It is easy to get high expectations when seeing body transformation videos or Instagram people sharing their muscle gain. The reality, however, can be a pill hard to swallow. For that, a CEO and fitness instructor has shared his honest advice on building muscle as a natural bodybuilder.
Mario Tomic is an entrepreneur who helps other busy working professionals get fit and build a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.
On his YouTube channel, you will not see crazy workouts or diets to force a body transformation in 6 months. He is focused on sharing tips and training ideas to increase your overall health, be it to lose weight, gain muscle or some advice he learned the hard way 10 years after bodybuilding.
In one of his videos, Mario Tomic gives his honest advice on building muscle as a natural bodybuilder. He explains how long it took him to see results, why staying lean and shredded can be a problem and the fragility of building muscle.
Watch Mario Tomic’s Honest Advice on Building Muscle Naturally
How long does it take to see results?
After searching online, Mario Tomic thought he could gain 20 pounds of muscle in the first year of training. Although he did lose weight and was happy with results, he only packed 10 pounds. The following year, when he was supposed to pack another 10 pounds of muscle, he managed to get only 5.
“It’s only about year 4 or 5 where I could look myself in the mirror and start seeing how those gains accumulated to a physique that I could say ‘well, I look like I lift,’” tomic said.
“When people just go crazy with their programs because they are not seeing immediate results a month after, two months after, they’re making decisions that eventually end up crippling their results.”
Trying to stay too lean can be a problem
If you are not a competitor, there is no need to go very low on your body fat percentage. According to Mario Tomic, 10% body fat should be as low as you want to go.
As a natural gym-goer, you do not want to look shredded all year round. “That is not sustainable for most people,” Tomic explains. He says that most people on social media that stay all-year-around 7% to 8& body fat are probably not natural bodybuilders. “And there is a huge problem with these fake naturals causing mismanaged expectations.”
Building muscle is a fragile progress
Tomic tells us that training hard almost every day in the gym will not give space to other activities. The idea for building muscle is that you need to know what to prioritise.
“If I add some high-intensity cardio or some classes or some martial arts, I won’t be able to recover from all of that and my gains will start to suffer.”
Every person is different, some will recover faster and some slower. “You gotta know yourself in order to maximise your gains.”
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