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  1. #1
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    Default Is natural bodybuilding even possible?!

    Hey,
    Just curious to know how many out there are actually making real muscle gains? Is it even possible?

    From my personal experience, and from what I see daily, it seems that you will grow during your first 3 months or so of weight training only to plateau and not actually add muscle size there after.

    Now I'm talking about gains in muscle size here, not gains in strength. These in my opinion are different things. All too often I see guys who compete naturally go on their offseason bulk in which they'll up their carb intake, see their abs start to fade, and because the scales are going up and their strength is increasing they assume that their muscles are growing bigger. However, once they diet down for the next season they end up stepping on stage weighing and looking exactly as they did the year before!

    I see this happening over and over with so many people, so I really wanted to see if there are guys out there who are genuinely continuing to make natural gains. I need to have my faith in naturally bodybuilding restored!

    Thanks.

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    Gains are not the same as with gear, but you can definitely add significant muscle with proper nutrition and training. No one plateaus after 3 months, that's ridiculous.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eric213798 View Post
    Gains are not the same as with gear, but you can definitely add significant muscle with proper nutrition and training. No one plateaus after 3 months, that's ridiculous.
    Ok, maybe a bit longer than 3 months. But I'm talking about significant growth beyond that seen by beginners, i.e. those new to weight training

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skinnyrunt View Post
    Ok, maybe a bit longer than 3 months. But I'm talking about significant growth beyond that seen by beginners, i.e. those new to weight training

    I think mainly what it is is that people that most the people that are truly dedicated to the lifestyle use steroids. The ones that don't use steroids that are truly dedicated are people that most people probably think are on steroids but aren't. I really think the human body is capable of great amazing feats natural given the right approach/ time.

    The further you progress the slower results will come wether your natural or juiced. No one should have there progress slow after 3 months. even if you've been training for 6 years you need to keep searching for new and better ways of doing things. Never stop and think what your doing is ideal cause there's always things to improve on especially if what your doing stop working after 3 months

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    That said there aren't really many really impressive natural guys and the ones that are probably aren't natural. Steroids are a bigger part of body building then anything else is to any sport.

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    What i'd like to know is where the top body builders would be without any hormones at all. guy like Jay cutler is 5'9'' 260 contest, i'd guess naturally he'd be like 5'9'' 210 contest?

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    idk i went from 165-204 in six years naturally. I think gains are dependent on who you are and how hard you wanna put in the work. If you are natural, it is definitely a tougher road, but i think a big problem is people jump on gear way too quickly. I have friends who never touched a damn thing, PHs included that would do well at any NPC show. And I've seen dudes on a shitload of gear who can't outlift and look worse than some of the mediocre natural pros. Bodybuilding, natural or not, is a commitment and consistency game.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eric213798 View Post
    idk i went from 165-204 in six years naturally. I think gains are dependent on who you are and how hard you wanna put in the work. If you are natural, it is definitely a tougher road, but i think a big problem is people jump on gear way too quickly. I have friends who never touched a damn thing, PHs included that would do well at any NPC show. And I've seen dudes on a shitload of gear who can't outlift and look worse than some of the mediocre natural pros. Bodybuilding, natural or not, is a commitment and consistency game.
    Well said, the vast majority of people that go on the juice end up losing what they built on it anyways. alot of guys think they're going to run a few cycles and then come off and maintain it. Natural is like the tortoise in tortoise and the hare story. It's a very slow process but it's a very worthwhile process long term for health reason and you really learn about your body.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eric213798 View Post
    idk i went from 165-204 in six years naturally. I think gains are dependent on who you are and how hard you wanna put in the work. If you are natural, it is definitely a tougher road, but i think a big problem is people jump on gear way too quickly. I have friends who never touched a damn thing, PHs included that would do well at any NPC show. And I've seen dudes on a shitload of gear who can't outlift and look worse than some of the mediocre natural pros. Bodybuilding, natural or not, is a commitment and consistency game.
    40lbs in 6 yrs. That's pretty impressive. Those gains didn't happen to be in your late teens / early twenties did they (please dont take offence, I'm just trying to rule that it wasn't just puberty kicking in rather than genuine results)? Also, have you got any before and after pics, would be cool to see.

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    Also, are those lean gains? Like I said, I know lots who bulk up and get stronger so think they're making gains, only to diet for a contest and realise they're still at exactly the same lean body weight as before!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skinnyrunt View Post
    Also, are those lean gains? Like I said, I know lots who bulk up and get stronger so think they're making gains, only to diet for a contest and realise they're still at exactly the same lean body weight as before!
    Yeah weight is a really bad way to look at it and you need to look at lean mass. I'm 5'11'' and my lean mass was at like 145 at like 22. i was a really soft 170, now i have a lean mass of around 185 3 years later. I put on alot of unlean mass along with it, but i've increases my lean mass by 40 pounds. with that much lean mass difference i would be shredded at 200 pounds now where as 3 years ago i would've been very chubby and fat at 200. I'm very confident i'm going to reach 200 pounds of lean mass naturally and be like 5'11'' 220 9 percent in a few years.

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    Also i'm working with a guy i know who started off so weak it was crazy. at 20 years old and around 5'10'' 190 28 percent or so, pure skinny fat with no strength. Literally had a 115 max bench, 135 max squat, 155 max deadlift at 190 pounds.

    18 months later 100 percent naturally he's 195 like 20 percent fat with a max bench of 255, max squat around 315 ass to grass, max deadlift around 405. SO in 18 months he's way over twice as strong and has put on 20 pounds of lean mass. Now he'd be shredded at 170 where he would've been skinny fat at 170.

    He has a long ways to go but just another example of what dedication and a good routine can do

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    Yea I started lifting at 19. You can say it was because my test levels were significantly higher than people in their 30s and 40s, but in all honestly I started at 125. I went to 165 in 3 months, and the rest were steady lean gains. I'll see if I can find some pics, but I definitely don't have any pics from when I was 165 anymore.

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    Quote Originally Posted by symphonyofdreams View Post
    Also i'm working with a guy i know who started off so weak it was crazy. at 20 years old and around 5'10'' 190 28 percent or so, pure skinny fat with no strength. Literally had a 115 max bench, 135 max squat, 155 max deadlift at 190 pounds.

    18 months later 100 percent naturally he's 195 like 20 percent fat with a max bench of 255, max squat around 315 ass to grass, max deadlift around 405. SO in 18 months he's way over twice as strong and has put on 20 pounds of lean mass. Now he'd be shredded at 170 where he would've been skinny fat at 170.

    He has a long ways to go but just another example of what dedication and a good routine can do
    Interesting. 20% body fat is quite far out from what I'd ever allow myself to get to. I would say that maybe it's possible that the only way to grow naturally is to let yourself get fat in the process, but some of the natural competitors that I know allow themselves to put on a lot of fat when trying to bulk, but these are the same guys who once they lean out end up still at the same lean body weight as before!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skinnyrunt View Post
    Interesting. 20% body fat is quite far out from what I'd ever allow myself to get to. I would say that maybe it's possible that the only way to grow naturally is to let yourself get fat in the process, but some of the natural competitors that I know allow themselves to put on a lot of fat when trying to bulk, but these are the same guys who once they lean out end up still at the same lean body weight as before!
    the guy went from 28 percent to 20 percent and gained 20 pounds of muscle, so he's gotten much leaner. he didn't try and diet hard cause he had nothing to diet down to. Now he's dieting pretty strict and his goal is 8 percent. You can get big without getting fat naturally but you have to be super disciplined. the reason most people get fat is because it sucks eating super clean so people eat a ton of shit while bulking.

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