How to Tell if a Lifter or Bodybuilder is Drug-Free

Is He Natty or Not? The internet is full of these arguments and debates. Can you tell if someone is on steroids? While there is hard to say with 100% certainty, there are clues. Let's have a look at how real-world experience and science can help us answer this question. Then, let's look at what approach you should take to build your best body. 

Volume Load vs. Rest Intervals for Maximizing Muscle Gain

What is the best way to maximize your muscle growth? Should you follow bodybuilding tradition and use short rest intervals? This approach is thought to improve testosterone and growth hormone secretion, increase metabolic fatigue, and give you a great pump! Alternatively, you could take longer rest times. This approach would let you lift more weight (or get more reps with the same weight), thus increasing your overall volume load (i.e. total reps x weight). Which approach should you choose? Let’s see how the latest science (and some practical training wisdom) can help you build more muscle. 

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Are New Exercises Are Killing Your Gains?

“6 New Exercises for Big Biceps!” “5 Never Before Seen Chest Exercises You Need to Build a Massive Chest!” “10 Shoulder Exercises You Have Never Tried to Build Capped Deltoids!” The internet is infested with these click-bait titles. Yes, I know we live in a world where everyone wants infotainment training advice. However, you need to decide what you want the most – entertainment, or bigger, stronger muscles. If you want the former, that’s fine. YouTube is full of entertaining videos (including videos by those who are professional entertainers). However, if you actually want bigger, stronger muscles, a quest for exciting new exercises, may take you farther, not closer to your goal. Let’s look at what the latest research and practical experience have to offer you.

10 Training Lessons from the World’s Greatest Bodybuilders

“Don’t follow the training of bodybuilding champions! Those guys are all genetic freaks on boatloads of drugs!” This is the common advice given to your average drug-free lifter. Is it good advice? While it is wise not to blindly follow the routines of elite bodybuilders, you would be foolish to ignore everything they do and say. At the top, it is a level playing field. Everyone follows similar pharmaceutical practices and everyone has great genetics. However, in the last 57 years, only six men have dominated Mr. Olympia (the Super Bowl/world championships of bodybuilding) winning this prestigious title four or more times. Success leaves clues! Here are 10 training lessons from the greatest bodybuilders of all time that can help every drug-free, genetically average lifter build more muscle. 

The "New" Science of Muscle Building

Many lifters think that the more scientific-sounding an article or program is, the more muscle it will build. This causes them to get distracted by the wrong type of research. If you are serious about your results, stop using "old" science to build new muscle!

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Training Splits for Drug-Free Lifters

As a drug-free lifter, you walk a fine line between training often enough to stimulate growth, but not too often that you exceed your recovery and growth capabilities. A training variable you have to get right is your weekly layout or training split. Now, I wish I could tell you there was one magical training split that worked perfectly for every drug-free lifter. However, this fairytale only exists in the world of sleazy fitness marketing. The truth is there are many options – each with pros and cons. Let’s dive in and look at some of the options so you can find the best option for you!

Multi vs. Single Joint Exercises for Building Bigger Biceps

So, you want bigger biceps. What is the best way to get bigger arms? Should you do multi-joint or single-joint exercises? While the internet is full of “The top 3 exercises for to build bigger biceps” clickbait, let’s look at how the latest science and real-world experience can help you increase the size of your arms.