What is natural bodybuilding, its pros and cons

Undoubtedly, many bodybuilders now use the anabolic steroid for weight and other drugs to gain weight and maintain an ideal shape. But before, these medicines were not so common among athletes. And sport without any doping was the norm. But, despite the availability and prevalence of anabolic steroids in the sports environment, there are now bodybuilders who do not use them. Today we will take a look at all the benefits of so-called natural bodybuilding. And we will find out the differences between such sports and training with the use of medications.

So what exactly is natural bodybuilding?

The term "natural bodybuilding" was first used in the early 1990s. Its main goal was the rejection of doping and steroids and also the inspiration of training athletes to improve their physical form. It is not necessary to become like the participants of the Mr. Olympia tournament and to have a mountain of muscles - much more important is good health and a beautiful athletic physique built without the use of the forbidden “chemistry” - mainly, anabolic steroids.

To develop this popular trend, magazines began to publish photos from performances of the so-called natural bodybuilders. There are also associations that promote bodybuilding without the use of anabolic steroids and pharmacological agents. Adherents of bodybuilding "without chemistry" believe that their method is more focused on a healthy lifestyle and natural competition.

What drugs are banned in natural bodybuilding?

Basically, all drugs that can affect muscle growth and athletic performance are in a ban. These are, first of all, all groups and names of steroids, including testosterone. Growth hormone, insulin and insulin-like growth factor are also prohibited. You can not use any other hormones with an anabolic effect, for example, thyroid hormones, erythropoietin. Ephedrine and all of its derivatives, clenbuterol, and other stimulants and diuretics are also on the list of prohibited substances. You can find out more about ephedrine and its derivatives in this article.

The use of medications is allowed according to indications. For example, drugs for allergies, inflammation, or asthma are allowed. Moreover, these drugs should not have a pronounced anabolic effect. Nicotine, alcohol and caffeine are also not in the ban, as they are present naturally in food quite often in the daily life of most people.

What drugs can you take?

In fact, natural bodybuilders can take all illegal drugs. Anything that is not doping is legal for this type of bodybuilding when heading for professionals. These are, for example, such drugs as herbal adaptogens and mild stimulants, sports nutrition.

Natural bodybuilders can take protein, amino acids, glucose, vitamins, minerals and creatine because they are naturally present in regular foods that are part of a normal, healthy daily diet. They are also not in a ban by any anti-doping organization.

Natural bodybuilding should be based primarily on a healthy lifestyle and diligent, optimally selected training. In this case, it is very important to adhere to a healthy diet, and, if necessary, include additional sports nutrition products and permitted pharmacology.

Workouts for muscle growth in natural bodybuilding

Muscle growth in natural bodybuilding you can determine not by equipment, but by the effort that you achieve in strength exercise. Optimal muscle growth you can achieve under a load of 20 to 40 seconds. Strength exercises for muscle growth should be done no more than one approach in two minutes - 30 seconds of workout, 90 seconds of rest. To stimulate muscle growth, you need to allocate at least 10 minutes - 5 sets for one exercise.

Muscle growth is stimulated during exercise, but muscle grows during sleep. One hour of training requires an additional 2 hours of sleep. For a muscle to grow from natural bodybuilding, you need to allocate at least an additional three hours of training and six hours of sleep per week.

Heavy developmental training, according to the results of studies, you should perform no more than twice a week. The rest of the time you can devote to the unattended muscles, doing light isolation exercises. Cardio training does not have a strong effect on the endocrine system, it can be performed without strict restrictions. For muscle growth in natural bodybuilding, it is important to avoid overtraining. Indeed, with an exhausting regime of strength training, the athlete will very quickly come to a training plateau. Learn more about the training plateau, and how to overcome it, in this article.

Pros and cons of natural bodybuilding

Undoubtedly, the natural approach to bodybuilding has its pros and cons. And each athlete should decide for himself what approach to choose for himself. The benefits of natural bodybuilding:

1. You do not need to take additional medications to achieve your sports goals. There are no risks to health, on the contrary, you improve your well-being and health.
2. You save your financial resources and can spend them on gym workouts or exercise equipment and nutrition.
3. You can rightfully be proud of your results because you have achieved all of this by your own efforts, and not by taking some illegal pills or injections on easy steroid course.

But this approach has its drawbacks:

1. You will need to put a lot of work and maximum patience to achieve the intended results.
2. You will never gain the same muscle mass and volume as those on steroids. After all, the result with anabolics before and after will be much greater than without them.
3. There is always the possibility of the temptation to try a Deca Durabolin course for a beginner for progress and quick results in gaining muscle mass.

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