In the later stages of extreme dieting, it’s no secret one can lose their love for training. This is mainly because you’re experiencing constant low energy levels and fatigue; paired with the fact that strength isn’t nearly as high as it was during the off-season/gaining phase, it can be hard to find the same enjoyment as before.

Those of you that are in the bodybuilding scene may have seen that a new method of training – an increased volume approach – has been going around. As such, you might be wondering if you should be switching to it too. Don’t worry, the wheel hasn’t been reinvented; however, increasing volume is a very smart way of accumulating more load in the gym without having to increase the total load on the bar or reps at the same load each week.

For the most part, it’s commonly accepted in the bodybuilding world that you need to get stronger over time to gain new muscle mass. Although there are many different methods of approaching this goal in the industry, the concept itself isn’t disputed. However, whilst most people logically understand this idea, their application of it can be quite poor, leading to plateaus, injuries, or poor accuracy in training.

Although it has only come into the bodybuilding scene in recent years, if you are an assisted bodybuilder, you’ll have undoubtedly heard of and/or started using Telmisartan. This compound is typically used to help lower blood pressure, and whilst its usage has become increasingly popular, many will take it without an understanding of what exactly it does.

Most bodybuilders have experienced knee pain at some point in their journey; personally, it’s something I’ve had to deal with frequently over the years, but I’ve always found a way to train around the pain and still grow my legs.

If you have been involved in bodybuilding for some years then you’ll be familiar with the concept of getting “dry”. This is part of the criteria required for the larger bodybuilding classes and is why some athletes use pharmaceutical diuretics.

When I first started going to the gym, I probably trained a bit too much. I wasn’t just hitting five sessions a week; instead, it was more like six or seven training days a week. In hindsight, I can see how that was not the most optimal way for me to train, and over time, I found that hitting the gym 5x a week suited me best.

It all begins with aIn the past few years, bodybuilders have started paying closer attention to their electrolyte balance, with a specific focus on sodium. This has come as coaches have increased their physiology knowledge and have incorporated sodium manipulation into a show day peak week protocol, to help achieve a desired look on stage.

I’m very open about the fact that years ago, I stopped training arms. It was around 2017: I had stepped off stage for the first time and vowed never to step on stage again. Of course, I kept training because I did love that part of the process, but whilst I continued to progress my physique across the board, my arms just fell further and further behind.