As someone who has been competing every 6-9 months for the past 4 years, I have never allowed my body the time that it takes to truly build some real quality muscle mass in order to do well in the natural professional ranks of bodybuilding. Now that I am giving myself this time, I have been doing quite a bit of research as well as consulting with some of the top coaches in the industry of natural bodybuilding. In order to come in bigger and better than ever, I have discovered that there are two key components to building muscle that I have personally overlooked quite a bit in the past. If you are also interested in building some serious muscle, I would recommend paying particular attention to these key points!

Key #1 to tremendous muscle growth) REST!!

To me this concept seems so counter-intuitive! However in order for our bodies to grow muscle, it needs sufficient recovery time. Part of this recovery time involves NOT touching any weights! Now, if you are like me, and have trained yourself into thinking that you need to be at the gym 6-7 days/week working out because you are afraid that you will lose ground….think again. Our body builds muscle when we are resting. Sleep is the number 1 activity that can help build muscle tissue once you have had an effective workout!

It’s like this: Pretend that we just had a massive earthquake and the whole town was nearly destroyed. Half of the buildings in the town crumbled and many roads were destroyed. In order for the town to get back up and running again, the workers need to repair the damaged buildings and roads. Now, if the workers are smart, they will put in a little bit more reinforcement in their buildings to help protect the city a bit more. This of course takes some time to rebuild. If the workers have enough time to rebuild the roads and buildings, then likely when the next earthquake happens, the damage may not be as great and an even bigger earthquake would be needed to create the same amount of damage as the first earthquake.

For the second scenario, let’s now pretend that right after the first earthquake, a second earthquake happened, then a third and a fourth earthquake! Do you think those workers would have enough time to rebuild? Absolutely not! In fact, most of them would have run away to a different city, if they survived at all!

So what does all that mean? Give yourself a break! After you hit a 9.0 on the Richter scale for your weight training workout, let your body rest! If you do, the next time you workout, you might find that you are actually stronger, which I would say is the goal, right?

Key #2 to Tremendous Muscle Growth) Train for both Power and Hypertrophy!

What I mean by this is that you should be following a program that will help increase your strength (i.e. your 1 rep max) with some of the basic compound exercises (like squats, bench press, deadlift, etc) just like a powerlifter. However, since you are a bodybuilder (or a wannabe ;-), you should also combine these power exercises with hypertrophy exercises. Hypertrophy is when the muscle actually grows bigger. In order for that muscle to grow bigger, most people will typically need to train with a weight in a higher rep range than what powerlifters train in. So, for example a strength/powerlifter may work the bench press in the rep range of 1-5 reps to failure, which will certainly help increase strength and their 1 rep max. However, a bodybuilder who is looking to actually grow the muscle size and fullness would want to consider training that muscle in a rep range of 8-12 or maybe even more reps to failure (I have found that lower body muscle groups respond quite well to higher repranges like 15-25 reps to failure).

For bodybuilders who are in their growth season like myself (also often referred to as their “off season”), following a program that combines both a power focus and a muscle-growth focus can create some fantastic results for their physique. A well designed growth program will incorporate not only the right types of workotus but also plan out enough rest to allow your body the growth time that it needs. Below are 4 programs that I believe are some great options for people looking to put on some real qaulity muscle:

Layne Norton’s PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training) Program:

Layne Norton has a Phd in Nutrition, is a natural pro bodybuilder and holds national powerlifting records. This program is quite thorough in it’s approach. I do think however that it may not allow for that much rest time, especially for beginners. The Power and Hypertrophy workouts all in 1 week may be a bit much. Although, I do know personally of several pro level natural bodybuilders that have followed this program and have done quite well with it. If you are up for a new challenge, give it a shot!

Dr. Joe Klemczewski’s Nonlinear Periodization Program:

I personally like Dr. Joe’s approach here. It’s very similar to Dr. Norton’s program, however it provides a lot more rest time, which in the growing season is what you need! With only 3 workouts per week, there is certainly plenty of rest time. The 1 week power, 2nd week hypertrophy will certainly allow your body that time to clean up after the 9.0 earthquake!

Max-OT Training Program:

Jeff Willett is an IFBB natural bodybuilder! He is one of very few pro-level IFBB competitors to get to that rank without steroids. He touts the Max-OT program as the key to his success. With this program, you workout 5 days/week and they are all in a row, so rest time might be an issue. However, since there is such a strong focus on only 1 bodypart and not working out for more than 45mins, you will likely not experience much over-training if you do at all. Also, the multi-phased approach of power/hypertrophy in one workout may help spark some new growth for you!

Flex’s HUGE program:

I purchased this book almost 10 years ago when it first came out. It actually outlines 3 (13 week) effective muscle building programs. All of which have some kind of combination of power and hypertrophy training. The first program starts out with power training primarily for 6 weeks and then switches to hypertrophy for 6 weeks. The second program is sort of a mixup of circuit training, hypertrophy and power (alternating each week) and then the latter gets back into a program similar to the first. The book actually gives you programs to follow for an entire year, which I thought was quite beneficial for someone looking to get into bodybuilding. However, I would recommend when it came time to compete that you would connect with a trainer or coach to help you through that process, especially if it’s your first show, since there are a lot of details that the book does not come close to helping you prepare for.

As I mentioned in previous blogs, I am personally following Royce Claflin’s guidance along with Dr. Joe’s, I am following a slight combo approach. For the next few weeks I will be doing a power/hypertrophy combined workout with only 3 workouts each week (Chest/Shoulder/Tri,  Back/Bi/Traps, Legs). After that, I may move more into a non-linear periodization for awhile to see how my body responds. From there, it’s up to the guidance I receive from my coaches. However, what’s great to see is that there are some great options.   As long as I incorporate the 2 keys: rest and combined training, God willing, I will be seeing some serious new growth this year!

“The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.” Proverbs 24:5