How To Start Bodybuilding For Beginners | Male Perspective

Over the past couple weeks, I have had the pleasure of interviewing two bodybuilders and asking them their advice and tips for those looking to start bodybuilding. I interviewed a male bodybuilder as well as a female bodybuilder to get both of their perspectives. I asked them questions about their background in bodybuilding, what made them interested in it, and their advice for beginners.

In this article, I interviewed Edwin Kina who is a bodybuilding competitor and has extensive knowledge about supplements and their ingredients. He explained which supplements are beneficial for different purposes. Kina will share his advice for first time bodybuilders as well as what his diet, training sessions, and daily routine looks like.

If you are a female and want to start bodybuilding, check out this interview with Amy Haws.

Edwin Kina has been training for thirteen years and has competed in the following bodybuilding competitions, NPC Illinois State twice, NPC Nationals, and UFE Fury. Growing up, Kina was immensely overweight and has been a fan of how muscle looked on a body frame. Kina's diet consists of six meals a day with a mixture of eggs, chicken, and tuna as his protein; for carbohydrates, he eats Jasmine rice or cream of rice.

Kina got his inspiration from professional bodybuilders and he would watch their workout routines. He then would try out their workout routines to help him find what workouts were the most beneficial to him. Once he figured out which workouts were the most beneficial to him, he would create a workout based off those movements and exercises.

Kina said that it was initially challenging to integrate eating and training into his daily routine, but eventually he learned how to manage his time effective, and it became second nature. As he got more involved in bodybuilding competitions, he found that it helped him to be more disciplined in his diet and workout routine, and to experience a complete lifestyle change.

Kina has learned how to balance his social life with his training and dieting schedule, saying that he mores more time for his social life on days when he has more free time. He explained that he allows himself to have a day that strays away from his everyday diet routine.

Mentally, it has taught Kina more discipline for himself and setting goals that he can reach for his own mental and physical health. Bodybuilding has helped Kina become more clear minded as well. Additionally, bodybuilding has taught him how to set life goals for himself that are not related to fitness. He explained that bodybuilding has had a positive impact on his mental health overall, and that he has learned skills from the process that he can apply to his everyday life.

• Pre-Workout Powder: Gets Kina going throughout his workout and helps him power through his workout
• Essential Amino Acid: He takes this during his workout to help replenish what he is losing during his workout.
• Carb Powder: He takes this during his workout to help sustain energy and keeping his muscles full during his workout.
• Protein Powder: Post workout supplement that will help with recovery.
• Greens Powder & Glutamine: These supplements will help support his overall digestive health.
• For his immune health, he is taking Vitamin C, Vitamin D, NAC, and Zinc.
• For his cardiovascular health, he is taking Grape Seed Extract, Pine Bark, Omega 3s, and CoQ10.
• Kina also takes Ashwagandha to help ease cortisol levels before going to bed.

When it comes to the training aspect, Kina's advice is perfecting your form with all the basic movements. Once you perfect your form, be sure to work hard and stay consistent. Another bodybuilding tip to keep in mind is to have patience when you are trying to hit your fitness goal because it will take time.

To make sure you are getting enough protein, eat one gram per pound of your bodyweight everyday. This is important for men. Other macronutrients will depend on what your fitness goals are.

For food ingredient labels, Kina suggests looking at the three micronutrients which are fats, carbs, and proteins. He say that you want to make sure you avoid high amounts of sugars and ingredients that you can't pronounce.

When it comes to supplement labels, Kina say you want the label to be clear cut, that means no proprietary blends. You also want to make sure it is a high quality and reputable brand.

Kina recommends to keep it simple. Start out with a protein powder for after your workout. A pre-workout if you need the extra boost for during your workout.

Then your daily greens supplement for micronutrients and all of your daily wellness supplements to optimize your immune function.

Protein Powder, Pre-Workout, Daily Greens Supplement, and Daily Wellness Supplements are some of the best bodybuilding supplements one can start out with.  

Kina is an expert on prohormones and can help answer any question someone may have about prohormone supplements. Here is a brief overview about prohormones and how it may help some users.

Prohormones are hormonal supplements that go into your system and elevates DHEA levels which will help optimize nitrogen retention in order to help build muscle.

For people just starting out with bodybuilding, Kina does not recommend taking prohormones. If you are first getting into the gym, learn what best workouts work for you and figure out your diet before getting into prohormones.

However, if you are familiar with your nutrition and training and you want to take your fitness and bodybuilding goals to the next level, try taking prohormones.

To take prohormones, Kina suggests taking one pill before your workout, and the second pill either in the morning or evening depending on when you workout. When you are taking a prohormone cycle, you should cycle for eight weeks and follow it with a PCT for four weeks.

During your cycle, an on-cycle support supplement is not necessary. However if you want to be extra cautious, you can always take one during your cycle; it doesn't hurt to take an on-cycle support supplement.

Once you have completed your cycle, Kina always recommends taking a post cycle therapy supplement like Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Arimiplex. A post cycle therapy supplement should be taken for four weeks.

Kina says "Although prohormones work well as standalones, they are more beneficial when they are stacked together."

According to Kina, some of the best cutting prohormones include, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Winstrol, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Dymethazine, and Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Primobolan.

Kina suggests stacking Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone and Winstrol. He also suggests stacking Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone and Dymethazine. Another good stack is Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone and Primobolan.

Kina suggests is Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Sustanon 250, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Halodrol, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Dianabol, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Androdiol, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Halotestin, and Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Equipoise as some of the best bulking prohormones.

Kina suggests stacking:

• Sustanon 250 and Dianabol
• Sustanon 250 and Androdiol
• Sustanon 250 and Halotestin
• Sustanon 250 and Equipoise
• Halodrol and Dianabol
• Halodrol and Androdiol
• Halodrol and Halotestin
• Halodrol and Equipoise

For someone that is looking for lean mass, Kina suggests Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-AD, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Superdrol, Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals Decabolin, and Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone.

For lean mass, Kina suggests stacking Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-AD and Superdrol. He also suggests Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone and Decabolin. One last stack he suggests is Hi Tech Pharmaceuticals 1-Testosterone, Superdrol, and Decabolin.

Edwin Kina's advice for people just starting out with bodybuilding is to be consistent, patient, and to perfect their form with basic movements. They should also be aware of the micronutrients on any ingredient label.