10 Commandments of
Bodybuilding
 As
it is written in the Bible, Moses set forth the 10 Commandments to guide
our daily path of life. Bodybuilding, to hardcores, is a sort of religion
of it’s own, (excuse the metaphor). We lay down our physical law - what
constitutes the right path of getting lean muscle as quickly as possible.
Recently I read an article in which the writer spoke of the 10
Commandments in building heavenly muscle. His laws consist of the
following:
THOU SHALT NOT CHEAT
Bad form and cheating are
the most common training flaws seen in the gym. Many people are ignorant
of proper form. Cheating on form is an easy way to use more weight in an
attempt to "impress" and feed your ego and puts more stress on joints and
connective tissues than it does muscle, resulting in either lack of
progress or injury.
THOU SHALT NOT LIFT WEIGHTS IN VAIN
Don’t be an egomaniac. Don’t be vain in the
gym. Weight training is not a group effort. You only need one spotter,
forced reps are best done by you.
HONOR THE BASICS TO KEEP THEM
SACRED
The overwhelming majority of muscle comes
from a short list of exercises, squats, deadlifts, bench presses, seated
presses, dips, and barbell rows. Free weights by far are the best for
building big muscle.
THOU SHALT NOT OVERKILL
The gym can be your escape from the outside
world, a domain where there is nothing but effort, sweat, clanking iron,
and the swell of pumping muscles. Still too much of a good thing can be
bad.
THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
TO ANY SPECIFIC TRAINING ROUTINE
Our bodies are adaptive
organisms. Someone with the most amazing training routine would indeed
make great gains, but even for only awhile. True their muscles would
adapted to the stress. Unless you continually manipulate variables liked
the exercises you perform, the number of reps, the tempo of the reps, rest
periods between sets, and how you split up the muscle groups during the
training week, you can forget about making maximum progress.
THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR’S
SUPPORTIVE GEAR
Save the supportive gear only for those
exercises that call for it.
THOU SHALT NOT HAVE ANY SOCIAL
CLUBS BEFORE EXERCISE
You know, there’s a time to be friendly and
say hello, but the gym is a serious place where some of us are trying to
focus and build muscle. Save the talk for Starbucks.
INTENSITY TO KEEP MUSCLE GROWING
If you don’t apply yourself with some
concentrated effort to challenge your body with the weights, don’t expect
results.
KEEP YOUR REST DAYS HOLY TO BUILD
MUSCLE
Muscle grows at rest and if that rest is
never provided, no growth occurs.
THOU SHALT NOT COPY THE ROUTINES OF
PRO BODYBUILDERS
The pros are hard workers and very dedicated
to their training, but they are not like the average you and me . They are
genetic freaks who were either very muscular when they started, or
sprouted muscles when they started. Also keep in mind the role of steroids
and other drugs used in their training. It’s fine to look to the pro for
inspiration, but don’t think they have any secret training routine that
will have you looking like them in no time!
Pictures courtesy of my friend Belen and
Robert "NGA Mr Universe", both NGA competitors.
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