Training Secrets for Size and Strength Gains (for Naturals)

[BigAnf]

Some great info in this post.. Thought it would be good for you guys to take notes

Muscle Gain Facts
1. If you are natural, you must get stronger to get bigger. If, over time, you are not adding weight to the bar, you are not growing.

2. Training a bodypart less than 2X/week will not give you optimal gains. An upper/lower split done Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri is close to optimal for most. Full body twice a week can work very well. Once every 5th day is the least frequently I would ever recommend a natural train. You’ll get less sore training more frequently and you’ll grow better. Save once/week bodypart training for pro bodybuilders (read: steroid users) and the genetically elite.

3. When in doubt, do less volume, not more. You don’t need a zillion sets to stimulate hypertrophy, the bull**** written in the magazines to the contrary. If you can’t get it done in 4-8 hard sets (sometimes less, rarely more) you need to quit training like a pussy in the gym. I had a friend who sold supplements one time who kept asking me to design him a product that would really work. I told him to make a supplement that would make people work hard in the gym and watch their diets. He thought I was joking.

4. Generally, basic compound exercises are best but isolation stuff has its place. Same for the machines versus free weights ‘argument’: both have their place. Anybody who tell you that you MUST do a certain exercise is arguing from an emotional stance, not a physiological one.

5. If you think you can gain muscle without eating sufficient food or calories, you should quit bodybuilding and take up something easier, like golf. You can’t magically make muscle out of nothing, you need calories and protein to grow. If you can’t buckle down to eat enough on a consistent basis, you won’t grow an ounce of muscle. And spare me the excuses that you’re not hungry or your schedule won’t allow it. It’s about priorities, eat more or stay skinny.

6. Most hardgainers train like idiots and don’t eat enough.

7. Diets should be based around whole foods first, supplements second. Remember the hoopla over zinc and testosterone and ZMA from Balco (hi Victor, hope you’re enjoying the forced sodomy in jail)? Red meat is a great source of zinc, iron, B12 and protein. Not to mention who knows how many other trace nutrients that are involved in optimal human physiology. Eat it every day. Remember all of that crap about indole 3 carbinole. Guess what, it’s found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. Every time you hear about a new magic compound, 99 times out of 100 it’s found in some whole food that you’re probably not eating. Eat whole foods with a ****pile of veggies every day.

8. There is no singular best protein, each one has pros and cons. Generally, I thinnk casein is better for dieting, whey for around workouts, whole proteins the rest of the time. You can’t beat milk (and the dairy calcium has benefits on bodyfat). I think mixing proteins at a given meal is a good idea to eliminte any shortcomings of one. I think food combining (or protein rotation) is a lot of hippy holistic bull****.

Fat Loss Facts

1. You can’t magically lose weight unless you eat less or burn more calories with activity. Not unless you take drugs and those either make you eat less or burn more anyhow.

2. Don’t bitch about how much you hate dieting or exercise. You can either change your diet and activity patterns, or you can stay fat. Those are your two options, except for drugs.

3. To lose weight and keep it off you must change some aspect of your training and diet and do it forever.

4. All diet books, no matter what line of bull**** they sell you, are working in terms of what’s in #3. Cutting all of the carbs out of your diet will generally make you eat less, so will cutting out all of the fat, so do diets taht change your eating habits in one fashion or another. Some books go the activity route. At the end of the day, even if they tell you that you don’t have to eat less to lose weight, they will trick you into doing it one way or another

The equation is this: Hard Work + Consistency + Time = Results.

Source: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...g-secrets.html

[Captin Kid]

feels good to be natural

[miscR]

3rd

[BigAnf]

those 10 points pretty much sum up 90% of questions beginners ask..

superb article

[3000RT]

5* thread(srs)

[Fon7ana]

Excellent post Anf man..


Sucks being in the desert though.. the diet part really is hard. 3 Meal replacements shakes a day

[miscR]

now all we beginners have to do is find a 2xbody part 4/5day split....


anyone?
lol

[rotatoo]

lyle mcdonald keeps it real (srs)

[BigAnf]

now all we beginners have to do is find a 2xbody part 4/5day split....


anyone?
lol

layne norton PHAT routine! go go go

[eleesr]

Really wish I had known all that when I first started

[ShawnMason]

y dont u copy and paste that **** on your website

[miketheblade]

layne norton PHAT routine! go go go

link?

