Bodybuilding on a Budget

[ladyzman]

Let’s face it, teens. Unless your parents are loaded, you don’t have a lot of money. Probably you either work for a low wage or get a little money from Mom or Dad. As a result, you may read with hopeless envy about the great gyms, expensive supplements and vast quantities of high-quality foods that older bodybuilders seem to take for granted. It’s true that these things can make progress much faster and easier, but it’s also true that many great physiques were built under impoverished conditions. If you’re wondering how to get the best bodybuilding results out of your limited funds, here are some ideas.

Buy food in quantity - Every part of the country now has membership warehouses like Price Club and Costco. You can buy huge amounts of eggs, milk, chicken breasts, ground beef, rice and pasta at discount prices from these places. Check your local newspaper for supermarket specials on meats. If you keep your eyes open, you can find deals all the time and get plenty of high-quality protein without spending a fortune.

Find a deal on a gym membership - Many hardcore bodybuilding gyms offer discount memberships for students, but don’t overlook the neighborhood YMCA or Boys’ Club of America, many of them have very well-equipped weight rooms. You don’t need all kinds of space-age machines to grow, however. You can build a great physique with nothing but barbells and dumbbells. In fact, bodybuilders who get very strong on exercises like barbell squats, bench presses and deadlifts almost always have more size and thickness than those who fool around with cables and machines all day.

Share magazine subscriptions and books - Can’t afford all the magazines and books you need to keep up with the sport? If you find a friend or two who share your interest, pool your resources. Maybe together you can get all the magazines and won’t miss a thing. Then you can all stay informed.

Make your own supplements - While you probably can’t whip up your own creatine monohydrate, you can certainly make weight-gain or protein shakes. All you need is a blender, milk, eggs, ice cream and fruit or whatever you want to use to flavor your concoction. Use these shakes either to add protein and calories to a meal or to replace a meal when you’re on the run.

Wear normal clothes - Those striped tights, designer sweat shirts and special “bodybuilding” athletic shoes look neat, but do you really need them to pack on muscle? Not at all. As long as you’re comfortable while you train, you’re doing fine. The old-time bodybuilders all trained in generic T-shirts and sweats, and their development didn’t suffer. Training is what really matters.

Choose your gifts carefully - When a gift-receiving occasion like Christmas or your birthday is coming up, let folks know you’d really love to have that gym membership or supplement. That way you might get something you want instead of some new underwear.

These are just a few ideas. Necessity is the mother of invention; so wrack your brain and see what else you can come up with. There are plenty of ways to get big now.

[jasonsimmy]

thanks for the budget diet advice. Some of the stuff that different magazines recommend that you buy is so expensive. I appreciate having another option.

[vandal16]

Good post, I'm not a teen but I still have a hard time keeping up with buying food, supplements, gym memberships, etc.

Costco is the way to go! Buy huge bags of beans, eggs, milk, etc.

Every Sunday night I cook a bunch of chicken breasts and a big pot of beans and take them to work for lunch for the rest of the week. Saves me lunch money all week!

[hibachi]

Actually I do know that u could work out ur body without spending a dime.

One of my friends used to be a skinny guy. He didn't go to gym or spent any money on any supplement. He didn't even possess any equipment to help him doing workout. But there are lots of types of workout that u can do bear handed. For example, u can use ur body weight instead the weights in the gym.

Sure u can't reach to the pro level without spending a few bucks. But u can definitely start off without money.

[jeriko41]

is an expensive sport

[jerrywear]

bodybuilding is very expensive sport i do agree on that, but sometimes to cut your spending, you need to find places whee you can buy cheaper food, supplements and so on and so forth. That just takes time.