Table Of ContentMIKE SMITH
START MUSCLING
A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO
BUILDING MUSCLE AND STRENGTH
AT HOME
Copyright © Mike Smith 2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ABOUT ME
I’ve had a keen interest in weight training or bodybuilding for over 35
years and have experienced the pain, the failures, and the success in reaching
my goals. I have learnt the hard way and made mistakes which set me back
much further than I anticipated, but this taught me valuable lessons which
improved my training and the associated diet.
From countless experiments I discovered the easier and quicker way. It
was more cost effective and productive, with my results being the proof. I
soon realised that I was making my weight training more complicated than
necessary, or should be, if only I knew then what I know now, things would
have been far less frustrating, and cheaper.
I have no degree in nutrition and I hold no certificates in weight training or
bodybuilding, what knowledge I have is my own, and it’s a lot, over 35 years
of training, experimenting with exercises and pushing my body to extremes
to get the formula which I perfected to succeed in my goals. I discovered
what works best with my diet and training combined, and it’s this knowledge
I want to pass on to others to make things easier to make the muscle growth
progression quick and successful.
I’ve trained the natural way, at times it was tempting to go down the
steroid route, but I knew this wasn’t for me, I was patient and understood the
complications and dangers with steroids. I saw the downsides of steroids
from friends that used them, it became obvious to me that training naturally
was my better option. Huge muscular guys or pro bodybuilders are in a
different league, it has never been any ambition of mine to be the next Mr
Universe. I understood what I was trying to achieve which was to be stronger,
fitter, healthier, and more muscular than what I originally was, I knew what
my realistic goals were.
Things have changed dramatically over the years especially in the
supplement market and the advice can be confusing, daunting, and expensive,
I have always used supplements but it’s getting it right first time, it can be
costly if you get it wrong, it can also set you back months, so I’ll tell you the
only supplements you’ll need and that actually work.
Currently I train at a maintenance level which came after my years of
training at the intermediate level. This book is dedicated to the beginners
level, and for those that exercise at home.
I am happy and content with my body now, weight training means as
much to me now as it did when I was 14. I cannot imagine life without my
weights, I enjoy my weight training as much as ever, I look forward to my
training today, I also can’t wait until my training tomorrow.
‘When people said, ‘We never want to look like you,’ Arnold replied,
‘Don’t worry, you never will.’
INTRODUCTION
This book is intended for beginners at any age, men, and women, large or
thin (fat or skinny if you prefer) and general keep fitters who are ‘stuck’ and
want to improve their strength and muscle definition. This book is not for
experienced trainers, or for anyone on the road to becoming the next Mr or
Miss Universe.
I appreciate that some people may be on a tight budget, have minimal time
and minimal knowledge, but this is not a problem, in fact you could easily
build strength by picking up rocks. As long as you have a keen desire to
strengthen your body and enhance your muscles you can still be successful
with your realistic dreams. Weight training will also improve your whole
health and wellbeing.
If you don’t like gyms, find it hard to get to one, or simply cannot afford
them, then this book will help guide you in the way that I know best using
basic equipment and a balanced affordable diet, all from your own home.
You will learn how to strengthen and grow muscles efficiently and safely.
I will explain in the easiest way I can so that you can start immediately on
your quest to re-shape your body. I will show you how and when to train,
what your diet should be and what supplements you need. You will discover
all the benefits that weight training adds to your life, it will alter your mind as
well as your body, you will see your life change for the better as you become
healthier and stronger.
Let’s face it, we would all want a fantastic body in just a few weeks, some
people believe this is possible, but what is a realistic time for those on a
budget, or for those who don’t have much time? If you have the dedication
and willpower to succeed at a cost of hard work, dedication, and patience,
only then do you reap the benefits. After 10 weeks of a strict training
program, and keeping to the appropriate diet, results are easy visible.
‘Home trainer’ - a person who trains at home in the bedroom, the garage,
spare room, or outbuilding, wherever you find your private space to train, this
book will guide you. You will be a casual weight or strength trainer not a
hardcore bodybuilder, but you’ll still have strength and muscles better than
before, you will look and feel great, your posture will improve, and your
mind will have a more confident, positive approach to everything, you will
ultimately feel better in body and mind.
It has been proven that weight training leads to a healthy life, it
strengthens muscles, bones, and joints, it improves mental health, it helps
obesity and can calm stress. There are so many more advantages to weight
training, it’s no wonder more and more people are now lifting weights to gain
these benefits.
It seems to be fashionable now for men and women to get a great body in
a noticeably short time, cheaply and with little effort. The little effort method
sometimes encourages the use of steroids, not knowing or taking into
consideration the associated health risks now or later in life.
I’ll show you that the natural method to building a great body is the only
way, the best way, and the healthiest way. I’ll teach you the natural approach,
no drugs or steroids, but a natural good diet, good workout routines with
weights (resistance) rest and the use of natural supplements, all purely
designed to build muscles (Dietary or nutritional supplements include any
consumed products that supplement the diet and improve additional
nutrients, vitamins and minerals).
