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Should I Follow a Bodybuilder Routine or Not? Ask a PT

Last week, I wrote my first “Ask a PT” blog, and we discussed one simple trick to improve your diet overnight (literally). At the end of the email, I asked you for any questions you had on fitness and nutrition.

Well, the response was surprising. I received quite a few emails. However, most of them were asking questions about medical conditions or whether I got my degree from Dumbass University.

Kinda, it was actually London Metropolitan. But there was some gold in the emails too, so I’ve picked one to answer today.

Should I Follow a Bodybuilder Routine or Not?

Question: There are loads of bodybuilding workout routines on the internet. Should I follow them even though I’m not a bodybuilder?

Answer: Bodybuilders are incredible at building muscle and burning fat, so it makes sense that when a bodybuilder says something, you listen. However, it is important to understand that they have very specific goals and abilities.

Their goals are to create the perfect, symmetrical physique, that is as large as possible. Most people have different goals (losing fat, recovering from an injury, improving their fitness etc).

If you wanted to run a 5km race, then following the exact same program as World Record marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum would not be a good idea.

There are several reasons why you might not want to follow a bodybuilding routine:

You don’t have the time (Bodybuilders often train 5-6 times per week, sometimes twice per day)
You don’t have the genetics (99% of the population can’t compete with Pro bodybuilders)
You can’t recover as well (Ronnie Coleman used to eat 5,000 calories per day)
You have different goals (Do you want to compete at Mr Olympia or would you rather just look good at the beach?)

Because bodybuilders train so often, they can dedicate an entire workout to just one muscle (if they want to).

But if you’re training after a long day at work, it makes more sense for you to train multiple muscles at the same time.

An upper/lower split where you train back, chest, shoulders, and arms in one session and then legs in the other is good for most people.

Or you can train push/pull. This splits your muscles into those that perform pushing movements (chest, shoulders, triceps, quadriceps etc) and those that perform pulling movements (back, biceps, hamstrings etc).

Of course, you can train like a bodybuilder if you want to. Maybe you find it fun? Maybe it suits your goals better? In which case, that’s great, but don’t expect to get similar results from it.

Personally, I train chest & triceps, back & biceps, shoulders & abs, and legs. Is it the best choice for my circumstances? No. But do I enjoy it? Also no, but I’d hate other programs even more 😂