There is no doubt about it that bodybuilding is an extreme sport simply because of what it involves to get the results that you seek. Just training correctly is not going to help you get the results as it is a complex combination of eating correctly, training, rest and fluid intake.
Being successful at bodybuilding comes from this chain of unbroken links that needs to be constantly kept on track. What makes this process even more confusing is that to get the best results you need to always be changing your training and your eating.
It takes care monitoring on a constant basis. For example let's say that you have been making sure that you are getting a large amount of good quality carbs (brown rice, potatoes, oatmeal, etc.) at least five times a day but you are not growing. You should try changing by increasing your protein (eggs, beef, chicken, fish, etc.) and reducing your carbs to see how it works.
The bottom line is that being successful at bodybuilding takes an awareness of the constantly changing things that are always going on in your constantly changing body. Just as your daily eating habits will dictate your muscle building success so will the quality and the amount of sleep that you get.
The links in the chain mentioned above are all very delicately balanced and getting too much sleep can be just as detrimental as not getting enough sleep. The same can be said for protein or training that there is always a delicate balance between getting the rewards required and having too much.
This means that you need to take a step back and take a look at your eating, training, resting and general stress that you live with on a day to day basis. Some pros will tell you that there is no such thing as over-training there is only under-recuperation from your training.
What this means is that you need to design something that is specific to your own body, your own specific lifestyle and your own specific bodybuilding objectives. The way that you train and the foods that you eat will all in the long run be responsible for you getting any results.
Sometimes the best thing to do, as mentioned above, is to step back and evaluate your regimen from a high level and make adjustments as needed. Also remember that when evaluating your diet, water intake, sleep and training, the key to your own success lies in finding out what works best for you!
