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                Going to the gym is not just a “guy” thing.  Going to the gym is not just for competitive bodybuilders or aspiring competitive bodybuilders.  There are natural bodybuilders.  There are amateur athletes, male and female, that enjoy bodybuilding.  Bodybuilding is not only about lifting weights.  It also requires proper diet as well.  Natural bodybuilding to improve on one’s physique is beneficial for any person’s quality of life.

                There is a wealth of information out there pertaining to bodybuilding.  There are online and physical magazines.  There are books.  There are many celebrity personal trainers.  It will not take any more than a few moments to realize that you can get lost real easily.  The key is to first know what you desire for yourself in natural bodybuilding.  Then determine what reference materials are respectable and scientifically backed.  Thirdly, learn as much about your own physical functionality and limitations.

                For my project, I did consider FLEX magazine, Muscle and Fitness magazine, Iron Man magazine, Muscular Development magazine, Bodybuilding.com, etc.  However, I needed to focus on what I wanted for myself in terms of natural bodybuilding for a classic, well-balanced physique.  Thus, I focus on getting information and speaking to an industry expert that I have contact with.

                I interviewed Mr. Brett Nelson who has been a personal trainer since 1996.  He worked at Gold’s Gym in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands between 1996 and 2016 as a Personal Trainer and Personal Training Department Manager, and Business Manager.  He is now with his own personal training business in Spokane, Washington.  He has numerous certifications from the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM).  He is also a contributor to NASM.

                One take-away from Mr. Nelson is that workouts high repetition sets have different benefits for different people.  It depends on the supplements the person is taking.  Generally, high repetition workouts are for the rehabilitative state.  For the person that is just starting out with bodybuilding, it is for stabilization endurance training.  It will help the person lose weight.  It will help the person get comfortable with the exercises.  It prepares the body for the stresses that bodybuilding will be exerting on the body.

                High repetition workouts, sets of twelve to fifteen repetitions at a time, are good every three months for one to two weeks.  Sets of one to five repetitions at a time are for strength training.  Sets of eight to twelve repetitions are for muscle development.

                One-rep max sets, where you try for your heaviest lift for one repetition, is good for bodybuilding and everything else you do.  It would be beneficial in helping you lift heavier as a bodybuilder.  It would help you perform better in other sports that require strength, whether it is bursts of force or continuous exertions of force.

                Another important point I confirmed with Mr. Nelson is that muscle soreness indicates you are both tearing down muscle and building muscle.  After working out, you must be tired, but not too tired that you are not able to get back to the gym the next day.  You may take supplements to help you get your muscles rejuvenated for the next day’s workout.

                Body fat percentage is of obvious importance in bodybuilding.  As confirmed with Mr. Nelson, fat is gained from what we eat rather than from a natural production of our bodies.  A bodybuilder would have ten to twelve percent of body fat in the off season.  For a competitive bodybuilder, it would be three to five percent of body fat for competition.  For a professional bodybuilder, who takes drugs, one to three percent for competition.  Women would naturally have fourteen to seventeen percent body fat.  Competitive women will have between five and eight percent body fat.

                In bodybuilding, the only body part that may be trained daily would be the abdominals.  Other body parts need to have a rest period in the week so as to allow for proper growth and development.  Different people have different days that they would to train certain body parts.  Maybe for someone that always trains the pectoralis major (chest), it would be good to do that later in the week.  This may help ensure that the other body parts are given proper attention.

                There is a lot of controversy about how mush protein a bodybuilder should consume per pound of overall body weight.  However, if we had to put a number to it, it would generally be between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.  Of course, it is always a good idea to check with your general doctor about what may be good for you; but then again, be careful with that too.  Some doctors are biased against bodybuilding.  Others are bodybuilders themselves.

                If you stop seeing improvements from your workouts, the easiest thing to do to snap out of that plateau is to change your workout or take a week off.  Maybe consider jogging, swimming, or biking.  That would at least keep you active.  It may also help you with your endurance within and between sets, when you get back to the gym.

                Any exercise helps a person improve his/her quality of life.  It is common knowledge that exercise helps decrease or keep blood sugar levels lower.  It is common knowledge that exercise helps decrease or keep blood pressure measurements lower.  It is common knowledge that a body with properly functioning limbs and posture helps decrease or eliminate pain.  Given that (1) bodybuilding is exercise, (2) bodybuilding requires proper form, and (3) bodybuilding improves your physique; bodybuilding is many people’s chosen sport to exercise and improve their quality of life.  I have made it my chosen sport, maybe you can too!

Interview Reflection

Mr. Brett Nelson was a Personal Trainer, Manager for the Personal Training Department, and the Business Manager for Gold’s Gym in the Northern Mariana Islands from 1996 to 2013.  He currently has his own personal training business in Spokane, Washington.  He also consults in Spokane and still consults for Gold’s Gym in the Northern Mariana Islands.  His certifications include certifications from the National Association of Sports Association.  He is also a contributor to their work.  I had a phone interview with him to answer my project questions.

From the interview, the general idea from my project proposal was reinforced.  Natural bodybuilding is beneficial for any person’s quality of life.  For example, Mr. Nelson explained that one-rep max training is beneficial for all that you do.  It is good for strength training.  It is good for bodybuilding.  Mr. Nelson explained that any exercise is good for improving a person’s quality of life.  It is good for improving a person’s mood.

As something good for a person’s well-being, natural bodybuilding has an attraction for me.  As an individual sport, it is easier to find the time for because I do not need to coordinate my availability with the availability of an entire team.  As something that has benefits that is potentially transferable to other life activities or sports, natural bodybuilding has further attraction.

