In some cases, yes. If you’re a beginner or an assisted individual (anabolic steroids) you’ll be able to grow muscle mass whilst dropping body fat. The physiological reason being that is the mechanism which builds muscle tissue are at such a heightened level, even in a calorie deficit.⁣

Now we all know progressive overload is one of the biggest driving forces in muscle growth along with nutrition/calories but that being said getting greedy with progression won’t help you.

It’s actually the important stuff, the stuff people miss, ignore and avoid but it’s the stuff that helps us achieve results. Training and nutrition are the easy things we all know how to do them.

Are you frustrated with the lack of size on your glutes? Are you confused by all the different opinions on what you should or shouldn’t do to grow them?

Are you frustrated that your physique isn’t changing? Have you been lifting the same weights for a long period of time? Here’s the thing – in order for you to gain muscle mass, there are three key things that MUST increase and change over time:

Would you like to add more muscle to the top portion of your chest? Are you spending hours doing incline work, but it only seems like the lower portion of your chest is growing?

Do you find yourself frustrated with your progress (or lack of!) in certain muscle groups? Are the same muscle groups lagging behind other areas that are growing quicker?

Do you want that V taper back? Do you struggle to add mass to it? Of course you do. Why? Because the wider your back is, the smaller your waist appears.

If you look at men and women with amazing size and shape to their quads, there a few common traits amongst them. The first is that they all train very hard. The second is that they are all strategic in their programming and incorporate the fundamental aspects of training to continually add muscle.

Let’s be honest – the chances are that most people need more muscle everywhere (is anyone ever satisfied?!). However, most of us have some stronger and weaker body parts or areas in our physique. As such, when working towards building a well-balanced physique, you will need to focus and plan your training so that you bring up weaker or less developed areas as you go.

If you’ve recently started on your journey, you may have never undergone a “bulk” or gaining phase before. In the past, when I decided I was “bulking”, it would mean I would eat whatever I wanted, not think about the quality of my overall nutrition, and believe it or not, I would have a full on “cheat day” on a Saturday. This was of course to “shock my metabolism” like I had read all over the internet. Hopefully you can sense the sarcasm: I was so wrong.

If you have ever dieted down to the extremes – or even just dieted for a prolonged period of time – you will know that with the joy of wrapping up a diet also comes a bit of apprehension around weight gain

You may have seen bodybuilders on Instagram posting up stories from their glucometer, showing their fasted or post prandial (90 minutes after eating a meal) glucose levels. You might find this odd because you tend to only see diabetics track these values; however, it is becoming increasingly common to do so amongst bodybuilders, as there is a lot of value in having this data.

In the bodybuilding scene, everyone wants big legs. It’s often the trademark sign of a very good bodybuilder and someone who has been at it for a while. For as much as these a readily sought after though, very few people will actually possess “big” legs. In fact, there will be many of you who feel like your legs are simply not growing, and that they never will.

For the most part, if you are new to the bodybuilding scene and have never actually gone through a gaining phase or ‘bulk’, as it’s commonly referred to, you’ll more than likely stick with your coach throughout this phase of your training. However, if you are a seasoned competitor or have some experience/knowledge of offseasons, that might not always be the case.

In the bodybuilding world, it’s well established that we need to progressively increase the food on our plate to continue to grow. However, there will always come a time where one’s appetite simply does not permit them to eat the calories that they require for growth, without physically feeling sick. In the past, I would have always said that you should immediately recomp.

If you read that sentence and think to yourself “wait a minute, I thought I was supposed to be getting stronger!”, then you’re absolutely right! At Prep Coach UK we preach the progressive overload training method and focus on getting stronger over time.

Before reading this article I strongly suggest you read the article Introduction to AAS-Testosterone. Once you have done so, you will have a better grasp of the basic concepts that are discussed in this article. I’d also like to remind you that the following topics are for informational purposes only and should not be deemed as advice in any way.