Setting Your Goals for Achieving Continuous Muscle Growth



Posted: Wednesday, July 09, 2008

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So, you have just got your membership card for your local gym, you have a whole wardrobe full of new gym clothes, you are ready for some serious hard work, and you have your heart set on reaching your ideal body size or weight – what will be your next step?

Setting goals is extremely important for helping you build your new body. You need to think specifically about what you want to achieve, how much time you are willing to devote to this new endeavor, and for what kind of duration. When you have thought realistically about these issues, you are ready to set your personal goals. The term "goal setting" might have unpleasant memories of your school guidance counselor associated with it, but this doesn't have to be a stressful pursuit. The main idea of setting goals is to give you something to aim for on a weekly, monthly, or even yearly basis. You will be able to chart your progress, and see how well your bodybuilding is coming along!

There is nothing set in stone that says you have to set goals to become a bodybuilder. After all, if you eat a more balanced diet and do rigorous training, your muscle mass will increase, you will lose a vast percentage of your body fat, and you will become healthier without even putting pen to paper. The point is that there will be peaks and troughs in your progress. Even the most seasoned professional goes through times when they feel frustrated and unmotivated, and you will be no different. If you have something to refer to during these times, you will be able to remind yourself of what your aims are and how far you have already come. These notes just might provide you with the inspiration you need to get in that car and get back to the gym!

You are the only person who can set your goals! Personal trainers and other health professionals can definitely offer you advice on what is achievable in what kind of timeframe, but your goals are an individual effort. They will be an intimate and personal creation, and reflect what you are hoping to achieve as a bodybuilder. Your goals are your responsibility!

So, approximately how much lean muscle mass can you expect to gain? Most individuals report an average weight gain of around 20lbs in a 6 month timeframe. This is assuming of course, that they follow nutritional guidelines, rest between workouts, and train in an effective, well planned manner. If you were to make gaining 20lbs in 6 months your only goal, you might experience a problem. At the end of the period, if you found that your gains were not as significant as you had hoped, without careful records of weekly goals to refer back to, you would have no idea why. This would leave you in a quandary – it would be hard to set realistic goals for the next 6 months if you didn't know why the last goal failed.

One of the most effective uses of goals is to see them as a series of stepping stones across a pond. There may be some smaller stones with the larger stones but they are all equally important to your progress. As a bodybuilder, if you use short term weekly goals, they will keep you on track to your medium term monthly goal, and these in turn will keep you on track to your long term semi annual goal.

Every time you exercise, make note of the weight used, and the amount of sets and reps completed. If you ever feel unmotivated, you can look back at your logbook and see how far you have already progressed. This will hopefully motivate you to keep making progress and building mass. In a separate part of your logbook, make note of everything you eat and drink.

Some people need a more detailed plan than others. You are the best judge of what you kind of motivational tools and degree of planning will help you succeed. Whether you make a detailed plan, or just a rough sketch, each goal should be achievable and realistic, without being too easy. Remind yourself why became involved in Bodybuilding in the first place as often as you can, and enjoy the rewards!

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Mr. Keith
 3 years 185 days ago.
25 fans.
An interesting article. I even clicked on your link!
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