't totally rely on it though because there may be other factors at work in your body that it doesn't take into consideration. But it does give you a good place to start when you want to track your calories. 
    ExRx.net has a very comprehensive list of exercises categorized by body parts. I've gotten many workout ideas from this website over the years. There's lots of other things on this site as well, but I mostly use it for it's exercise instructions. Each exercise has good instructions as well as animations that demonstrate the proper form. There are also plenty of exercises that can be done at home for people who do not have access to a gym. 
    These are the main resources I've used over the years. I may add to this list over time if I discover new websites. Or I may just write a new blog. There's so much to learn about bodybuilding. People who think bodybuilders are dumb have no idea how much knowledge it takes to get a bodybuilder physique. But the resources I've listed here are a good place to get started if you're a newbie who is interested in becoming a bodybuilder. 

Workout Routine for a Busy Schedule

lancing family, career, and bodybuilding can be very challenging. I've come up with a system that works for me, so I thought I'd share it. My focus right now is building muscle, so I am not doing a lot of cardio at the moment. In March I will be changing my priority to trimming fat, so I will be doing more cardio soon. But here is what I've been doing for the past six months or so.  


I workout three times a week. Two of those workouts are at home and one is at the gym. I let my gym membership expire this year in an effort to save money. I've found it's cheaper to pay for a day pass if I'm only going once per week. Each workout focuses on different muscle groups for the most part. Since I only go to the gym once per week I use it as an opportunity to mix up my workout routine so that I keep my muscles guessing. 

First Workout: Chest & Triceps:

Warm up

Flat Bench Press

Dips

Incline Flies or Flies Machine (gym only)

Incline Bench Press

Tricep Overhead Extensions or Tricep Cable Pulldown (gym only)

Close Grip Bench Press

Second Workout: Biceps, Abs, Back, & Forearms

Warm Up

Preacher Curls

Sit-Ups or Abdominal Crunch Machine (gym only)

Wrist Curl & Reverse Wrist Curl

Deadlifts or Back Machine (gym only)

Pull-Ups (gym only)

Standing Curls (with back against wall)

Third Workout: Legs, Shoulders, Traps

Warm Up

Light Squats or Heavy Squats (gym only)

Overhead Press or Overhead Press Machine (gym only)

Incline Front Shoulder Raise

Seated Leg Extensions

Side Lateral Raise

Barbell Shrugs

These workouts are not set in stone. I try to keep things mixed up from one week to the next. I'm always throwing in various other things and rotating which workout I do at the gym. I also rotate between higher weight and higher reps. I think I've been making successful gains doing this. I've added 50 pounds to my bench press in the past six months. My goal is not to compete in a bodybuilding competition. But for someone with a family and a busy work schedule, I think I'm doing pretty well with this routine.