[miscR]

layne norton PHAT routine! go go go

yeah but....is that good for aesthetics...
cause layne is pretty un-aesthetic

[yondy12]

my bench has not shot up at all in strength for 6 months why is this? (srs)

also my chest seems to be shrinking even though ive gained weight and stayed at ~12%

cept when i broke my arm cudnt train for 5 weeks and lost like 10 pounds =\

[miscR]

link?

http://www.simplyshredded.com/power-...y-routine.html

[im12watisthis]

definitely good info. so much bs is slung on the boards that i can never get reliable advice.

[Appille]

I only work out each bodypart once a week. I used to do twice a week but after a few weeks I just wasn't with it anymore (mentally and physically). My lifts weren't improving (i.e couldn't even get out an extra chinup) and I just didn't want to be there.

Like I said, I do each body part once a week and am making improvements.

I'm guessing point 2 doesn't really relate to me? open for suggestions

[DannyBoy7]

could you give some details on how to put together a upper/lower body split? i've been doing a 5 day split to give each muscle 100%. but i'll consider the upper/lower body split if you give some more details about it.

[BigAnf]

yeah but....is that good for aesthetics...
cause layne is pretty un-aesthetic

LOL, Layne is huge.. if you wanna grow mucsle on your frame.. do that routine brah.. its working for me!

[miscR]

LOL, Layne is huge.. if you wanna grow mucsle on your frame.. do that routine brah.. its working for me!

whats wronge with this.

Monday: Chest
Incline DB- 3 sets 5-7 reps
Decline DB- 3 sets 5-7 reps
Incline BB- 1 set of 5-8 reps, rest and do a set with a weight that you can hit for 12-15
Incline or Flat DB Flies- 3 sets of 10-15

Tuesday: Back
Rack Pulls (Total Back Destruction)(put deadlifts here if you prefer) I just do 2 sets of 5
Pullups (width) I try to get 3 sets of 7-10
Pulldowns (width) 3 sets of 5-8 changing grip every week (narrow,wide,underhand)
HS Low Row or DB Row (Upper Back thickness) 3 sets of 8-12 reps
BB Rows (Upper Back thickness) One heavy set of 5-8 reps

Wed: Rest

Thursday: Bicep and Triceps (my focus day)
Close Grip Bench Press 3 sets of 5-7
BB curl- 3 ets of 5-7
DB Curl/Behind Head Tricep Extension (superset) both for 2 sets of 8-12
Hammer Cable Curls/Tricep Pushdowns (superset) 2 sets 8-12
Cable Curl Single Hand/ Reverse Grip Pushdowns (superset) 2 sets of 8-12

Friday: Legs
Squats- 3 sets of 5-10 reps, reach 10 reps and go up weight
Straight Legged Deads or GM's - 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Leg Press- Work up to 2 sets of 12-15 reps
Leg Extensions/Leg Curls (superset) 10 or so reps for however many sets you like
Calves - i do 3 sets of 10-15


Saturday: Shoulders
DB Press - 1 heavy set of 5-8 reps
Smith Machine Press or BB press (wide grip)- 3 sets of 5-7
Side Raises- 2 sets of 12 reps
Front Raises- 2 sets of 10 reps per arm
Shrugs- 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps

[HalcyonSky]

are you sure its possible to gain muscle at all without sterones? are there any scientificly proven studies? im beginning to get the impression every one who reports gains is on the sterones

ive been training natural for years and so far ive lost 3lb

[open_society]

Not reading all that ****































Cliffs?

[yomomma212]

very good advice brah, reps

[howies]

One quick question

DB One Arm Row 3×8-12 super setted with
DB Arnold Press 3×8-12

how do you do this superset? Do both arms on the row then move onto the press?

or

do one arm on the row, do a set of presses, then do the other arm?

apologies if its a stupid question!

[Leon VorteX]

So which is better? Lower/Upper on Mon, Wed and Fri or Full body Tues and Sat?

What would these splits look like?

[Leon VorteX]

could you give some details on how to put together a upper/lower body split? i've been doing a 5 day split to give each muscle 100%. but i'll consider the upper/lower body split if you give some more details about it.

This

[Calborn]

i love this

[AgentSkyhawk]

I only work out each bodypart once a week. I used to do twice a week but after a few weeks I just wasn't with it anymore (mentally and physically). My lifts weren't improving (i.e couldn't even get out an extra chinup) and I just didn't want to be there.

Like I said, I do each body part once a week and am making improvements.

I'm guessing point 2 doesn't really relate to me? open for suggestions

this

i do upper body, lower body and back area once a week:/

[wsuwarrior]

The real training secrets that are so simple that you will commit suicide for not thinking of them earlier.

1. Lift heavy
2. Take multi

[Achilles87]

Recently started doing fullbody 3x week

feelsgoodman