Access to videos online which will help in showing you the correct
exercise movements is vital, this was valuable to me as it describes each
exercise in complete proper form. Performing each exercise correctly is
especially important and is called ‘proper form’. Lifting weights incorrectly
can be disastrous, time wasting and produces zero muscle growth as well as a
possible injury.
Hard work really pays, so be prepared, with patience and a good
understanding of weight training you will succeed in a short time. Your goal
is to alter your body at a safe and sensible healthy level, I’ll make it as short
and as easy as I possibly can and explain how to achieve your goals from
your home with minimal equipment and minimal cost in the shortest time
realistically possible. For just the price of this book, let me assist you in
reaching your goals.
Thank you for buying and reading my book.
Welcome to weight training, lets now Start Muscling.
‘I train my body, I sculpture my body, I eat well and lift heavy pieces of
iron, my achievements are my rewards, and my rewards are very satisfying’
Contents
AN UNDERSTANDING OF ONES GOALS
A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ME
DIET AND SUPPLEMENTS
WEIGHT TRAINING EQUIPMENT
WORKOUTS/ROUTINES
VISUALISATION AND POSITIVE THOUGHT
MUSIC, SLEEP, AND PATIENCE
SUMMING UP AND TIPS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AN UNDERSTANDING OF ONES GOALS
There are many bodybuilding magazines, and supplement web sites, that
give advice, recommending endless products to gain muscle, and it can
become confusing, expensive, and frustrating. The bottom line is that we just
want a method of training and dieting in a way that perfectly suits us, on an
affordable budget, and a way that also gives good results in the shortest
possible time. The last thing you want is to get confused with what now
seems like a science with the available supplements. It’s just too technical
and too scientific which makes it all confusing.
‘A recent study suggested to eat this or that’ or ‘a survey carried out by so
and so recommend to do this, or don’t do that’. This is all quite common
now, and for me it’s annoying, these studies and surveys just keep changing
each month, when all you want to do is workout, eat correctly, build muscles
and gain strength. In other words, you want to get it all perfectly correct, no
time wasting and no chucking money down the drain.
Every single weight trainer has their own method of training and their own
individual diet, the differences can be very extreme, there is not one specific
method. I have asked many weight trainers/bodybuilders what do they eat? I
get a different answer each time, isn’t it obvious that building muscles must
be kept basic and less confusing.
There is no miracle formula to naturally grow muscles quickly and easy,
that ‘wonder pill’ does not exist, but there is a basic formula that does work,
and with patience and effort, gains are achievable.
Don’t waste time and effort constantly searching for something that is
right in front of you, this takes away your concentration from the actual
training, and encourages doubt. Stick to a common formula, and you can’t go
wrong.
In the 1970’s, what were natural bodybuilders eating? I can tell you from
experience that it evolved around good food sources. With the myriad of
supplements around today, I could still never get any stronger or bigger than
if I were training with what was available to me in the 70’s. The supplements
today just make things more convenient, they may enhance working out and
help with muscle repair, but nothing out there can ‘blow up’ your muscles
overnight, regardless of any manufacturers claims.
I do still take supplements, and I have tried many, more in the ‘Diet And
Supplements’ chapter, but for a quickie note, my best supplements are whey
protein, creatine and BCAAs.
Plenty of sleep, a good protein diet and exercising each muscle correctly
using proper form equals muscle growth, this is the simplest sentence that
describes the way to reach your goals. Work on these three things to start the
muscle building process, the sleep part is easy thus allowing you to focus
more on diet and training.
We are all individuals in our genetic build up, this is particularly important
to understand, two people training and eating the same, will produce different
body shapes. This is not to say one will fail and the other succeed, it purely is
our body make up, our genes.
The human body is categorised in to three body shapes, Ectomorph (Slim
to me and you) Mesomorph (Medium) and Endomorph (Large). The fact
that genetically we are all made up differently, built differently with different
levels of energy, willpower, and motivation, makes the muscle building or
weight loss task an individual one.
An important fact to remember is that everyone can still make gains, be
stronger, lose weight, have muscle definition and be healthier. Find what
works for you, remember what works for one does not always work for
others, where some have failed may just work for you. You have to adjust
your own exercises and diet to suit you personally. Once you find your
formula, stick with it, don’t be persuaded to try something different at the
very early stages, especially if progress is extremely good, this may put all
your hard work back to the beginning, you would have then just wasted time
and money.
Alter things only as you gain experience, or you see no progress. You
need to tune yourself to find your winning formula, the information in this
book will assist with this, and I will explain it exactly how I wished someone
did for me when I first started.
Throughout your training period you must have patience, be dedicated,
and always give your workouts 100% effort, this state of mind can only give
you good results, if you stick at it, then you will see good results in 10 weeks,
less even.
When an actor has to improve muscle definition for a certain film role,
you will see that there is a dramatic change in their body, in quite a short
time. They of course would have personal trainers training them day in day
out, and of course guiding them with a good expensive diet. Whether or not
