The main objective of all the Professional Bodybuilding Organizations is to make a profit.
How is this done you ask?
Easy
The unobtainable goal.
The unobtainable goal is a goal that will never be reached by a natural bodybuilder and in this case it's massive freaky size. Oh you can make great gains in muscle mass but you will never be a Dorian Yates or a Flex Wheeler. This is how it works. First you must know that the profit motivated Professional Bodybuilding Organizations run all the major contests (AKA Mr Universe, Mr Olympia), own all major bodybuilding publications, has a hand in the monstrous market of supplements, and all the top bodybuilders are contracted (anotherwards they are paid). Ok so far, right? Wrong. The bodybuilders are juiced up, they use more steroids and more pharmaceuticals than most small hospitals. So, the amateur novice bodybuilder watches the contests, buys all the magazines, follows all the workouts, spends a small fortune on supplements, and still makes only modest gains. The unassuming bodybuilder thinks something's wrong but believe me there's not. You CAN get big just not freaky. That way Professional Bodybuilding has everyone chasing the unobtainable goal as the Franchise sits on a big pile of cold hard cash.
Supplements are needed if you're gonna get big. Wrong. Mankind has had muscular individuals since the beginning of time. Do you think that people have only been muscle-bound since 1970? The blacksmith was the biggest dude in his village because he worked with heavy metal, not listened to it, all day and not because he ate whey protein and used creatine. Everything you need is in nature whether it's for energy or muscle repair. They can be helpful but you don't need them, if you're convinced you must you're brainwashed.
Here's a good offseason protein shake (all natural) as used by Arnold Swarzenegger in the 1970's:
The Terminator
2 glasses of skim milk
1/2 cup nonfat milk solids
1 egg
1/2 cup low fat ice cream
How many times have you seen people at the gym workout for one set and then spend five minutes talking bullsh*t, pardon my French, with someone else before lifting again? We have this one guy at our gym we like to call "Big Tones". He has been training for the last 8 years but he has looked the same way since the day he started training, and all because of his socializing at the gym. Serious lifters are there to get down to business when they are at the Gym. When working out it is VERY important how much time is spent between sets with no more than 90 seconds rest at the most. We're there sweating blood and pumping cold iron not socializing at a garden party.
When going for MASS, you shouldn't be at the gym more than four times a week or for more than 40 minutes per workout. I spend roughly around 25 minutes training big bodyparts. You can even work out three times a week and still get results. How is this possible? Lift heavy and train hard or go home. Medium or light days do not exist if you are serious about putting on mass. Use compound exercises (presses, rows, squats, etc.). Stay away from doing too many isolation movements such as dumbbell lateral movements. Only two sets at the end of your workout.
You must understand that your body is undergoing a great metamorphosis and needs rest. Why do you think "experts" always advise a possible week layoff as way to overcome a training plateau? Huh? My favourite saying after a workout is: "Go home and grow bro!" You grow when you eat and rest, not when you train. While you train with weights you are stimulating muscle tissue to grow and you are actually damaging muscle tissue, so if you didn't rest and eat you would never put that training to use. NEVER OVERTRAIN, or you'll end up doing the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Try to follow my workout plan above and you can't go wrong.
But what if I only work out biceps once a week will they still grow? Yes, remember that the biceps are being used in your back exercises and possibly your shoulders as in upright rows. SO ONLY TRAIN BICEPS AND TRICEPS ONCE A WEEK, as a matter of fact, train all bodyparts only once a week.
You must get over the idea that how much weight you're doing is most important. You have to lift the heaviest weight you can handle while still using good form. If you're benching 50 lbs. more than your usual bench while bouncing the bar off your chest and arching your back, it's not going to help you achieve your goals. Maybe you can impress someone who doesn't know anything with your great feats of strength, but you're not fooling me. When you start cheating in your lifts, you're incorporating other muscles instead of the ones meant to be used.
You can always spot a true bodybuilder. They're the ones sweating blood, wearing an old T-shirt, ratty high tops, and whatever shorts or pants were clean. We are not the ones walking around with the "lat syndrome" (that is, walking around with their arms away from their bodies for no apparent reason like they have HUGE lats) in too tight tank tops, cut off sweatshirts, and $100 sneakers talking about how much they can bench. That is for the "meat heads"
What !? I can have muscle gains and use machines? Yes. Proponents of free weights state that you cannot get quality muscle gains from anything other than free weights which is untrue. These same people are the ones doing cable rows, lat pulldowns, etc. but I guess those are not machines. Huh?
Your muscles react to intensity which can come from many different stimulii. Your muscle doesn't care where the work comes from, it just reacts. Put stress on the muscle and it will grow. NOT TO SAY FREE WEIGHTS ARE NOT THE BEST WAY, just not the only way.
But all machines are not created equal. Hammer Strength machines are better for the shoulders and chest since they move along the body's natural body lifting arcs.
If you eat 4,000-5,000 calories a day you'll get mass alright. Fat mass. Bodybuilders tell you when they workout, what exercises they use, and how they eat. They just don't tell you what drugs they're taking as part of their routine. Steroid growth requires lots of calories to undergo such a transformation. If you eat that much food they'll have to roll you out of the GYM.
Whether you get an extra rep, add 2 1/2 lbs. to the bar, get to the gym without missing a workout, or only have a biceps growth 1/8 of an inch in two months it's all progress. Don't get caught up with the idea that constant muscle gains are the only sign of progress. Your muscles will grow but it can be very slow at times. Focus on the details and all will come in good time. Have patience, there's no quick fix. It takes hard work to build quality muscle mass. Remember, it took me 8 years to get to where I am today, and I wasn't always this knowledgable about bodybuilding, but like all good things, they will happen if you are persistent and strong willed. Rome wasn't built in a day, and you can't expect your body to be built in one day either. Just don't give up. You are unique in all the universe, you are a bodybuilder.
Before 1970, people believed that lifting 500 lbs. was impossible. In 1972 it was finally achieved at the Olympics in Munich. Then in the next few months after that, 500 lbs. was lifted many more times by others. Why? Mental barriers. Once one person did it, others believed they could do it too. The mind is very powerful, focus and believe in yourself and you WILL be successful. Where the mind goes, body follows.