I am often asked if it is possible to get a competitive looking bodybuilding physique from training at home. The answer may surprise you!

The fact is, that as long as you have the right equipment and perform the right routines, one can get an incredible physique from training at home. In this week's post I want to share some resources that will set you straight on the topic of home training for bodybuilding:

How To Start Your Bodybuilding Program By Training at Home

This article from Registered Nurse and natural female bodybuilder Cecile Bayeul covers the subject of how to get started training at home. While this article was written for women, the information on it applies to guys as well!

Best Equipment for Home Gyms

What equipment is necessary for a good home gym? Listed in the article below, with #1 being the most important, are the pieces that you will need in order to be a successful home gym bodybuilder

Home Gym Bodybuilding Training Routines

Finally, in this article, I will discuss how you can set up different bodybuilding training routines at home by using just a weight bench with a good leg extension/leg curl attachment and a pair of adjustable dumbbells.

More Dumbbell Based Bodybuilding Workouts

With a safe pair of adjustable dumbbells, there is a variety of exercises that you can do in order to keep your bodybuilding workouts going.

Muscle growth through bodybuilding occurs via two main mechanisms:

1-Muscle volumization caused by increased water and glycogen levels inside the muscle fiber cell. This type of muscle growth happens rather quickly.

2-Muscle fiber increase via increased protein content. This type of muscle growth happens much slower than the first one. It stands to reason that we need to stimulate both.

The loading phase of a periodized bodybuilding routine helps to stimulate the first one while at the same time prepping the body for maximum strength gains on the growth phase, which in turn will maximally stimulate muscle fiber increases. Alternating back and forth between them will give you the absolute best bodybuilding gains since the loading phase will always take you to the brink of overtraining so that when you cut back you will simply allow your body to catch up, gain strength and set you up for muscle gains in the form of fiber increase.

One of the most powerful tips that I can share with you for fast bodybuilding results is to keep a food journal. You can either use pen and paper or a program like Microsoft Excel (which is what I use). But being able to know what foods you eat and in what quantities is what differentiates the people that make the quickest bodybuilding results from those that do not. By having a food journal you can keep track of how many protein, fats and carbs you take in on a daily basis and thus, you can start adjusting your nutrition in order to make gains in muscle without gains in body fat, or in order to lose body fat while gaining muscle. You can also make notes as to which foods your body responds better.

At first, it takes work to set the journal up and you may not be used to measuring your food and then writing down the proteins, carbs and fats of every item but I promise you that the work is well worth it (as any competitive athlete can tell you) and it gets easier with time. So even if you don't do bodybuilding competitions but want to get in the best shape possible, implement this tip that us competitors use and you will see the difference that it makes!

For optimal bodybuilding results, you cannot stay in the gym longer than an hour as otherwise your cortisol levels will go through the roof and your testosterone levels will drop! Do yourself a favor and focus during your workouts so that you can get the work done before the hour expires.

Most of my workouts these days are done in 45 minutes tops!

Again, I think I will need to clarify (as I get this question all of the time) that this short workout rule is not only for "advanced bodybuilders who have good mass already". This rule applies to everyone across the board. Studies on hormonal activity during training show time and time again that bad things begin to happen in the blood chemistry when workouts are too long (testosterone and GH levels drop while cortisol increases). Thus, no time to talk in the gym nor socialize. Get in, stimulate the muscle, and get out!