Is Bodybuilding Right for You? 5 Reasons to Reconsider (and 5 Reasons to Go For It)

Bodybuilding has had a huge impact on the fitness industry, which makes sense given bodybuilding’s very powerful aesthetic. This is why many fitness articles and products feature images of bodybuilders – they’re extremely attention-grabbing.

Consequently, many fitness coaches and personal trainers prescribe bodybuilding-style workout programs to their clients – even those with no interest in building bigger muscles.

As a veteran personal trainer, I see this all the time and I’m often surprised when soccer moms, older exercisers, overweight people, and athletes are given bodybuilding workouts to follow.  

That’s not to say bodybuilding is in any way bad. However, it’s just one of many types of strength training, and there are plenty of other options you can use to achieve your fitness goals.

In this article, I explore some of the pros and cons of bodybuilding training so you can decide if it’s the best way for you to work out.

5 Reasons Not to Train Like a Bodybuilder

While there is nothing inherently wrong with bodybuilding-style training, it may not be the best way to reach your health and fitness goals. Here are five reasons why bodybuilding may not be the best type of workout for you.

1. Frequent, Time-Consuming Workouts

Most bodybuilders use split routines to maximize hypertrophy or muscle growth. These programs involve training different muscle groups on different days, and each workout will probably last somewhere between 45 to 90 minutes.

For example:

• Monday: Back and chest
• Tuesday: Shoulders and arms
• Wednesday: Legs and abs
• Thursday: Back and chest
• Friday: Shoulders and arms
• Saturday: Legs and abs
• Sunday: Rest day

While there are many different ways to organize a training split, they are all designed so that you can do multiple exercises and sets for each body part. That’s because training volume is one of the most important drivers of hypertrophy (1).

Needless to say, all those frequent, lengthy workouts mean that bodybuilding training can be very time-consuming. This may not be an issue for young, highly motivated, experienced exercisers. However, for others, lack of time is a major barrier to exercising consistently (2).

In short, if you don’t have a lot of time for exercise, bodybuilding may not fit your schedule or lifestyle.  

2. Focus on Aesthetics Not Function

Bodybuilders work out mostly to improve or change their bodies. This is called training for aesthetics. Like a sculptor, they use exercises as tools to shape their muscles. While bigger muscles are always the goal, things like balance and proportion are also part of most bodybuilding programs.

So, while bodybuilding training can change your shape, it may not do much for things like athletic or out-of-the-gym fitness. That’s because many of the exercises used by bodybuilders are very dissimilar to the movements you do in “real life.”

For example, the pec deck, leg curl, leg extension, triceps kickback, and seated calf raise bear little resemblance to everyday activities.

Consequently, if you want to lift weights for improved sporting or daily function, bodybuilding may not be your best option.

Related: Functional Strength Training: What It Is, How to Do It, and How It Will Radicalize Your Workouts

3. Not a Great Fat Burning Workout

While all workouts burn kilocalories and fat, some are better for weight management than others. Bodybuilding workouts tend to involve as much resting as they do exercise. In fact, depending on the duration of your rest periods, you may actually spend more of your gym session resting than training.

In addition, training small muscle groups like your arms, shoulders, and calves use much less energy than larger body parts like your chest, back, and legs. As such, your energy and fat expenditure will vary significantly from workout to workout.

Given that a large percentage of exercisers are working out to lose weight, this means that bodybuilding may not be the best type of training for fat loss.

Related: Get Lean: How to Turn Strength Training into a Fat-Burning Workout

4. Risk of Muscle Imbalances

Go to any gym and you’ll see people doing exercises for their chest, arms, and abs. In my experience as a trainer, these are the most popular muscle groups in bodybuilding, and most self-coached lifters usually spend a lot of time on these body parts.

Do a Google search on bodybuilding workouts and invariably you’ll receive a slew of hits that target these muscles.

Unfortunately, following a program that biases your chest, arms, and abs means that other critical muscle groups end up being neglected. This can result in imbalances where some muscles end up bigger and stronger than others.

Such imbalances can cause aesthetic, functional, and postural issues. For example, overdeveloped pecs paired with an under-developed back can lead to rounded shoulders and a slouched appearance. While such issues may seem inconsequential at the time, muscle imbalances can cause significant issues in the future.

You can avoid imbalance issues by following a well-designed program. However, there will always be lifters for whom every day is chest, arm, and abs day!

5. Increased Risk of Injury

 

While there is a small risk of injury with almost any type of effective exercise, bodybuilding training can be especially risky for some people. Bodybuilding workouts usually involve lots of exercises and sets for specific body parts, using somewhat unnatural and repetitive movements. This can lead to overuse injuries, such as tendonitis and tendinosis (3).

This issue is then compounded by many bodybuilders as they avoid taking time off for rest and recovery because they are worried about losing their hard-earned gains. This can turn a minor injury into a major one.

Common bodybuilding injury sites include the elbows, shoulders, back, and knees, and there are plenty of bodybuilders who have had to have surgery or quit training because of injury.

Related: Common Bodybuilding Injuries and How to Avoid Them

So, if you want to avoid joint issues, you may want to reconsider training like a bodybuilder. The exercises and workouts can put a lot of stress on your knees, elbows, shoulders, etc., potentially affecting your future health and mobility.

