Bodybuilders work with heavy weights to build large and proportional muscles. The beach-goer strives for relief, so he needs to eat less and lift less. But the difference is not only that.
Each of us has an idea of the ideal physique that we want to match. Perhaps you want an athletic and slim figure with sculpted abs and muscle volume to grab attention during a pool party. Or … you are inspired by the thought of a pile of muscles for everyone to envy. You want people to exclaim “Wow!” When they see you
Be that as it may, this is your body, and only you can decide what size and what shape it should take. Once you have a goal, the next step is to create a nutrition and exercise program that works best for your goals. This guide will show you how to eat and exercise to become a beach or bodybuilder.
What parts of the body to focus on
Beach Girl
If you want to shine on the beaches and pools, you need to focus on muscle groups that are valued in the men’s physique category. These are the shoulders, upper back, chest, arms and abs. Of course, you need to train your legs too, but since you are going to wear wide shorts, there is no reason to rock your hips to gigantic sizes.
Two muscle groups deserve special attention – abs and calves. Abs cubes are always in the spotlight, so be sure to work them out three times a week. The hips are hidden under the shorts most of the time, but the calves are in plain sight. Train them at least twice a week, doing 8-10 sets per session.
Bodybuilder
The visiting card of a bodybuilder is not just a large volume, but a uniform and full-fledged development of all parts of the body. To do this, you need to train all muscle groups diligently, but so that they grow at a proportional pace. You don’t want any muscle group to stand out against the general background by its gigantic size or its underdevelopment.
You may need to slow down those parts of the body that are growing faster and pay more attention to stubborn muscle groups. They should be worked out more often and more intensively. The goal is to develop your back, chest, shoulders, arms, quads, hamstrings, and calves to their maximum potential.
Range of repetitions
Beach Girl
Since the beach guy does not chase weight, he does not need to train with prohibitively heavy weights. Instead, it is better to take moderate weight and work in the middle rep range. Focus on sets of 12-15 reps for the upper body, and 12-20 reps for leg exercises.
Bodybuilder
To stimulate the highest possible hypertrophy, a mix of different rep ranges is needed. At first, when laying the foundation for future victories, do more low-rep sets that develop both mass and strength at the same time. For upper body sets, do 6-10 reps, for lower body sets, do 8-12 reps.
Once you’ve built up some good muscle mass, add some variety to your rep range. Heavy sets are still relevant, but now you have to alternate them with multi-rep sets. In back training, there can be several sets of 6-10 repetitions, and the rest – 12-15 times. You can even superset or drop sets for 20-30 reps.
Exercise Selection
Beach Girl
Basic exercises are a great choice for any purpose, because they allow you to work out several muscle groups at once. Just because you don’t want to weigh 120 kg in a competitive form doesn’t mean you can ignore the foundational strength training exercises — squats, deadlifts, bench presses, bent over rows, and army presses. Do them, but also do exercises that target the parts of the body you want to maximize.
Want broad shoulders? Extend your arms to the sides with dumbbells, on blocks, or in a machine. For a wide back, pull-ups and pulls on the upper block are needed. The press should be trained with crunches and leg raises. Calves will grow in response to standing and seated calf raises. Do an incline press to add more upper chest mass – it always looks great.
Bodybuilder
A bodybuilder needs a combination of multi-joint and isolation movements to fully develop each muscle group. To build your shoulders, you need to include an overhead press with dumbbells or a barbell in the list of basic exercises. The press can be followed by side swings and side raises in an incline. The butterfly trainer is great for isolation, allowing you to target the mid and rear heads of deltoids.
The back is developed by the deadlift in combination with the bent-over row and pulldowns on blocks at all possible angles. The bench press should be done on both a horizontal and an incline bench, this also applies to wiring. The legs respond well to a large training volume. You should load them with squats, leg presses, hack squats, leg extensions, leg curls (lying, sitting, or standing), lunges, and Romanian deadlifts. (Not all in one workout, of course!)
