As far as reps go, if you are just starting out, it’s best to perform somewhere between eight and twelve reps. This range is best suited for amateurs. At the beginning since you are also not likely to be using extremely heavy load, higher reps shouldn’t be a problem. In fact this should show significant improvement in your strength and muscular definition.
Pointers from the oldest gym in the country
Nepal Byayam Mandir is just one of those open secrets that folks in the body building community are all too familiar with. Narayan Pradhan, president of Nepal Byayam Mandir, though doesn’t like to call it a gym. He insists that over the years it has become more of an institute that promotes healthy body and mind. The declaration might seem slightly farfetched for those who haven’t heard of Nepal Byayam Mandir before, but those who know the history of the place tend to agree.
“This is the first gym in our country. Yes, it’s true. We can also verify that the likes of Dharma Bhakta and Ganesh Man Singh were regular visitors,” says Pradhan.
Indeed, as the sign board of Nepal Byayam Mandir reads, this institute was officially established in 1953 A.D. But even before that, it is believed that youngsters of the time were gathering here to develop their physical fitness i.e. mainly wrestle.
Pradhan elaborates, “We can’t forget that gathering of such types were viewed with suspicion during the Rana regime but these youngsters somehow convinced the authority that their main priority was their fitness.”
Exercises to strengthen your core
Even martyrs like Dharma Bhakta and legendary politicians like Ganesh Man Singh came here to exercise. Naturally, at the time, the concept of trainers or gym equipment wasn’t that popular. Pradhan says they used self designed slabs of cement, sticks, and metal as weights. This was the case for years. However, a decade or so later, according to Pradhan, a professional body builder by the name of Ghanshyam Mukhiya showed interest to help others work on their bodies and fitness.
“At the time, we knew lifting heavy objects would help build our biceps but if we wanted to focus on the triceps , we were lost. Mukhiya had won a body building competition in India so he became our first instructor,” explains Pradhan.
Today Nepal Byayam Mandir is famous among several of our own national body builders (both men and women) as well as several athletes. The many instructors there help clients make their own individual diet and exercise plan and the help is at hand throughout the week, except on Saturdays.
While Pradhan remembers occasional slight increase in the popularity of body building when an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie was out, today he can feel the appeal increase by leaps and bounds. For those interested, he only has words of encouragement.
“Anybody can start body building. Despite your gender or your current weight, to an extent even your age, it’s never too late to start,” says Pradhan.
Here, Pradhan offers some advice for those interested in body building
The food that we normally consume on a daily basis isn’t enough. Along with determination, diet is the other very important thing you need to control when you are serious about body building. You need to strictly maintain your food intake and that involves cutting some things as well as adding them. You will need to consult a professional for this. There are several individualistic factors that also need to be considered while planning your diet and the timing of its intake is important as well. Contrary to popular belief, though boiled food and protein does makes a huge part of the diet change, this isn’t all there is to it. So before beginning your body building quest, I’d suggest you to work on your diet plan as well.
Where your workout program is concerned, you can’t start building your muscles immediately. You have to improve your condition first. While you are starting though, for most part, when focusing on muscle building you will want to limit the amount of additional cardio you do. Cardio training in higher quantities or intensities tends to have a negative impact on your ability to build muscle. So often you find trainers advising you to keep it to 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes or so.
Since your diet will be drastically changed, you might want to take good multivitamins and fish oil supplements to make up for your vegetable intake. Many tend to focus on their protein and cut out the vegetables while trying to gain weight. Since they add a lot of excess bulk to the diet making it harder to consume more calories, in some cases you can be at risk for nutrient deficiencies. Taking that multivitamin on a regular basis will prevent this.
As far as reps go, if you are just starting out, it’s best to perform somewhere between eight and twelve reps. This range is best suited for amateurs. At the beginning since you are also not likely to be using extremely heavy load, higher reps shouldn’t be a problem. In fact this should show significant improvement in your strength and muscular definition. Once you get more used to the different weight lifting exercises, then you can bring the rep range lower whilst adding on the weight.
Don’t forget to take days off. As a beginner you might even want to take at least one day off between each full body workouts. You won’t be too sore this way and it will also give you time to get used to the sessions. Too many times, people tend to quit because they feel overwhelmed so pace yourself especially in the beginning.