5 Reasons Why You SHOULD Train Like a Bodybuilder

It’s not all bad news about bodybuilding training; there are also numerous advantages and benefits to training like a bodybuilder. These include:

1. Increased Metabolic Rate

Your metabolic rate is the amount of energy your body uses in 24 hours. In general, the higher your metabolic rate, the easier you’ll find it to lose or maintain your weight. Your metabolic rate is affected by several factors, including your genes, diet, and lifestyle. However, one of the most significant influences is your muscle mass.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, and the more you have, the higher your metabolism will be (4).

It’s estimated that a single extra kilo of muscle will increase your metabolic rate by 13 kilocalories per day. While that might sound insignificant, most bodybuilders gain far more than just a single kilo, so the metabolic benefits of building muscle will increase over time.

So, while bodybuilding might not be the best way to lose fat in the short term, it could help you maintain a healthy weight in the future.  

2. Increased Bone Density

Bodybuilding doesn’t just affect your muscles; it affects your bones, too. Lifting weights causes your muscles to pull on your bones, stimulating cells called osteoblasts, which are responsible for laying down new bone tissue.

Bones tend to weaken with age and lack of use, a process called osteopenia. If left unchecked, osteopenia can degenerate into osteoporosis. This is a medical condition characterized by weak, fracture-prone bones.

While osteoporosis is most commonly associated with older women, because of increased sedentarism, it’s becoming more common in younger people, including men.

Bodybuilding, being a form of strength training, is a proven antidote to bone loss, and can help slow or even reverse osteopenia and prevent osteoporosis (5).  

3. Muscle Preservation

Like bone mass, muscle mass decreases with age and lack of use. This helps explain why some older people lack the muscle and strength to live independently. The good news is that bodybuilding is not just one of the best ways to build muscle, but it’s also the best way to maintain it.

Lifting weights causes microtrauma and stresses your muscles. While that might sound bad, it’s the trigger for muscle growth. In response to your bodybuilding workouts, your body increases muscle protein synthesis to a) rebuild the damaged tissue and b) add some extra tissue to protect your muscles from future workouts.

While these processes are most efficient when you’re in your 20s-40s, as you age, the same mechanisms will help preserve existing muscle mass and reduce age-related muscle loss.

So, if you want to be a strong, capable older person, bodybuilding could help you avoid the muscle loss that can make everyday activities difficult if not impossible.

4. Ability to Target “Problem” Areas

 

Do you have a flat butt, saggy arms, or a thick waist? While general exercise can help fix these so-called problem areas, you probably get quicker results with some targeted exercises. And if there is one thing that bodybuilders are great at, it’s using exercises to sculpt areas of perceived weakness.

It’s generally best to train and treat your body as one interconnected unit. However, bringing up a weak muscle group or body part is usually best done with exercises and workouts for that specific area.

That doesn’t mean you can neglect the rest of your body, as that just creates problems for the future. However, you can adopt a bodybuilder’s mindset and increase exercise volume for any areas you want to improve.

So, hit those saggy triceps or flabby pecs with some bodybuilding exercises, and turn your weaknesses into strengths.

5. Improved Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

Bodybuilding is good for your mental and emotional health. Exercise is an excellent stress-buster, and taking control of your body with strength training has been shown to improve self-confidence and self-esteem (6).

Feeling strong, looking healthy, and being happy with your appearance can all contribute to a positive mindset. While there can be mental downsides to bodybuilding, such as body dysmorphia and obsessive training, it’s mostly good for your body and mind.

Conclusion

Training like a bodybuilder has pros and cons. Consequently, trainers who prescribe bodybuilding workouts to all their clients may not be providing the best workout advice. While there are times when bodybuilding is the perfect workout choice, there are also times when there are better options.

So, make sure your training program matches your fitness goal, and don’t feel that the only way to get in shape is with a bodybuilding-style split routine. There are lots of different types of strength training, and bodybuilding is just one of your options.

References:

1. Baz-Valle E, Balsalobre-Fernández C, Alix-Fages C, Santos-Concejero J. A Systematic Review of The Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy. J Hum Kinet. 2022 Feb 10;81:199-210. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2022-0017. PMID: 35291645; PMCID: PMC8884877.
2. Cavallini, M. Felicia, et al. ‘Lack of Time is the Consistent Barrier to Physical Activity and Exercise in 18 to 64-year-old Males and Females from both South Carolina and Southern Ontario.’ Journal of Physical Activity Research 5.2 (2020): 100-106.
3. Siewe J, Marx G, Knöll P, Eysel P, Zarghooni K, Graf M, Herren C, Sobottke R, Michael J. Injuries and overuse syndromes in competitive and elite bodybuilding. Int J Sports Med. 2014 Oct;35(11):943-8. doi: 10.1055/s-0034-1367049. Epub 2014 Jun 2. PMID: 24886919.
4. Aristizabal JC, Freidenreich DJ, Volk BM, Kupchak BR, Saenz C, Maresh CM, Kraemer WJ, Volek JS. Effect of resistance training on resting metabolic rate and its estimation by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry metabolic map. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2015 Jul;69(7):831-6. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.216. Epub 2014 Oct 8. PMID: 25293431.
5. Layne JE, Nelson ME. The effects of progressive resistance training on bone density: a review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Jan;31(1):25-30. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199901000-00006. PMID: 9927006.
6. Tikac G, Unal A, Altug F. Regular exercise improves the levels of self-efficacy, self-esteem, and body awareness of young adults. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2022 Jan;62(1):157-161. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12143-7. Epub 2021 Feb 8. PMID: 33555673.

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