Biceps grow well in response to different flexion options, while triceps need both isolating movements like the French press or extension on the upper block, and basic exercises. The latter include a close-grip bench press and dips.
Training Split
Beach Girl
Training split is a matter of personal preference, but it makes sense to combine related muscle groups. For example, on one day, train the muscles that are responsible for pressing: chest, shoulders, and triceps. On another workout, do the back and biceps rows, and on the third day, devote to your legs and abs. You can train every day or with a break for one or two days.
Sure, you can train like a bodybuilder and focus on one muscle group per day, but given the different goals, this doesn’t make much sense. Since lean and dry are a priority for the beachgoer, do cardio at least three times a week – unless you’re one of the lucky ones who are naturally skinny. If you find it difficult to dry out and keep fit, you may need to increase your cardio frequency up to six times a week.
Bodybuilder
While bodybuilders can also combine muscle groups, most people see better results when they devote separate training days to their back, shoulders, chest, arms and legs. Again, there are no hard and fast rules. Nobody forbids making hands together with the chest or shoulders.
Moreover, you may feel that your legs are not getting maximum growth stimulus unless you break your quads and hamstrings into two separate workouts. You will attack the muscles with every possible exercise. If you need to limit the time of strength training, combine no more than two muscle groups or cut the volume of each session. Few people can exercise at maximum intensity for more than an hour, so try to keep within a reasonable time frame.
Power Frequency
Beach Girl
Aim to eat 3-4 times a day, plus a protein shake or two, every day. Breaks between meals should be no longer than 3-4 hours.
Bodybuilder
If you want to build extraordinary muscles, you have to eat much more often than the average person. Plan for at least four full meals a day, plus a cocktail, although it is in your best interest to eat 5 or even 6 times a day. This means that when you are awake, you will have to eat every 2-3 hours. Eating frequency is one of the biggest problems for aspiring bodybuilders. It’s not easy to prepare – and eat – that much food every day, but all the best bodybuilders do it.
BJU
Beach Girl
You want to develop your muscles while staying dry. Your diet should be full of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats, but all of these need to be obtained within reasonable limits. Aim for 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fat.
Bodybuilder
The proportion of BJU for a bodybuilder will be slightly different. His menu is 45% protein, another 45% carbohydrates, and the remaining 10% he takes in fats. For maximum muscle growth, you need both protein and carbohydrates, and a certain amount of fat is required to support many physiological processes. If you find it difficult to gain weight, change the proportion: 55% carbs, 35% protein and 10% fat.
Serving Size
Beach Girl
Serving size always depends on body weight, metabolic rate and level of physical activity. And yet, we can safely say that every future beach goer should stay away from extra calories. A typical serving for a man weighing 80-85 kilograms who wants to stay dry or gain some muscle mass and remove excess fat should be about 200-250 grams of chicken and a cup of cooked rice. Keep a food diary for at least a few weeks to get an idea of how much food you need. You have to find a fine line between overeating with fat storage and malnutrition with loss of muscle mass.
Bodybuilder
The serving size is very different for the 80kg hobbyist and the 150kg professional, but the concept remains the same. Overall, you need an excess of protein, carbs, healthy fats, and calories to support hard training, muscle recovery, and growth. This means eating 300-350 gram portions of chicken or beef, plus 2 cups of cooked rice or a large serving of boiled potatoes.
Many of the bodybuilders I know eat 2-3 whole eggs, 6-8 egg whites, a cup of oatmeal (measured dry) or wheat porridge with berries, cream and two slices of wheat toast for breakfast. Of course, the serving size changes as you gain weight or dry. When you dry, you usually save a serving of protein, but cut back on carbohydrates.
Supplements
The same supplements can and should be used by both beachgoers and bodybuilders. Sports nutrition from the short list contributes to the achievement of the set goals:
This sports nutrition contains all the building blocks that anyone looking to improve their physique needs. Time, experience and advice from fellow ironmongers will help you find other supplements that bring you closer to achieving your goals.
