Developing good habits is crucial to build muscle up on a long term basis. It is very important to be doing the right things regularly in order to build muscle continuously. Unfortunately many bad habits are often picked up by bodybuilders who perhaps do not realise they are restricting their progress or putting their health at risk. Here we have outlined the top 7 worst muscle building habits and included a few build muscles tips too:

1) The worst of all! Taking steroids, this is dangerous for a whole variety of reasons take your pick from any of the following: different coloured spots on the body, acne, swelling of the legs and feet, bad smelling breath and yellowing of the skin, dizziness, trembling, nausea, vomiting, mood swings, premature balding, aching joints, liver damage, high blood pressure, palpitations, cardiovascular disease and reduction of your final adult height.If you want further reasons to avoid steroid usage then how about: pain on urination, breast development, testicular shrinkage, impotence and even sterility. Enough said about that.

2) Attempting to lift too much. Ok, attempting to better your training partner is fun but be very careful. Lifting too much weight can cause you to lose form and increase the chances of injury and won't help you build muscles quickly. If you are unable to lift or lower the weight under complete control or if you have to use momentum to do so then you need to lower the weight.

3) Protein intake levels too high. The amount of protein the average person should be consuming is 0.8-1 gram of protein/kilo of bodyweight/day and a hard training bodybuilder should not take on board more than 1.7 grams per kilo of bodyweight. Consuming more protein than this increase the likelihod of getting osteoporosis and also it could lead to irreversible kidney damage. Also your risk of heart disease is increased because a by product of protein metabolism homo-cysteine can cause damage to your heart over time!

4) Using stimulants like ephedrine has potentially dangerous side effects such as heart attack, heart palpitations, and stroke. Although these are not prohibited you would be wise to be extremely cautious and in fact would be a good deal better off not using them at all. you may try a caffeine pill instead as these are far less dangerous. Always also a health care professional if you have any doubts.

5) Some people believe that working out on an empty stomach will help them burn fat. However energy comes from carbohydrate so if you haven't eaten recently you will in all likelihood have minimal energy and your training session will not be particularly effective. You will be unable to lift more than your previous best and you will probably be left shaking, jittery and even dizzy after your workout possibly due to low blood sugar levels. Instead have a pre-workout meal including thing like rice, vegetables and fruit.

6) Neglecting to warm up and stretch sufficiently.Getting your body ready for exercise is essentail in order to prevent injuries like muscle tears and ligament strains, it also improves your range of motion, performance, and posture. Only 10 minutes needs to be allocated for the warm up and this is a very wise useage of your time. 

7) Not keeping a training diary. If you don't have this how can you tell if you are making progress or not? How can you keep a track of your previous best lifts and so on. A training log is very motivating and simple to do. Why do you not make use of one.

OK, bear in mind the above points and make changes if you have to but mainly use your common sense and think about the long term.

About the Author:

The Author provides free muscle building guides at his website: Click Build Muscles Quickly, Build Muscle Up or Build Muscle Food now for more info.