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There are many reasons why people fail to achieve their bodybuilding goals.  Unfortunately, when goals are missed, many people get frustrated and toss the whole bodybuilding  program and never come back to it.  However, if you are frustrated with your progress, the best strategy is to regroup, take a look at your training journal (I am assuming you have one), analyze the reason the goals were missed and create new goals.

Perhaps the reason for not reaching your bodybuilding goals was unrealistic expectations.  Expecting to gain 30 lbs of solid muscle in 30 days is unrealistic, especially for those of us who are well past our teenage years.  Expecting to go from 17 inch arms to 18 inch arms of solid muscle in 2 weeks, is also unrealistic since a 17 inch arm is already pretty developed, and thus, taking it to the next level will take longer.  So when you set bodybuilding goals make sure that your goals are realistic as otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure.  For beginners, the first and second year you can gain a good 15-20 pounds a year.  Teenagers a bit more perhaps and all of this depends on the genetics of the bodybuilder.  For more advanced athletes, 1/2 lb to 1 lb of muscle a month is a good gain (6-12 lbs/year). However for really advanced natural bodybuilders, 2-3 lbs per year is a good goal.

With that said, another important thing to realize is how you deal with failure.  There were many times during my bodybuilding journey in which I did not achieve the goals I wanted.  Regardless of the reasons (and 8 times out of 10 the issue was unrealistic goals), when I failed, I would simply assess the reasons why and just keep moving forward.  The way I saw it, I had just lost a battle but not the war.  And of course, my philosophy of war is: "No retreat, no surrender!"  You need to approach your bodybuilding endeavors with this sort of success mindset.

In closing, if you haven't achieved the bodybuilding goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year, do not get frustrated! Instead, analyze your bodybuilding training and diet plan.  Also, make sure that you are getting enough rest because recovery is as important as training and nutrition (hint: it is during rest that you grow).  Make sure that you are following everything in your bodybuilding program to the letter.  If you are and things are not working, then change your training routine.  More than likely, your body has gotten used to your current one.  If you are looking to gain muscle weight, make sure that you are taking in enough nutrients in the form of good carbs, proteins and good fats.  If you are looking to lose fat, then make sure that you are creating a slight caloric deficit without starving yourself in order to keep the muscle as you lose the fat.  Furthermore, make sure that you are using some way of tracking your progress.  Good ways are a combination of methods, like the scale, the skinfold calipers, and the tape measure.  Digital pictures are also valuable (and a great motivation tool as well) to help you see your progress over weeks.

Below are some good resources that will help you to achieve your bodybuilding goals:

Failing to Achieve Your Bodybuilding Goals? - Lee Labrada discusses why failure is a process and how it can be used to move forward.  He also discusses several reasons for failing to achieve your goals.

Bodybuilding Guide - A comprehensive guide that will set you straight if you need any sort of bodybuilding guidance.  Everything is covered: from goal setting, to choosing your training routine, to knowing what diet and supplements program to follow, how much rest you need, and more.

Are You Frustrated Because You Haven't Achieved Your Bodybuilding Goals? originally appeared on About.com Bodybuilding on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 07:53:32.

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First of all I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank all of you for all of the feedback provided on the site.  Remember that this site is for you and any feedback provided can only make it better!

Because we are closing on 2009 and starting the New Year I want to share with you several valuable resources that will help you to get started on the right track when you implement this year's bodybuilding program:

Combining The Best Bodybuilding Routines For Achieving Your Bodybuilding Goals:  With the New Year upon us, it is time to start revamping our bodybuilding training routines in order to add variety to our training programs. To help you with this, I've listed some of the best routines I used last year and how you can combine them to accomplish your bodybuilding goals in this new year.

Accomplish Your Bodybuilding Goals - Bodybuilding Guide:  To help you achieve your bodybuilding endeavors, I decided to put together this resource guide that will point you to all of the information that you will need to accomplish your goals, whether these may be losing a few pounds of fat with moderate amounts of muscle gain, bulking up, or even bodybuilding competition. You will find bodybuilding training routines, diet plans and supplements' advice.

Bodybuilding for Weight Loss: New section with articles from fitness and weight loss expert Anthony Alayon geared for those of you who simply want to use bodybuilding principles to lose some weight.

Lee Labrada's Ten Fast Fat Burning Bodybuilding Tips:  In this bodybuilding article, IFBB Pro and Hall of Fame Inductee Lee Labrada shares his 10 most important fast fat burning bodybuilding tips.

Dave Draper Bodybuilding Straight Talk: Benefit from the sage bodybuilding advice of Dave Draper, a bodybuilding legend, author and fitness expert with over four decades of practical experience. He holds the prestigious bodybuilding titles of Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe, in addition to being part of the Bodybuilding Hall of Fame.

Healthy Bodybuilding Recipes: High Protein Recipes, Low-Sodium Recipes, Low Carb Recipes, and No Sugar Recipes that can easily be incorporated in your bodybuilding diet.

New Body Part Exercise and Bodybuilding Training Routine Database: Check out the new body part exercise and bodybuilding  training routine database full of exercise descriptions and body part specific training routines.

Please comment and let me know what you think of all these resources.

I wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Achieve a New You in the New Year! originally appeared on About.com Bodybuilding on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 01:17:16.

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The triceps pushdowns are an excellent bodybuilding exercise to work the triceps. With different cable attachments you can focus on different parts of the triceps.

For example, an overhand grip on a straight bar attachment will stimulate all three heads of the triceps equally.  Using a rope attachment however will emphasize the outer head of the triceps.  Finally, a reverse grip on a straight bar or a single handle will emphasize the inner long head of the triceps.

One thing that I love about this exercise is the constant tension that the cables place on the triceps. Performed properly, this exercise will help you to stimulate new growth on the triceps.

In order to know what the proper execution of this exercise is, please take a look at my Triceps Pushdowns Exercise Description.  For a good triceps routine that makes use of this exercise, you can check out Lee Labrada's Bodybuilding Triceps Routine.

Get New Growth On Your Triceps With Triceps Pushdowns originally appeared on About.com Bodybuilding on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 07:33:54.

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