Natural Bodybuilding - Key Components For Success

Natural bodybuilding is all about achieving your body's maximum potential without using steroids or other growth enhancing drugs, and is the healthiest way to develop your ideal physique. It is a combination of intense weight training and a healthy, balanced diet. Natural bodybuilding is not simply building muscles but also incorporating a better quality of life as bodybuilding can be instrumental in keeping the bodybuilder healthy as well as developing other desirable qualities such as dedication and focus. Natural bodybuilding is growing in popularity largely due to the public's negative opinion on steroid use.

Nutrition

Nutrition accounts for 70% to 80% of success in building a good physique. The biggest problem in natural bodybuilding is, in my opinion, the alarming number of people that screw up perfectly good training with poor nutrition. Nutrition should provide the proper balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates so that your muscles can heal and build. A natural bodybuilding diet, like any diet that works to bolster nutrition, focuses on fresh, natural, whole foods and eliminates processed foods, as a general rule. You will also be eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Typically, these meals are spaced approximately 2-3 hours apart for a total of 5-7 meals per day. Depending on your nutritional goals, your overall diet should consist of approximately 40-50% complex carbohydrates, 30-40% protein, and 10-20% fat. Also, it is very important to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially if you're consuming large quantities of protein.

Supplements

Some supplements are considered acceptable for natural bodybuilding, in particular protein shakes. However, many supplements such as testosterone boosters are considered unnatural as they directly affect the body's hormonal balance. In other words, natural athletes who choose to build their body naturally have to stick to a regimen of well structured bodybuilding diet along with some performance enhancing supplements like whey protein, creatine & l-glutamine. Taking a good multi-vitamin supplement is also highly recommended.

Training

The principle of natural bodybuilding is that you can get the body you desire solely by weight training and eating healthy foods. Since we have already discussed nutrition and supplementation, let's quickly discuss weight training. The reason I chose to discuss weight training last is because it is probably the least important component for your overall success in natural bodybuilding. In other words, you could have the best program for building muscle on the planet, but without the proper nutrition to support muscle growth your gains will be stopped dead in their tracks.

There are many training programs out there but what I recommend is to train every other day for 3 days per week. Each day you will focus on a different group of muscles. For example, on day 1 you would do legs/abs, day 2 chest/shoulders/triceps, and day 3 back/biceps/forearms. This schedule provides enough time away from the gym to allow each muscle group to recover and grow; therefore, avoiding the dreaded effects of overtraining.

The core of your weight training program should consist of compound lifts such as the bench press, squat, dead lift, chin-ups, dips, etc. For all the lifts in your program, you should do 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps. This will give you the greatest improvement in strength and muscle mass. For your main muscle groups such as your legs, chest, and back, you should do about 3-4 exercises for a total of 6-8 sets for each muscle group. For your abs, triceps, shoulders, and biceps, you should do an additional 2 exercises for a total of 3-4 sets for each muscle group. The reason we do less exercises for the latter is that they have already received some work during the compound movements we did. This training information should give you a good starting point to fill in this last component of your natural bodybuilding regimen.

Natural bodybuilding is a way to body build without the use of artificial drugs or substances. Therefore, in my eyes, it is a much better training system than anabolic induced bodybuilding. The key to developing your physique through natural bodybuilding is to remember that it does not happen overnight. You must never lose sight of your goals, and what you hope to accomplish no matter how slowly you feel you may be progressing. Good luck!

Mark Petersen is a healthcare professional who specializes in sports medicine and physical fitness. To get more information about building muscle and to sign-up for our free muscle building email course, please visit [http://www.MuscleGainTruth.net]. Also, to discover which muscle building program Mark and his online team ranks above all others, please visit http://www.MuscleProgramReview.com

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