There are some basic concepts and philosophies that every bodybuilder--not matter what his or her aspirations are--needs to understand to meet their physique goals. This page represents my best effort to expound and explain those ideas upon which modern bodybuilding is built.

The Growth Equation

Growing big muscles is a function of a number of factors. If anyone of these factors is missing, then so are the big muscles.

The most important factor in the growth equation is universally recognized as nutrition. Without the right foods, you're body can't grow no matter how hard you train. The secion on nutrition has information on setting up and scheduling your meals for optimum growth.

Training is the next biggest term in this equation. In order to make your muscles grow you have to constantly ask of them more than they have ever given. The section on training goes over some of the most important things to keep in mind when you're in the gym.

Equally as important is rest. Your muscles don't grow at all during your workouts. The temporary size increase you see after a workout is due to the increased flow of blood to the area being worked. Everytime you lift, your body releases high levels of a hormone called cortisol that is responsible for breaking your muscles down. In 12 to 48 hours this breaking down process will finish and your body will begin repairing the damaged tissue and synthesizing more muscle protein. This building up process happens at night and it doesn't even start until your body finishes breaking the muscle down. If you don't give yourself enough sleep you're cutting short the building up process. If you hit the same muscle group again before your body finishes the synthesizing new tissue then you've cheated yourself out of complete muscle growth. Don't overtrain.

By shortening the recovery process and providing a favourable environment for protein synthesis anabolics have brought us the 300 lbs behemoths crowding the Olympia stage today. Information on bodybuilding drugs is also available, but be aware that none of the compounds described on those pages are without risk.

Supplements are catching up to steroids in their effectiveness, but it's important to choose the ones that work. Supplements work in different ways and do different things. Some of the best supplements that are known to be effective are on the supplement page.

The final, and least important, factor in the growth equation is genetic potential. Everyone is endowed with a genetic predisposition towards a certain type of physique. There is a certain upper bound beyond which you will find it increasingly difficult to make gains. It is however possible--to a certain extent--for people who work hard, train smart and eat well to make serious improvements to their physiques. Without drugs.

Altering your genetic makeup is impossible and I don't recomment anabolics to anyone unless they've researched the side effects and really know what they're doing; that leaves nutrition, training, rest and supplements as the areas under your control that you can use to acheive maximum growth.