It’s that time of the year when people are going shirtless at Gold Coast beaches and flexing their muscles.

Yep, it’s topless & bikini body season.

So if you haven’t already gotten your gym membership and started sweating off your winter fats, it’s about time you do!

But wait!

Before you turn your beast mode on and go crazy at the gym, let me give you a jump start with some tips to get you started.

I will list some tips and hacks that will get your body beach ready in no time.

Tips before you start your workout journey

First of all, if you are new to the whole gym and workout thing, here’s a side note for you that might come in handy.

Gym location

When choosing a gym to go to, choose one that is not so far away. That way you will lessen the chances of being too lazy to go.

Schedule your workout sessions

Do NOT change your schedule or squeeze your workout in it. Make your workout session at your free time so you won’t have any excuse not to go.

I mean, if you’re not a morning person, don’t expect to wake up early EVERY DAY all energetic and ready for some gains. It is not going to happen.

Prepare new outfit

Get some new workout gear instead of your old, boring, worn-out ones.

A pair of new running shoes or a new workout outfit will make you eager to try them on and use them.

It is a great way to motivate yourself and keep you excited for your next workout session.

Now back to our topic. The workout hacks…

Top 10 pick hacks for bodybuilding in Gold Coast

Hard and Intense cardio

The secret to building muscle and shredding fat at the same time is keeping your cardio sessions short and intense.

One of the best methods to turn your fat burning mode on and avoid breaking down any muscle tissues is HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).

Burpees, box jumps, & skipping are a great way to burn fat and tone muscles.

High intensity, compound moves, and big weights are enough for an hour to give you all the gains you need for one day.

Remember, short and intense.

3-5 Mins Of rest period

If you spend two to three minutes rest between sets, that’s optimum, and this helps to enhance your strength over time.

If you challenged yourself and cut them down to 45 seconds or one-minute to intensify your weightlifting, this will exhaust your strength, making you do fewer sets and repetitions.

However, if you do rest for 1 minute and find yourself having enought strength to proceed, go for it.

Make sure to rest more than 30 seconds between sets or else you might cause muscle fiber injury.

Think outside the box

Train the weaker muscles when your energy is most significant.

At the start of your workout, begin with smaller muscles like calves or abs, then move on to deltoids before going straight to chest muscles.

That way you are prepping your muscle to your main exercise.

Another idea to change things a bit is to shuffle your calendar. Do your Monday workout routine on Sunday, for example.

Mix’em up

This one is pretty obvious, yet still, a lot of people do the same mistake.

Doing the same routine over and over again will get you nowhere, so stop duplicating your workouts.

For quicker and bigger results in muscle building, there is a golden rule to follow.

The more variation you throw at your body, the better results you will get. Experiment with new exercises order, techniques, or intensification.

Compound exercises

Following up with the previous hack, remember these three words: deadlifts, squats, and press ups.

These compound exercises are the fundamental moves to anyone looking for bigger muscles. Start with small weights and increase reps and weight as you start getting used to what you are working with.

Rotate your dumbbells

The best way to use dumbbells and get maximum gains out of it is by twisting your palms while lifting and lowering, that way you will ensure that you are really working and stretching that muscle.

Start with your dumbbells down by your side with your palm facing your body, As you raise the dumbbell to turn your palm to face the ceiling to get the maximum contraction of your biceps muscle fibers.

Now lower the dumbbell and turn your palm back to its starting position facing your body and do the same with the dumbbell in the other arm.

Throw back your shoulders when doing a barbell curl

This tip could work for almost any biceps movement.

When doing a barbell curl throw your shoulder blades back towards the ground to help isolate the biceps and keep all of the motion at the elbow joint, preventing your front deltoid, chest, and back from assisting the exercise.

By doing this trick, you are placing the stress from the barbell curl mainly on your biceps and not the rest of your body; which is your goal.

Seated incline biceps curl

When doing a seated biceps curl, lower your bench a bit instead of standing at a 90-degree angle. This again will keep your shoulders back to isolate your biceps.

A side note for doing a seated biceps curl,

Do not bring your arm forward then all the way up to your chest; you are now moving your front deltoids.

Instead, keep your arms suspended, shoulders retracted, pin your elbow to your sides and only move it upwards to bring the dumbbell as close as possible to your underarms.

Add smaller weight plates

Instead of wasting your effort on adding or removing a huge plate, go for smaller ones.

Try adding 5s, 10s, and 25 pounds and you will find yourself saving time and effort. It is easier to get just the right amount of weight without having to take out one of the big boys.

Food!

No matter how hard you train or how many days you work out per week; if you don’t monitor what is going into your mouth, don’t expect to see anything extraordinary soon.

Managing the levels of proteins, fats, and carbs is one of the main steps for a well-built body.

You need about 0.8 grams of proteins per body weight to build up muscle mass, and you need a sufficient amount of carbs to replenish muscle glycogen and prevent your body from breaking down muscle tissues that you worked hard for.

From my personal experience,

I recommend using MyFitnessPal app to help you track exactly what is going into your body and how much calories you have burnt while exercising.

Pick your partner

Get a partner that is tougher, stronger, and better than you!

Training with a better bodybuilder that could handle huge workload will be a great challenge to push your limits a bit higher and help you grow stronger much faster than working alone.

Get bonus muscles

Consider throwing some nutritional supplements into your workout regimen for some bonus muscle mass.

The top three muscle fuel to work best with almost anybody are whey proteins, creatine monohydrate, and fish oil.

These will boost your energy during your workout and decrease muscle soreness afterward.

Now let’s sum up these points in case you skipped anything and just scrolled down here.

• Your cardio should be short and intense. Keep your cardio session HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
• Less rest equals bigger results, but not less than 30 seconds between each set.
• Make use of the high energy you have at the beginning of your workout to work on the weaker muscles and prep for your big main ones.
• Don’t let your muscles get used to anything. Keep surprising them with new exercises, intensification, or techniques.
• Deadlifts, squats, and press ups are your new secret ingredients to throw in any workout session.
• Remember to always focus on the muscle you want to train. When it comes to biceps there are two main things you have to do, throw your shoulders backward and pin your elbows by your side. That way you will put all the effort on your biceps to help build it and make it bigger and stronger.
• Smaller weights are easier to move around. So save your time and effort by adding small weight one plate at a time.
• What you eat has a major role in how your body responds to your workout. Proteins will bulk you up and carbs will keep what you already bulked from breaking down.
• Find a good motivation to workout with and be a challenge for you to push your limits to the extremes. You will be amazed by how much a partner has an influence on you.
• Finally, try taking natural and nutritional supplements to help boost your energy for a longer, wilder workout session with much more gains than what you are used to.

Now you are all set to hit the gym.

Bottom line:

As the saying goes, work smarter not harder.

Make the most out of your workout and do not waste effort on something that will not benefit you enough.

Remember that training alone will not get you anywhere if you don’t manage your food and get enough shut-eye.

Keep pushing your limits and don’t stop until you are done! that Gold Coast beach body is only a couple of curls away!