Why Many Natural Bodybuilding Programs Don’t Work
Those who seek to build maximum muscle mass and wish to avoid supplements and steroids often seek out a natural bodybuilding program through the Internet or magazines, implementing the advice they find consistently, to utter disappointment. The reasons behind such lackluster progress can be broad, but what follow are some of the common errors found in many bodybuilding workout and diet plans.
Firstly, workout frequency is often less than adequate for maximum muscle growth. Because so many programs stress how important avoiding overtraining is to the natural bodybuilder, they promote once per week muscle group training, which is insufficient to induce maximum progress. While it’s true that frequent direct stress upon each body part can cause overtraining, this is only an issue if sets and reps are not properly cycled, and when they are, targeting each area every 3-5 days provides for the best possible improvement in muscle mass.
Secondly, often natural bodybuilding programs recommend a large amount of different exercises, selecting some that are not designed to promote maximum muscle growth in lieu of those that provide greater overload to the body, just for the sake of adding variety. A large number of exercises is not necessary, as there are specific weight training exercises that stress muscles better than others, and these are what a muscle mass routine should be based upon.
Thirdly, reps and sets are often either not cycled, or structured in a way that leads to overtraining or undertraining (both are extremely detrimental to muscle building). Personal trainers are notorious for focusing on the dangers of overtraining, but more often than not, bodybuilders are actually entering the opposite undertrained state due to poorly designed set, rep and workout frequency cycles.
Lastly, half of the success equation for muscle building, which is an effective diet plan, is either overlooked or based on flawed principles. Natural bodybuilding diet plans often contain too little carbohydrates, incorrect meal division and calorie selection, etc. There are just as many variables in diet as weight training, and those who achieve disappointing muscle growth must ensure that both their eating and weight training routine is consistent with what maximizes muscle building. A perfect diet without the correct weight lifting plan is worthless, and the opposite is also true.
Those who seek to achieve the best possible muscle growth without using supplements or steroids should consider the MuscleNOW natural bodybuilding program, which teaches all of the correct diet and weight training workout methods to follow for consistent results.
Bodybuilding Diet Plan
Are you confused about which bodybuilding diet plan builds muscle without supplements? You are not alone, as the wide variety of available bodybuilding diet plans are extremely confusing, from low carb/high fat, to high carb/low fat, low protein, high protein, balanced fat/carb, etc; the possibilities are seemingly endless.
The truth is, many never gain muscle mass because of a poor bodybuilding diet plan. If you are attempting to gain muscle mass, and have not been achieving weekly results, then you need to change your bodybuilding diet plan immediately! Food is the fuel that builds muscle mass, but eating the wrong combinations of protein, carbohydrates and fats will guarantee very little (if any) progress in your muscle building efforts. In fact, because of a poor bodybuilding diet plan, most out of frustration mistakenly turn to worthless supplements, which create false promises for those who are confused as to the proper diet plan and weight training routine to follow. Therefore, your number one rule is to never invest in any bodybuilding supplementation, as bottled fads are not the answer to achieving dramatic muscle gains, despite the powerful (but misleading) advertising.
What about low carb bodybuilding diet plans? Many have become infatuated with low carb bodybuilding diet routines in recent years, especially when pursuing fat loss, believing that carbohydrates are evil by their very nature, a notion that is not surprising given the level of misinformation available on the Internet. But what proponents of the low carb diet plan fail to mention is that a lack of sufficient carbohydrates will burn muscle mass and slow metabolism, meaning that you slow metabolism, which makes regaining body fat extremely easy and likely! Therefore, low carb, ketogenic bodybuilding diet plans are horrible strategies which prevent muscle building, burn already built muscle mass, and slow metabolism, therefore making them a very poor choice for anybody wishing to display a lean, muscular physique.
Will high carbohydrate diet plans help me to gain muscle mass? While significant muscle mass can be built in the presence of excess carbs, such muscle gains will be accompanied by substantial body fat, which blurs definition, and creates a bloated, disappointing appearance. Many fail to realize that muscle mass is not the only important factor, as there is an equally critical element if the goal is to develop a bodybuilder type physique; keeping body fat levels very low yields a high level of definition, which is necessary to effectively display newly built muscle. A high carbohydrate bodybuilding diet plan will bring about muscle gains, but also produce a level of body fat that will prove unacceptable, not only hiding the muscle mass you worked so hard to produce, but also adversely impacting appearance in general e.g., a bloated face, neck, etc.
Should I follow a higher fat diet plan? Unfortunately, the higher fat bodybuilding diet plan offers the same downsides as low carbs, in that muscle can be lost and metabolism reduced, but higher fat principles can be used for certain meals throughout the day to control blood sugar, especially in those who are sensitive to carbohydrates (gain fat quickly or hesitate to burn fat in the presence of carbs), but if the higher fat techniques are used improperly, they will lead to the same downside as low carbs (metabolism slowdown and muscle mass reduction).
