Many gym newbies ask questions about how long it takes to swing to look like Schwarzenegger. Or to see the first results. Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question - progress in the growth of muscle mass depends on many factors, including the individual characteristics of the organism.
The general recommendations of bodybuilding trainers are as follows: to see the first results of your workouts, you need to train for at least a year. In order to look like a real bodybuilder and be able to participate in competitions - at least 5 years. In reality, if you do not take into account many important factors, this time can increase significantly.
First of all, a genetic predisposition has a powerful effect on muscle growth. There is nothing you can do about it: someone is given the talent to draw well, someone is given the talent to study science, and someone is given the talent to achieve success in sports. For example, the same Schwarzenegger has a clear genetic predisposition to bodybuilding: before he became interested in the barbell, he tried many different sports and in each of them he achieved serious success. But, on the other hand, the lack of innate qualities does not mean that the athlete will never win prizes in competitions. An example is Frank Zahn, a three-time winner of the "Mr. Olympia" competition, who managed to build excellent muscles on a thin-boned skeleton, which was previously considered almost impossible.
The second important factor is the training program. While a standard simple training program is recommended for beginners, suitable for everyone, then advanced athletes have to experiment, try different training schemes, ideally suited to the characteristics of their body. For example, to build chest muscles, one bodybuilder is better off doing 2-3 reps with maximum weight, and another 20 reps with lighter weights.
The same can be said for training frequency. Experts recommend exercising 3 times a week so that the duration of the workout does not exceed one hour, and the rest between classes is at least a day. There are split systems that require you to train 6 times a week. However, they are only suitable for experienced bodybuilders, and even then not for everyone. Many bodybuilding champions have never used splits simply because they are not suitable for them.
But even a standard training program of 3 sessions per week may not be suitable for everyone. If, for example, an athlete earns his living by hard physical labor or he has small children, and he is forced to get up to them at night, 3 times a week is a lot. At this rate, the athlete quickly becomes overworked and muscle growth slows down. Such people should train 2 or even 1 time per week.
The third determining factor is nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. If an athlete drinks and smokes, if he eats somehow, he can swing for years and still not see noticeable results. Conversely, a healthy lifestyle and nutritious nutrition ensure the fastest possible results.
A healthy diet means getting your body a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Moreover, proteins must be obtained from boiled meat or fish, from milk and dairy products, from nuts. And carbohydrates are from fruits, vegetables and grains, not from buns and pastries.
Special attention should be paid to vitamins and minerals. If a complete healthy diet can provide the average person with a sufficient amount of vitamins, then this will not be enough for a bodybuilder. It is necessary to additionally take various vitamin and mineral preparations.
There are also special drugs for athletes that accelerate muscle growth at times - anabolic steroids. It has been proven that taking steroids can achieve much greater results than usual. Manufacturers of anabolic steroids assure that their drugs are absolutely harmless and even useful for the athlete. However, adherents of "natural" bodybuilding know that long-term use of steroids is harmful to the general health of a person and, sooner or later, can lead to serious problems.
Many people think: first I will pump up with the help of steroids, and then I will give them up. But in reality, everything turns out to be completely different. Having received the first results relatively easily, the athlete makes an attempt to stop taking anabolic steroids. But in response, his muscles begin to "deflate". And, in order not to avoid this, he is forced to continue taking steroids. And so on until serious health problems begin and sports will have to be stopped.
