subject: Hypertrophy for natural lifters [print this page] Hypertrophy for natural lifters Hypertrophy for natural lifters
Ah, the ever frustrating case of the skinny natural trainee. The poor soul slogs day in day out to add that seemingly never possible pound of muscle on his body. He probably trains six days a week for more than an hour each day, performs 15-20 sets per bodypart, and trains each bodypart twice a week. Even after such dedication, he wonders why he is the only unfortunate soul in the world to never meet his goals. His friend who introduced him to the gym gained 20 pounds in 5 months. The professional bodybuilders in the magazines said that they put on 30 pounds in their first six months. Then why is he failing, so miserably?
If you too are one of these unfortunate souls, then I have the answers to your questions. First of all let me tell you, that friend of yours who gained 20 pounds in 5 months is on STEROIDS!!! So is that bodybuilder that you read about in the magazine. Yes it is a sad fact, that steroids are very much a part of the modern day gym culture. Most of these people with phenomenal results are on steroids. The professional bodybuilders, professional sportsmen all rely on steroids to compete at the pro level.
I do not wish to discuss whether, steroids for professional athletes is justified or not, however for non professional trainees I certainly must forbid it! Look you must understand steroids usage is a very complicated matter. One must extensively study its use, effects on the body before they can know how much is safe. Only medical students go through such extensive studying. Your local gym coach has no idea on this substance's safety limits, and he is more likely to harm you than help if you take steroids on his recommendation.
The second thing I wish to tell you is that you probably are overtraining and thus neutralizing your scope for growth. As a natural trainee your body needs sufficient time to recover from intense workouts to be able to grow. Your total time in the gym for the whole week should ideally not exceed 3 hours if you are trying to put on mass. Now whether you spend 30 minutes 6 days a week, or 1 hour 3 days a week is upto you. After 1 or 2 years of intense training, you can increase the time to more than 3 hours a week. However till then it is better if you stick to the 3 hours/week limit. Of course you might find it hard to stay within this limit if you have become a stimulus addict, i.e. you are more obsessed with the "pump" than actual results i.e. growth. Trust me you are better off training for real growth, than for a momentary "pump".
So then what to do? What routine to follow? Don't worry I shall provide you with some sample routines, but first I want to tell you a few points that you should remember.
Lift heavy, but avoid training to muscular failure most of the times. Do 1-2 reps short of failure on most sets
Increase the weight being lifted when the current weight becomes easy to lift. Increase about 2-5 pounds at a time
Use proper form. Do not use excessive body momentum or cheat to complete a lift
Never let a spotter do most of the lifting for you. He should only be there to hand the weights to you and ensure your safety, not to lift the weight for you
Follow a good nutritional plan
Focus fully on your workout. Minimize socializing during your workout
Avoid high intensity techniques like supersets, drop sets, etc. most of the time. They are too demanding for most natural trainees
Work hard on lower body movements like squats, deadlifts, do not neglect them. These moves are the bread and butter moves for growth. They help in releasing testosterone, growth hormones in great quantities, which is essential for muscle growth
Avoid making isolation moves like calf raises, dumbbell curls, etc the majority of the exercises in you routine
Here are two sample routines, that will help you put on size with a good nutritional plan. Do 1-2 warm up sets for all the exercises.
Routine 1 (3 days a week)
Alternate between workouts A and workout B, with atleast a 1 day gap between workouts.
Workout A
Squats 3 sets of 10 reps
Bench press 3 sets of 8 reps
Barbell rows 3 sets of 10 reps
Military press 2 sets of 8 reps
Shrugs 2 sets of 10 reps
Lying triceps extension 2 sets of 8 reps
Barbell curl 2 sets of 8 reps
Workout B
Deadlift 3 sets of 8 reps
Incline bench press 3 sets of 8 reps
Pull up/Dumbbell row 3 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell shoulder press 2 sets of 8 reps
Upright row 2 sets of 8 reps
Parallel bar dips 2 sets of 8 reps
Dumbbell curl 2 sets of 8 reps
Take a rest of about 1 - 2minutes rest between sets.
For pull ups and parallel bar dips add weights once doing them with bodyweight becomes easy.
Routine 2 (high frequency, 6 days a week)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Bench press
Barbell row
Military press
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Squat
Romanian deadlift
Sets and reps:
Monday, Tuesday 2 sets of 8 reps
Wednesday, Thursday 3 sets of 6 reps
Friday, Saturday 5 sets of 5 reps
Increase the weight on the Mondays and Tuesdays. Lift the same weight throughout the week.
Take a rest of 2 minutes when doing 8 reps, 1 minutes when doing 6 reps, 1 minute when doing 5 reps.
The total number of exercises has been cut down, because when training 6 days a week it is very easy to overtrain, if more exercises are added. Your arms will be hit hard with all the compound movements, so do not worry about them lagging behind.
What about ab work, you might ask, it is not included in any of the routines. Your abs work very hard during all of the compound movements, thus they do get worked a lot. So when training for growth, any additional abs work is not essential.
So these are my suggested routines if you wish to add size as a natural trainee. You can substitute the exercises if you wish, but remember to substitute a compound movement with another compound movement, and not an isolation one. You can and probably should alternate between both the 3 days a week and the high frequency routine from time to time. So go on, forget your previous failed attempts and give these routines your best shot, and enjoy the results!
