With most sports and hobbies, there are always amateurs who are occasionally as good as the pros in those fields. In some bedroom in America right now, there is some 18-year old kid playing guitar who shreds on a level way beyond greats such as Eddie Van Halen. On some playground in some Midwestern town, there’s some kid who will never step foot in a college gym who can knock down 3-pointers on the local playground more consistently than Kobe Bryant. There’s probably some high school quarterback with slow feet who can toss a ball accurately 70 yards who will never even start for the team in his own high school.
When it comes to bodybuilding, however, you just can’t fake it. If you’ve ever seen a pro bodybuilder in person, you quickly realize he’s not just a bigger version of you or me. No, he carries muscle size and muscle quality well beyond what is seen on people in most gyms. Have you ever wondered how professional bodybuilders carry as much muscle as they do? Let’s look at some of the common underlying factors.
Steroid use
Most professional bodybuilders cruising at 240 or more pounds off-season, use 1.5 to 2.5 grams of testosterone per week. They also run several IUs of insulin each day, along with growth hormones at various intervals as they can afford it. Cycles are very heavy, but most athletes do take time off the drugs each year following major competitions. They’ll take 2nd or 3rd at the Arnold Classic, spend a month or two doing guest posings at three grand a night, then leave the weights, the food, and the AAS alone for 2 to 3 months. They are rarely photographed during this time. The ones who do have a pic snapped at an expo are usually wearing long-sleeved shirts and doing everything they can to minimize the massive size loss they have experienced.
Carbohydrate consumption
The top professional bodybuilders do consume 1000 to 1500 grams of carbohydrates per day. This equates to 4000 to 6000 calories per day – from cabs alone! This is obviously done to capitalize off the artificially high insulin levels in the bloodstream. Athletes of this caliber are perpetual carb-burning machines, and will eat every 1.5 to 2.5 hours throughout the day to maintain that internal chemical process that is occurring as they continue to grow larger than nature would ever have allowed.
In the gym
Most top guys do spend 90 to 120 minutes in the gym, five days per week. This doesn’t include cardiovascular training, which is completed at home early in the morning for most guys. Surprisingly, many of these athletes don’t go all that heavy in the weight room. They will go ‘all out’ when making their DVDs, but the reality of the situation is that most of them make their money from their physiques. Therefore they must remain healthy and injury-free if they wish to keep their paychecks coming in. Maxing out at 800 pounds for deadlifts is fun for the camera, Ronnie Coleman, but training in that manner will eventually lead to serious injury, Ronnie Coleman!