With so many free bodybuilding routines available these days it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know which ones are worthy of your time and effort.
If your new to bodybuilding and possess an “untrained eye” then you are more likely to be sucked in by clever marketing and downright bad advice.
Not Anymore!
By the time you’ve read this article you will be able to spot the warning signs of a bad workout. Once you know them they are easy to spot and you’ll be surprised how often you come across them but also pleased you are no longer wasting your time with them.
After all, time is in short supply if you have a hectic life outside of the gym so let’s not allow ourselves to waste the little time we do have to workout with ineffective routines!
Stop Being The Hamster in The Wheel!
Call me an ideologist but wouldn’t it be great if the bodybuilding industry played straight and gave you advice that actually worked?
A nice thought, but the truth is it doesn’t make money so the industry spin gets you doing workouts, taking supplements and wasting your time and money.
Every now and again you get sucked into a new piece of “research” which explains why you’ve not been making progress and urges you to change tact immediately!
You end result? You constantly change workouts hoping the next one will be “the one” and you make no progress.
You’ve become the hamster in the wheel of the industry. The truth is you can actually get the results you want if you know when the information you’re being fed is duff. That way, you know what to ignore and what to pay attention to.
Your current workout is usually a culprit, especially if you are following a free bodybuilding routine from a muscle magazine!
So How Do You Spot The Warning Signs of a Bad Workout?
There are a number of things that I keep an eye out for when I see a free bodybuilding routine which turns my “BS filter” onto high.
This means I look at the routine in the cold light of day, without any excitement about the gains I could make or the new movements I’m going to be doing.
Warning Sign 1 – Free Bodybuilding Routines in the Muscle Mags are Not Worth The Paper They are Printed On!
Bodybuilding magazines are little more than supplement catalogues these days. Don’t believe me? Take a look at who owns the muscle magazines and you will find it’s the same people who own the supplement companies.
The free bodybuilding routine in the article will often be the actual workout used by the bodybuilder featured which he confirms will bring unparalleled muscle gains.
The problem here is that 99% of the bodybuilders featured in the magazine use steroids or hormone altering drugs to get as big as they do. This means what works for them will not work for you as a natural trainee.
Always keep this in mind when you’re looking at a free bodybuilding routine in a magazine and try to follow natural bodybuilding advice instead.
Warning Sign 2 – The Free Bodybuilding Routine Provided Insists on a Specific Supplement Program
Following on from the first warning sign is this. What usually happens is the article insists that a particular supplement or stack of supplements is key to the gains made.
This gives them an excuse when the workout routine yields little to no results and also means you are likely to believe the supplements are required. Its win-win for the magazine owners (remember they own the supplement companies!) as you stay reading their articles and possibly even spend some of your money at their store!
Personally I think it’s downright sneaky…the protein powder didn’t make a difference to the bodybuilders size, the drugs he is taking did! But of course no one will tell you that!
It makes me so angry to see this because people actually decide the risks associated with steroids are worth it because they have “tried everything else” to gain muscle mass and failed.
You can build muscle without steroids if you follow a good bodybuilding routine that is designed for natural trainees and follow natural bodybuilding advice.
How Do You Know a Good Free Bodybuilding Routine?
Whilst you have to be just as careful (if not more-so) online, there are hundreds of free bodybuilding routines available on the net and I’ve handpicked some of the best ones for you.
As a natural bodybuilder the workout routine you are following should not have you lifting weights more than 4 days per week maximum. Anything more than this is simply a route to overtraining and overtraining will put a halt on any muscle gains you planned on making!
Bodybuilders who take drugs train more often than this as they are able to recover quicker than everyone else but as a natural bodybuilding you don’t need to do this.
Here’s
28 free weightlifting routines (pop up)
designed by world renowned strength coach Chad Waterbury, these routines will be a good place to get you started.
I particularly recommend the Hybrid Hypertrophy and Total Body Training routines.
One Final Point
Also beware of the any free bodybuilding routine with an accompanying nutrition plan that advises you to eat silly amounts of calories per day.
Whilst you do need a surplus of calories to gain muscle mass it’s usually not as many as the muscle mags tell us. In fact, the meal plans provided can often cause excess fat gain in a natural trainee; I discussed this in this article which discusses
muscle building foods (pop up)
and the best time to consume them.
That’s it. You’re now fully prepped and ready to step back into the big bad world of the bodybuilding industry.
I hope this article has given you some clarity on how the system works so you can avoid being caught up in it so you can simply focus on the things that bring you results!
Good Luck!
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