Natural Gains: The Proven Training Strategies

Lead Photo Credit: Brad Neathery What’s the Best Training Program? Is it the workout plan used by the biggest and leanest pro bodybuilder? The strongest lifter with the most powerlifting records? Probably not. Their programs work for their (often drugged) bodies, not necessarily your (probably natural) body. Instead of getting lost searching for the perfect program, you need to adopt a set of strategies and methods that have been proven to work for everyone. You can then take this template of strategies and customize it by choosing the best exercises for your body and your goals. First, let’s review the strategies: Strategy 1 – Train Frequently Natural lifters often make two common mistakes. First, they try to specialize in building muscle too early. They never really build a base of strength to support more advanced, bodybuilding-style training. Second, they change exercises too often. This can even lead to program hopping: jumping from one plan to the next before they’ve even given the first plan a chance to work. This is a monkey-mind mentality. Increasing your workout or movement frequency – lifting 4-5 days a week – is a foundational strategy for building both strength and mass. Here’s what it’ll do for you: Increase your motor learning Motor learning is basically familiarizing yourself with a particular exercise until that movement becomes natural. It’s simple really. The more often you perform a movement, the more familiar your muscle memory becomes in performing that movement. Better motor learning will yield better long-term progress because you’ll be able to move more weight, improve muscle fiber recruitment, and create more mechanical tension directly in your muscles. Increase your protein synthesis The more often you train a muscle the more protein synthesis you’ll trigger. Protein synthesis is the fundamental biological process by which cells build their specific proteins – and your muscles grow through this process. High movement frequency is the key that unlocks the protein synthesis process for days on end. Studies have shown that protein synthesis responds to resistance training and lasts about 24-48 hours afterward. That’s one of the main reasons why training a muscle group frequently (verses once a week or so on “chest day”) is a crucial aspect of making strength and size gains – because it keeps protein synthesis at its peak. The more often you train the muscle the more consistent protein synthesis will be. Also, protein synthesis keeps you in an anabolic (muscle building) state and keeps your testosterone levels elevated. As a result, you can expect to make consistent gains in size and strength. Strategy 2 – Use Micro-Adjustments The smallest changes to your technique can be the key to busting through training plateaus. Here’s why: Micro-adjustments reduce injuries You can’t make regular gains if you’re always tweaking your shoulder or pulling a muscle. And that’s where the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference – keeping you away from the injuries. By making small changes in bar position, foot placement, or grip, you can create enough variation to prevent overuse injuries (and boredom), without completely altering your workout. This works with just about every exercise. Here’s an example of a micro-adjustment: Your lower back is acting up when you squat. Instead of hurting yourself or tossing the squat out of your workout, make a small adjustment to where you position the bar on your back. Go from high-bar to low-bar squats to take some stress off your lower back and even decrease the range of motion in the movement. Micro-adjustments drive progress Sustainable systems are the key to gains. So when you hit a small bump in the road with your training, whether it’s an injury or simply feeling less motivated, don’t upend the entire system. A pothole on Gains Street doesn’t require ripping up the entire program. Just repair the pothole. Stay consistent. Push yourself and make small adjustments when necessary. Strategy 3 – Use Lower Volume, Heavy Strength Work Your goal when you walk into the gym is simple: get stronger. If getting stronger isn’t your goal, you’ll miss out on muscle gains as well as the obvious strength gains. Every muscle building and fat-burning technique is limited if you don’t start with a great strength base. Think of it like this: The person who trains to “build muscle” will do okay for himself and make modest gains for a while. But the person who trains to “get stronger first, then build muscle second” will make better gains and KEEP making them. Once you build your base of strength then other conditions, like improving your mind-muscle connection, become increasingly important. But with all other factors being equal, the stronger guy is going to be bigger. So increase the weight on the bar, even if it means lowering the amount of reps you do. Now, if you’re going to build the most strength and size, you need to put an emphasis on the
Origin: Natural Gains: The Proven Training Strategies