How much protein should a bodybuilding diet plan be comprised of? A bodybuilder seeking to build muscle mass needs a greater quantity of protein than one who is sedentary, but consuming excessive quantities can cause body fat increase and unnecessary kidney stress, so a balance needs to be achieved. Unfortunately, many either consume excessive or insufficient protein for their body to produce desired muscle mass improvements. A bodybuilding diet plan void of sufficient protein will not produce any significant muscle growth, and will quickly burn muscle when calories dip into fat loss levels, while a diet plan which focuses upon excessive protein can prevent fat loss or cause unhealthy stress to the body’s internal organs.
So which bodybuilding diet plan actually works? I’ve personally experimented with high carb, low carb, balanced carb/fat, higher fat, etc, and was able to produce over 60 lbs of new muscle mass without bodybuilding supplements or steroids, learning from the many mistakes I made during my own personal bodybuilding journey, and am now helping others achieve dramatic muscle mass gains through a potent bodybuilding diet plan and weight training workout routine called MuscleNOW.
Is the MuscleNOW bodybuilding diet plan sold in stores? I am the author and sole distributor of MuscleNOW, and I have hundreds of muscle building testimonials from around the world. For many years I have been teaching men and women which bodybuilding diet plan and weight training routine to follow for dramatic, consistent, impressive muscle mass gains, and based on the many success stories, MuscleNOW is a proven winner.
MuscleNOW builds muscle mass naturally. I guarantee that you will achieve the best muscle mass gains of your entire life with my MuscleNOW bodybuilding diet plan and weight training routine, or you will receive a 100% refund, no questions asked. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime, as I will be glad to assist!
Do Vacations Limit Muscle Gains?
Those who seek to build muscle mass have different views on vacations, with some believing that several weeks of consistent weight training workouts should be followed with a break of at least one week, while others fearing the very idea of taking a vacation from bodybuilding, to the point where they try to find a gym even when they are on a pleasure trip with family or friends. The true answer to how a bodybuilder must deal with vacations in order to avoid any significant negative impact on muscle mass is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
It’s very easy to become obsessive with weight training, to the point where skipping a workout quickly brings about fears of significant muscle mass reduction, and this can cause those who pursue bodybuilding to actually try and avoid vacations so that they can remain consistent with their weight training workout routines at all times. This, to the outsider, seems excessive, and there is no doubt that, mentally, living such a one-track bodybuilding lifestyle can bring about depression and alienation from family and friends.
Others aim for breaks from weight training workouts every several weeks, performing their weight lifting and aerobic sessions for 4-6 weeks, and then taking a 1-2 week sabbatical from building muscle mass before beginning another 4-6 week cycle. This technique can delay bodybuilding progress significantly, so I recommend, instead, planning breaks from weight training around special occasions (Christmas, summer vacations, birthdays, etc), and saving unexpected vacations for times when illness strikes (flu, injuries, etc), so that you can comfortably move away from building muscle mass for 1-2 weeks during times of the year when you have places to see and people to spend time with, or when you are sidelined with an unexpected illness or injury.
The amount of muscle mass lost during a vacation from weight training can be significant if the time away from such workouts is excessive, so a reasonable period of time to vacation from weight lifting is one week, and preferably, a vacation should never exceed two weeks, as the body begins to reduce muscle mass after a 1-2 week period (depending on individual genetics). If you are taking a trip that requires a longer time away from your normal weight training workout session, consider following an abbreviated schedule, where each body part is trained once per week with lower volume, at least to try and encourage maintenance of muscle mass during your trip. This technique can be used for a vacation of any duration, but is especially important if you are taking a trip that will exceed two weeks. Such an approach allows for very short weight lifting workouts that stimulate the muscle sufficiently to delay catabolism (muscle loss).
In regards to the frequency of breaks from weight training, this will depend on your individual schedule and lifestyle. Generally, if you wish to build maximum muscle mass, the less breaks of an extended duration that you take, the more progress you will achieve, yet a one week vacation several times per year is beneficial for the mind and body. Just make sure that such vacations occur at extended intervals, with at least two months (preferably three) of weight training consistency preceding a break.
Also, do not neglect the importance of proper diet during a vacation from weight training, as abandoning sufficient protein or carbohydrates during time spent away from your bodybuilding workouts can cause rapid muscle mass reduction, where otherwise, by observing an effective eating plan, very little negative change will occur. Most are not opposed to eating on vacation (that’s half the fun), but just make sure to consume sufficient protein during such periods, and aim for carbohydrates at maintenance levels in order to discourage unnecessary muscle mass loss or fat gain (although some fat increase is fine during vacations if you remain dedicated and consistent with your weight training workouts and diet throughout the remainder of the year, since you can quickly burn any accumulated fat when returning home from vacation).