Definition
Natural bodybuilding is one of many ways to build muscle mass. As the term “Natural” already implies, it is about building muscle naturally without the help of doping and other substances that are not found in a healthy balanced diet. Natural bodybuilding is about building muscle mass through pure strength training and a healthy and balanced diet. The basic idea of this type of bodybuilding is the use of recognized training methods in combination with sensible use of dietary supplements and a healthy diet. The use of doping substances should thus be counteracted.
Training
Before some examples regarding training are given here, everyone should be aware that there is no standard training that leads to a defined and muscular body. Every body reacts differently and therefore it cannot be generally said that one or the other training method works best. Everyone should try out for himself with which training system he can best cope.
However, you can still follow a few guidelines to make the training effective. First you should give yourself enough time for a training goal, e.g. muscle building. Especially when building up muscles, you should not want too much too fast.
In addition to the muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones must also adapt to the loads and this can take up to several months. The muscles react first to a stimulus (strength training), but the other structural elements of the body need more time to adapt to certain loads. In natural bodybuilding, the athlete responds to this particularity and, for example, does not increase weights too quickly.
Another point about natural bodybuilding training is that one should not only focus on muscle building, but also on the other strength abilities, such as speed, strength endurance and maximum strength. A naturally strong body is very well trained in all areas of strength and therefore has a perfect interaction of the different muscle and body parts. In Natural Bodybuilding, the muscle fiber type also plays an important role.
Basically there are two different muscle fibers in the body, slow enduring muscle fibers (type 1) and fast tiring muscle fibers (type 2). The fast and also more easily tiring muscle fibers (type 2) are much more interesting for Natural Bodybuilding, because they are better suited for hypertrophy training (muscle mass increases). Their volume gains are significantly higher than those of type 1 fibers.
To get these desired muscle gains, you also need the right training. A mixture of compound and isolated exercises are ideal for Natural Bodybuilding. The composite exercises train several muscle groups at once, whereas the isolated exercises train individual muscle groups.
The bulk of the training plan should consist of compound exercises to stimulate muscle growth. In addition, isolated strength exercises (e.g. back training, arm muscle training, leg muscle training, etc.) can then be added, which increases the blood flow to the working muscles and thus also creates temporary growth.
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