Bodybuilding is an art form and a sport that requires intense practice and a good sense of common knowledge, it isn’t a sport you can just walk into and pick up the heaviest weight you can possibly lift and swing it about. It’s a sport which requires good technique or form; this form should be practiced again and again until you know it off by heart.

Correct form simply means knowing the exercise you are performing, what muscle groups it works and how to perform the exercise correctly in itself. Ideal form is defined as a movement of the limbs in the widest range of motion possible, using slow movement and making sure the muscle contracts.

If you don’t have the correct form then you will simply not succeed and worse still you risk causing yourself a severe injury which could end your career in bodybuilding before you even get it off the ground.

Top 10 tips

• Always perform a warm up routine – it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or have been training for a long time you should always perform a 10 to 15 minutes aerobic routine before beginning lifting weights. Your first set of weights should be a low weight to prepare your muscles for your routine.
• Good form is essential – as mentioned above the correct form is essential, without it you are not only wasting your time and wont achieve maximum muscle mass or strength but you also face injury.
• Use a spotter for heavier weights – when moving up to a heavier weight than you are used to always have a spotter by your side, this can prevent serious injury especially when doing exercises such as the bench press.
• Never work out alone – not only should you have a spotter when lifting heavier weights it is also wise never to work out alone, bodybuilders have been known to get severe injuries from losing balance and dropping weights onto themselves, getting trapped under barbells and even tripping over misplaced equipment causing severe injury.
• Make sure you breathe correctly – the body builder can pass out when correct breathing isn’t maintained as holding the breath slows down the flow of blood from and to the brain. As a general rule exhale when lifting the weight and inhale on releasing.
• Use general common sense at all times – never leave weights out where someone could trip over them, always make sure collars are tightened on dumbbells, use a weight lifting belt when exercising and use wrist straps for support, basically just use good common sense at all times.
• Don’t include un-natural exercises in your routine – forget about exercises such as behind the neck chin ups, neck presses or any exercise which puts unnecessary stress upon the body.
• Find out as much as you can about bodybuilding – do a little research into bodybuilding watch others at the gym, watch DVD’s, learn the correct form of the exercise. The more you know about bodybuilding the less likely you are to injury yourself.
• Use the correct weight – never use weights which you cannot manage easily, aim for 12 reps with a weight where you can manage the correct form up to the 12th rep.
• Always use safety racks – when using equipment such as the squat rack, get one with a safety rack built in, this of course mainly applies to those training at home.