How can you use legendary bodybuilders’ advice to improve your workout? Fitness experts load the Internet with overwhelming tips and advice to boost your bodybuilding journey. That’s why we have jotted down tips from legendary bodybuilders so that you know what’s best for you.
1. “Hard work and training. There’s no secret formula. I lift heavy, work hard and aim to be the best.”– RONNIE COLEMAN.
Opposite to mainstream misapprehension, decreasing your body fat to a minimum while increasing your muscle size to the extreme is conflicting. For example, well-known myths say that “as you lose weight, you lose a lot of strength” and “higher reps burn more calories,” however, such assumptions come from those who achieved nothing.
Instead, reducing body fat helps in increasing the body’s muscle-to-fat ratio. Therefore, you’ll have more muscle than weight, allowing you more endurance and internal strength. In conclusion, training every day with heavier weights will burn more calories than calories burnt with lighter weights.
Many bodybuilders are substandard because of over-training before a match compared to simply training. As a result, they increased the workout that made them enormous, causing them to overreach with their vigorous heavy-duty training and high-energy food.
To avoid this, legendary bodybuilders maintain the supplements that build muscle, keep a steady intake of proteins in their diet and discover the calorie level that provides them with enough energy to support their usually high-intensity exercises while permitting them to burn body fat and not muscle.
2. “If you’re not eating right, your body will not grow like it would if you take what you eat more seriously. Quality protein, fats, and carbohydrates will be vital to building quality mass.”– Lee Haney.
Even though best known for his work in the gym, Haney gives the most significant credit for his physique to his diet. Legendary bodybuilders treat their diet like gospel.
During one interview, when asked about his diet plan, Haney replied his diet comprises well-rounded meals:
- Quality proteins- get them from steak, eggs, beef, salmon, and sometimes lentils. He relied little upon protein powders.
- Carbohydrates mainly rely on sweet potatoes as they are high in beta carotene and fiber. In addition, a low glycemic index makes it a perfect energy food with anabolic properties (similar to roots).
- Greens- consumed spinach a lot as it is a multi-mineral complex enabling him to cleanse the body.
- Water- refreshes, keeping the body clean and encouraging blood flow.
- Dairy- 12-15 whole eggs per day during the off-season for building muscles. He would take 3-4 egg whites and two whole eggs during the season. He deemed egg yolks helpful as it contains lecithin and choline, having fat burning-properties.
- Pineapples- twice a day, as they act as an anti-inflammatory for joints.
3. “Devise an effective training split for muscle gain,”- Phil Heath.
It’s essential to go to the gym with a plan, so devise a training split that allows time for your muscles to recover and grow. Legendary bodybuilders know muscles grow not in the gym but during recovery. Phil heath’s training splits go like this:
- Back and Biceps
- Chest and Triceps
- Legs
- Shoulders
Phil Heath combines back and biceps because many back exercises engage the biceps, and the same occurs when you are training with the chest and triceps. Therefore, grouping these body parts into the same training days works well. In addition, he assigns separate days for both legs and shoulders, stating that:
“if you are doing enough volume with–hamstrings, calves, glutes, and quads, that will be more than enough for you.”
He describes shoulders as “a lost art in bodybuilding.” And stresses the importance of working: the front, side, and rear delts create full rounded shoulders.
4. “Bodybuilding allowed me to be judged for who I am, not by the color of my skin, where I came from, or anything else. It’s just amazing,” – Flex Wheeler.
Flex is an excellent example of consistency. Wheeler is a role model, teaching us that the circumstances, maybe if one is passionate enough, they will overcome. Legendary bodybuilders know that consistency and compliance to a workout and diet matter most.
In an interview from 2009, Wheeler states that potentially, you can reach over eighty percent of your bodybuilding potential by grasping a command over the basic training principles. Time and time again, he emphasized the significance of slowly adding weight to be lifted and using compound moves for mass building.
In the 90s, Wheeler didn’t have the resources we have today, such as the modern equipment in most gyms. Despite that, he built an exceptional physique. He used the basics to gain both mass and strength. For instance, take his back-training routine, which comprised chin-ups, cable rows, and back extensions.
He believes classic moves such as squats, rows, and deadlifts are the most effective exercises for strength and hypertrophy. He recommends doing three sets for each of these moves. If you are interested in further shaping your physique, you can use exercises such as bicep curls, calf raises, and other isolation exercises besides the basic lifts.
5. “Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate 100% to your training, diet, and mental approach.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Your will to work for hours depends upon your mental strength. Arnie’s efforts are innumerable to enhance the cognitive approach and motivate people. Legendary bodybuilders know that mental toughness is just as important as the workout and diet. He has tried his best to encourage people in various interviews, on his blog, and in his book. Following is a gist of his interview. Putting these thoughts into consideration can affect your workout routine.
“Why do you want to work out? What is your goal?” Later in his interview, he answered this rhetorical question by mentioning how one’s goal can be super crazy as long as it motivates them.
As a child, Arnold had posted posters of Muhammad Ali, Roy “Reg” Park, weightlifters, and powerlifters all over his bedroom wall. Looking at those pictures daily motivated him, and those images reminded him of his goal. People used to ask him how he smiled after long hours of workouts while his peers struggled for another rep. To that, he used to reply:
“I look forward to another dozen reps, another 500 leg squats, and another curl until my arms fall off. Why? Because I know that I gain one step closer to turning that vision into reality every rep that I did, every set that I did, and the weight that I lifted.”
The legendary bodybuilders mentioned above are just a handful of legends throughout history. Bodybuilding is not just a sport. It is a lifestyle, and treating it as one requires courage and persistence. None of these remarkable legendary bodybuilders compromised.