There’s a lot of debate about how big you can get naturally. (Naturally meaning without using steroids.)
This post should set the record straight.
Before we being, I want to assure my natty brethren that a natural bodybuilder can make very good progress.
You can gain a lot of size, strength, and look great as a natural trainer. Obviously, that requires the right training routine and diet, and hell of a lot of work.
This article also serves as a reference point when analyzing if someone is natural or not.
How Much Muscle can You Build Naturally?
To know how big you can get naturally we have to look to history during a time before steroids.
Steroids were created sometime around 1930. Therefore we need to look prior to that time, because there’s no way to know for sure if someone alive during or after 1930 is or was truly a lifetime natural.
I went back to before 1920, a decade earlier, just to be safe. I found three people with Grade-A physiques who were all born in the 1800’s. These men serve as perfect examples of how big you can get naturally.
The Natural Trainer’s Dilemma
As a natural trainer you can be 1 of 3 body types at a given time:
- Lean and ripped, but not super big.
- Big and burly, but not super ripped.
- Somewhere in between.
It’s very hard to possess a lot of muscle mass while also being extremely lean.
This is because it’s hard to maintain high testosterone with low body fat and while restricting calories. Testosterone decreases when you’re in a severe calorie deficit for too long.
Low testosterone and calorie restriction stifle muscular progress. You can however get very lean and ripped and enjoy dense, defined muscles, but they won’t be huge.
On the flipside, it’s also nearly impossible to get big without losing some leanness (and muscle definition).
Eating a lot to build muscle and stay anabolic means you will likely gain some fat due to the calorie increase. This will smooth out your physique.
It’s difficult to have lots of size while being shredded. However you can still look incredible and feel strong naturally, the key is to find the right balance of size and leans for you.
Body Composition and Proportions Matter Most
When it comes to looks, it’s your body composition (Muscle-to-fat ratio) and body proportions that matter the most.
Sometimes guys look big because they have the right muscles in the right spots even though they only weigh 165 pounds. They are lean enough to make their muscles ‘pop’.
You can look amazing at 165 pounds but look like crap at 185 pounds, even though you are bigger.
So, make no mistake about it – you can still be athletic, strong and look like a roman statue naturally. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.
To prove it, here are three examples of men who were in their prime before steroids hit the scene.
At the ‘Lean and Ripped‘ end of the spectrum you have Eugen Sandow.
On the ‘Big and Burly‘ end of the spectrum you have Gustav Fristensky.
Then there’s Alexander Zass somewhere in-between. He’s a balance of size and shredded-ness.
Everyone’s natural size potential will be somewhere on the spectrum between the examples below.
Eugen Sandow: The Lean and Ripped Natural Physique
Sandow was born in 1867 and died in 1925. So it’s safe to say that Eugen Sandow’s photos show a man who did not take steroids.
Sandow isn’t huge by any means but he has a chiseled physique and looks like a lean athlete.
Most guys would kill to have a physique like his. A physique like that is definitely attainable naturally by most men.
Gustav Fristensky: The Big and Burly Physique
Gustav was born 1879. This photo was of him as a young man proudly sporting a Dad-Bod 2.0.
He had great combination of muscle size and tone throughout most of his body.
Although he didn’t have chiseled abdominals and serrated obliques, he had noticeable muscle definition.
The benefit of being the big and burly type is that you can eat more food, and pull off impressive feats of strength.
Alexander Zass: The Lean and Muscular Physique
Then you’ve got Alexander Zass (born in 1888) whose statue is somewhere in between the other two gents.
Zass is more muscular, but less ripped than Sandow. And he’s more ripped than Gustav but less muscular. He still possesses an impressive physique nonetheless.
These guys trained for strength. They were wise and intuitive. They didn’t have the detailed understanding of science today, but they were committed and put in the work.
How to Get Big Naturally
What do all these men have in common? First and foremost they committed to their physical development and trained and ate accordingly.
They shared several other common denominators as well…
Train for Strength
Each of them was a professional strongman or a wrestler. They were all strong as an ox and routinely bent steel bars and hoisted large amount of weight from the ground.
The take-away here is to get strong. Lift in the 1-5 rep range once or twice a week.
Don’t Skip Leg Day
They all lifted weights from the ground up (think deadlifts, and clean and presses). All of them had thick thighs and big calves as a result.
Zass carried a wounded horse on his back during a battle. He just threw a grown horse over his shoulder a took it to safety.
Eat Naturally
They eat hearty, all-natural foods. They lived in a time before artificial ingredients, preservatives and pesticides bastardized food like today.
Nothing they ate was processed. It was raw nutrition.
None of these guys counted macros. But they did think about what they ate and took note of how their body responded to the food. As well as studied how the food effected others.
They’d eat a lot. And if they started to get fat they would reduce food consumption.
Bottom Line: Eat your meat, eggs, fish and animal fat, and don’t forget your spinach. And if man made it don’t eat it!
Focus Your Mind-Power
Each of them stressed the importance of focus when training. They exercised their willpower as much, or more, than they exercises their muscles.
Willpower, mind-force, Chi, whatever you want to call it – Concentrated mental energy is what got the job done.
You have to channel every ounce of your mind, body and soul when you lift in order to elevate yourself and maximize your potential.
Factors that Determine How Big You Can Get Naturally
Genetic factors – Your genes determine exactly how your body responds to your diet and training.
Your genes also play a role in the amount of mass you carry and the composition of that mass. However, genetics have less to do with how big you can get than you might think.
Testosterone levels – The higher your testosterone the bigger you can get naturally. Optimal testosterone levels are critical for building muscle mass and keeping body fat low.
Luckily there are ways to increase testosterone naturally.
Training – Yes, training plays a major factor in your muscular development. How you train (the method, constancy, and intensity) all play a part.
Diet – Eating is a huge factor because it supplies you with the building material required to get big.
Everything you eat with either positively or negatively affect your energy, recovery, mood, health and vitality.
So eat high-quality, nutrient dense foods to fuel your muscle growth.
Attitude – Mindset is number one for making progress. If your attitude is shit you won’t make any progress. If you have a positive, do-or-die attitude you will get as big as you possibly can naturally.
Many people give up or fall short of their potential because their attitude sucks.
If you have realistic expectations of what’s possible naturally, and eat well and train intelligently, you will see significant progress in a short period of time.
My Thoughts on How Big Can You Get Naturally
With the right plan, and a lot of desire and work ethic you can get pretty big naturally.
Natural bodybuilders have a lot to look forward to. You can still get 16-inch arms that are defined and vascular. You can have broad shoulders, six-pack abs and a shredded physique the old fashioned way.
You won’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger but you can still look damn good.
Hey! I really think it’s so naive that People like you think to know what someone can be as natural. Those 3 examples you out, i look lite like Alexander zass but much more muscles. In your world you think im not natural. But you are wrong. What makes you think that those 3 People in the 3 different categories are THE most extreme in human history? Who are you? Have you studied all the People in the world? Have you studied me? I gained 25-30 pounds of muscle in my first year as natural. I have now been training for 7 years. The last 4 years i have been training for power. Pulled 551lbs deadlift natural. I’m sick of people think they know what a human Body can achieve natural.
Shut up bro. Have you heard of EXAMPLES…
Great article Jordan!
Glad you enjoyed it, Joseph!