NATURAL BODYBUILDING

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION

Natural bodybuilding is the pursuit of muscle in an aesthetically pleasing and symmetrical manner without the use of harmful substances or illegal muscle building supplements such as anabolic steroids.

Much of the information which is contained in the MUSCLE section applies to bodybuilding muscle. Therefore only that specifically relating to this subject will be presented on this page.

LEVELS

Basic Bodybuilding - muscular development so as to look good on holiday via a beach body workout or body sculpting workout.

Means to an end - improved performance in a sport or hobby such as power bodybuilding whereby the added muscle mass leads to greater loads lifted in Weightlifting or Powerlifting.

Muscle for its own sake - where the peak standard aspired to is  professional bodybuilding

TYPES OF BODYBUILDING

Basic Bodybuilding - often utilising weight training methods.

Combined objectives - fitness bodybuilding, muscle and fitness etc

Anciliary activity - power bodybuilding.

Sport in its own right - muscle bodybuilding either amateur or professional bodybuilding.

Extreme Point - muscle worship bodybuilding where the individual can look like a computer game character.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Health and Fitness - the most significant problem is when the objective of max muscle is taken to the extreme and resulting in potentially dramatic decrease in health and fitness.

Aesthetics - in looking to find the fastest way to build muscle people often eat far too much food and of the wrong or harmful kind. The weight gain often comprises much more fat than bodybuilding muscle.

"Hardgainer" - this is the opposite of adding too much muscle. Whatever the individual does he/she sees very little improvement. Natural bodybuilding can provide a solution which incorporates

1. most effective and efficient bodybuilding workouts
2. healthy bodybuilding diet
3. optimum amount of rest and recovery

"Genetic Muscle Range" - I believe that our individual genetic blueprint provides a guide as to the upper optimal amount of muscle suited to each of our bodies. Even natural bodybuilding enables this upper level to be forcibly exceeded but at a cost. I am convinced that our bodies function less effectively if this occurs.

An obvious question regarding a lower weight limit could be asked. This will be covered in the section on Weight and Fat Loss.

Vegetarianism - there are opposing viewpoints on this matter, focusing on 2 issues

• Complete protein - one side states that no plant or vegetable can provide all the benefits that animal protein can. The other side states that by combining plants and vegetables complete protein intake can occur and that even vegan bodybuilding can produce results. A popular  combination is rice and pea protein. Vegetarians will have to experiment to determine if the latter opinion is true.
• Vitamins, Minerals etc - as with protein, there is debate on whether animal flesh provides nutrients not available with a diet excluding meat / fish. The best way to resolve this is by experience.

METHODS : bodybuild and build muscle fast

Factors to consider when creating natural bodybuilding workouts are:

1. Goal - why is increased muscle required - health and functionality should influence the amount and type of bodybuilding routines chosen.
2. Equipment -  safety and convenience appear to make workout machines the modern choice. There is a place for them but other forms of types of bodybuilding equipment should also be used.
3. Location - one might assume that commerical gym equipment would be required but provided the right workout and equipment are utilised then home bodybuilding or even outdoors training are feasible.
4. Exercise Routine - conventional wisdom dictates that a bodybuilding program is centred around exercises which isolate individual muscles (e.g. concentration curls for front upper arm). The body however, developed to move using many muscles in synergy. Therefore the foundation of a program should consist of movements mimicking nature (compound movements - e.g. pullups for back, front upper arms, forearms) and save the isolation exercises for workout finishers or when the physique has been built.
5. Nutrition and supplements - whole foods should form the basis of food intake and a natural bodybuilding supplement should remain just that and not a central source of nutrients. What constitues wholesome natural food is hotly debated. The extreme views are Low Carb/Paleo and Moderate to High Carb (utilising Nutrient Timing and Carb Cycling - explained elsewhere on this site).
6. Frequency/Amount/Rest & Recovery - the desire for big muscle might tempt a person to train as much as possible and as often as possible. A famous bodybyuilder of the 1980s followed the mantra of "stimulate don't annihilate".
7. Profile - women bodybuilding is a contentious issue. Training muscle as outlined on this site means it is possible for females to workout and still look feminine.

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Site under construction - apologies for any gaps or apparent inconsistencies. In time as more information is added the whole site should "hang together".

Initially the focus will be on general information which should assist with achieving results regardless of the approach you take in working out.

Later I will provide more detailed information.