How long has it taken natural bodybuilders to get that big?
I have been working out for a little over a year now. I have gained about 10 pounds of muscle. Pretty slow if you ask me.
Was wondering how long it has taken you to get where you are bodybuilding and how long it has taken pro bodybuilders to get where they are?
I started lifting weights when I was 15 in the10th grade. Back then I was only 5’5 and about 110 pounds. Four years later I’m 155 pounds and 5’8. So roughly 11.25 pounds/year. It took me a long time to even get this big but I’m healthy and my cadiovascular system hasn’t suffered at all. I run a 40 yd. dash in 4.5 and 1.5 mile in 10:05. Plyometrics are pretty helpful too. I’m looking to get about 15 more pounds under my belt and then I’m calling it.
My personal trainer is a Natural Body Building champ. He has been training for around 12 years. I asked him the same question, that you asked. He said that the peak is at age of about 40… another 12 years for him.
Yeah. People think they can get a body like that in 6 months. You know.. “I want six pack abs for the pool party next Wednesday” kind of thing.
Hello
I’m lifting years since I was 18 years old, now I’m 34 years old and still going in the gym.
You must always think that it takes a lot of time to build good muscles and gaining weight. You must train hard, eat well and sleep enough to build good muscles. It takes years of hard training, big efforts with good and healthy meals and a strong discipline. I’m lifting years for about 16 years and I have gained some good muscles and abs, but never like the bodybuilders on steroids. You will never look like Jay Cutler and Ronnie Colemann without steroids, HGH and other things. That’s impossibile to reach with only natural bodybuilding, because our body will stop our muscle increase by itself. Than some bodybuilders begin to use steroids to increase the muscle size and they will take serious side effects in the future.
You must count that you need about 12 years to have good results and be “big”, after 5 or 6 years you will see already good results.
I had the same problem like you when I had your same age, I didn’t build muscle and gain weight even that I trained hard. You must take care that to build muscle mass and gain weight it takes some time, some gain quickier mass and weight other need more time. It’s all genetic and nature you can’t influence it.
What has really worked on me it’s this workout. Important it’s too sleep well, eat healthy and take protein after workouts. The daily protein consumption is 2 gr/kg you can buy a protein supplement to your daily meals. Important it’s to eat fish, meat, raw eggs, thunfish and to drink milk. Eat fruits and vegetables five times in the day if it’s possible so you have all the vitamins you need. Take a protein shake after a workout with 25 – 30 gramm of Protein Powder, 2 bananas and 500 ml of low fat milk, put all in the mixer and drink it.
Solid meals included such items as baked and sweet potatoes, chicken, sashimi and steak. “I recommend steak once a day for regular guys and twice a day for hardgainers,” he says. “It seems to provide the additional calories you need if you’re having trouble gaining weight.”
Most Massive FAQ: Staying strict on your diet week after week is tough, even for guys who make their living from bodybuilding. How do you approach cheating in your diet?
“I’m not a big junk-food eater, but I still schedule an entire day when I allow myself to cheat. Mostly, I use this day as a mental break so I can relax and not worry about when and what to eat, which typically takes a lot of time, planning and foresight. Giving myself the leeway to cheat and have foods I’m craving helps me stick to my diet the rest of the week, allowing me to focus on eating clean and fueling my body
replacing fast-acting carbs and fatty off-season fare with clean, whole foods such as chicken, lean steak, brown rice and lots of veggies. “I’m not a big fish eater, so I’ll have an omega-3 oil capsule with each of my meals to make sure I’m getting my essential fatty acids,”.
The result? Less bodyfat, improved conditioning and an additional 40 pounds. “Anyone can go to the gym and move weights around, but without the nutrition to back up that training, you’ll never get bigger.
Most Massive FAQ: How much protein is enough, and is there such a thing as too much?
“Overeating any macronutrient–including protein–can contribute to fat gain and won’t necessarily make you bigger in the right places. I get exactly 316 grams of protein a day, a bit more than 1 gram per pound of bodyweight off-season. I don’t think you need more than that. In fact, carbs are just as important for gaining size because they provide the energy you need to train hard. I eat a slow-releasing carb like brown rice or oatmeal with every meal, with the exception of post-workout, when I have a drink of creatine, glutamine and 70 grams of dextrose that goes straight into my muscles to replenish glycogen and keep me from becoming catabolic.”
It’s naturally that you must do your workout regulary, and try always to increase your weights but not too much. It takes time to build naturally muscle mass and gaining weight, but if you train hard and eat well you will have good results. I’m sure that you will put on weight and have good muscles on your body, too.
That’s my best advice I can give you.
—5X5—
Monday: Squats, Benching, Rows
Weds: Squats, Military Presses, Deadlifts, Chins
Friday: Squats, Benching, Rows
Courtesy of bill starr, the greatest strength coach who ever lived, popularized this in the 70′s with his great book, The Strongest Shall Survive, which was aimed at strength training for football. I believe he had essentually two different programs which both are 5 sets of 5. The first, which is more suitable for beginners, is to simply do 5 sets of 5 with similar weight jumps between each set so that your last set is your top weight. When you get all 5 on the last set, bump all your weights up 5 or 10lbs. Example for squat… 185 for 5, 225 for 5, 275 for 5, 315 for 5, 365 for 5. If you get 365 for 5, move all weights up. This is especially good for someone who is just learning a particular exercise like the squat, because the amount of practice with light but increasing weights is a good way to practice form.
For more advanced lifters, he advocated a warmup, then 5 sets of 5 with a set weight. For example, the same athlete used in the other example may do 135 for 5, 185 for 5, 225 for 3, 275 for 2, 315 for 1, then 350 for 5 sets of 5. When successfull with all 25 reps at 350lbs, bump the weight up the next workout by 5 or 10lbs.
This is not outdated, and is a good program for gaining strength. Many elite athletes still use it during at least part of the year. I in fact do 5 sets of 5 on squatting for 4 weeks as part of an 8 or 10 week training cycle. Personally, i do it 3 times a week, but most people will probably make better progress doing it 2 times per week, or even doing version 1 once a week, and version 2 once a week.
In any event i described a system in a post a while back that goes something like this:
Monday use the heaviest weight you can for all 5 sets (same weight each set)—- in other words when you get all 5 sets of 5 reps up the weight (most workouts you will get 3 or 4 sets of 5- and maybe your last one will be for 3 or 4 reps)
Wednesday use 10-20% less weight- in other words if you used 200lbs on monday use 160-180lbs on wednesday- actual amount depending on your recovery
Friday work up to a max set of 5-
In other words lets say that your best ever set of 5 is 215lbs and you used 200lbs on monday for 5 sets and 170lbs on wednesday. On friday your workout might be like this 95 for 5 135 for 5 175 for 5 200 for 5 then attempt 220 for your last set of 5.
This tends to work better as a long term program than doing the same thing 3 times a week. On exercises where you only do them once a week like deadlift you can just do the 5 sets of 5 like i described. On monday on exercises that you are only doing twice (rows) you could do both exercises like the monday workout or lighten one of them depending on your recovery ability. Be conservative with the weight when you start- that is important.
Also i have used this program VERY often with athletes and it is result producing. However many of your gains will show up after you use it for 4-6 weeks and you switch to training a bit less frequently and lower the reps and volume. However this is one program i have had a LOT of success with. In fact i rarely if ever use it with athletes who are at the top of their weight class because it causes too much weight gain unless you severely restrict your food
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brad. Brad said: >: How long has it taken natural bodybuilders to get that big? http://EZBodybuildingTips.info/1011 [...]