Being someone that is starting out on this path of natural bodybuilding, I have found that doing higher repetition sets of twelve to fifteen repetitions have helped my body remember the different movements I need to perform for various body parts.  As I got comfortable with the movements, it gave me the mental and physical preparation to lift heavier for three to five repetitions.

I have also experienced the importance of diet and proper supplementation in bodybuilding.  When I was not focused on what my food intake was on the day prior to working out and on the day of working out, I found myself sore post workout.  When I tried to be somewhat more attentive on my food intake before and after working out, I found that my muscle soreness was minimized.

When I worked out a few times focusing on improving my posture, I got comments at home that my posture was better.  This is important for me because I know that there are times I feel my back is a little strained and proper posture would be a key to minimizing or eliminating the strain.

From the interview with Mr. Nelson, it is only reconfirmed that bodybuilding is very dynamic.  One cannot simply do the same exercises day in and day out.  Changing out your workout plan is important.  For example, it is a good idea to do high repetition sets for one to two weeks every three months.  Changing out your workout plan periodically would help ensure your body’s improvement does not plateau.

In conclusion, there is a lot that goes into natural bodybuilding.  There is proper diet.  There is proper form.  There are the supplements.  There are a lot of benefits.  If your body functions properly, it would help you perform injury free with other sports.  If your body is muscularly balanced, you would have a physique that you could be proud of.  Bodybuilding should not automatically imply a drug user.  There are many natural bodybuilders with a very respectable diet and exercise lifestyle.

Weekly Reflection

Though Frank is the primary person to be working out in our group, I decided to go to the gym as well.  I have gone to the gym a few times over the last couple weeks.  After my first day, I was sore a couple days later.  After my second and third workouts a few days later, I did not experience the soreness anymore.

Last year and the year before that, I worked out regularly.  That could be why after the second and third workouts recently, I found it so much easier.

Questions and Answers

1.)  What are the benefits of high repetitions sets?  (Burn fat, tone up, or build muscle? There are bodybuilders that use high repetition sets in their workouts.)

It is not the easiest to say.  It depends on what the person is using.  For me, it is for the rehabilitative state.  For the person that is just starting out with bodybuilding, it is for stabilization endurance training.  It will help the person lose weight and help him/her get comfortable with the exercises.  It prepares the body for the stresses that bodybuilding will be exerting on the body.

If the person is starting out with less body fat percentage, the higher repetition with lower weights would still be beneficial for preparing the body to subsequently lift heavier weight.

It is good to do high repetition workouts every three months for one to two weeks.

Strength training is a workout consisting of sets of one to five repetitions.

Muscle development is a workout consisting of sets of eight to twelve repetitions.

2.)  Is a one-rep set beneficial for bodybuilding?  (Is it beneficial for strength training only?)

If you are doing even one rep maxes, that could still help you in all that you do.  It would be beneficial in helping you lift heavier for bodybuilding.  It would help you perform better in other sports that require strength, whether it is bursts of force or continuous exertions of force.

3.)  Muscle soreness post is a sign of building muscle or tearing muscle down?  (Should a bodybuilder's goal be to feel muscle soreness as often as possible?)

Both.  After working out, you must be tired, but not too tired that you are not able to get back to the gym the next day.  Supplements are to help you not get too tired and to help your muscles get the required nutrients to prepare itself for the next day’s workout.

4.)  Does the body naturally produce fat or is fat gained from what we eat?

Gained from what we eat.

5.) What is a healthy range of fat percentage for a male vs. a female?  (What is a male bodybuilder's fat percentage in the off season vs. competition?  How about for a female bodybuilder?)

Ten to twelve percent off season.

Three to five percent for competition as a natural bodybuilder.

One to two percent for professional bodybuilders who take drugs.

For women, they would naturally have fourteen to seventeen percent body fat.  For competitors, between five and eight.

6.)  For bodybuilders, are there body parts that can be trained daily?

Abs, more than anything.

7.)  How much protein should a body builder consume per pound of overall body weight?

There’s a lot of controversy about this topic.  Generally, between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

8.)  If you stop seeing improvements from your workouts, what is the easiest thing to do to snap out of that plateau?

Change your workout or take a week off.

9.)  Bodybuilding gets a person to exercise often and the person gets to see his/her body transform and improve.  Would you say exercise improves a person’s quality of life?

Of course, any exercise.  It improves a person’s mood.

Project Proposal

Natural bodybuilding is beneficial for any person's quality of life.  Exercising and being athletic may help in improving a person's mood and intellectual capacity.  Thus, bodybuilding is a good consideration for any person, and bodybuilding should not automatically be considered a sport for drug users.  There are many natural bodybuilders who use proper diet and nutrition to improve his/her physique.

Bodybuilding is largely an individual sport.  However, it may also be a team sport wherein fellow athletes may coach each other and assist each other perform exercises safely and effectively.  It is a sport that may be prerequisite for other sports.  Having a well balanced physique helps prevent injuries in other sports.  For example, the strength training could be built into a bodybuilding program.  Combined, strength training and bodybuilding could be important to playing football.

In bodybuilding, form is of paramount importance.  It helps improve your body's function.  It helps improve your body's posture.  With proper posture and body alignment, a person may age gracefully with less pain than may otherwise be experienced.  I would consider bodybuilding just for its overall health benefits that a person may experience.

At this time, Frank, David, and myself are engaging in our own experiment as to how a person may develop in bodybuilding.  Frank will be working out throughout this project.  We will be monitoring his progress accordingly.  He will be taking supplements and exercising regularly.

We will research written literature about bodybuilding.  We plan on interviewing an expert in the field  and/or a seasoned bodybuilder to gain some feedback on what works and what does not work when it comes to bodybuilding.  Our goal is not to become a Mr. Olympia but to learn some important bodybuilding lessons that we can take from and improve upon for years to come.

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