| When competitive bodybuilders appear in contests, | | | | particular natural qualities that enable them to 'bulk up' |
| they adopt certain poses that are designed to | | | | quickly. |
| accentuate certain muscle groups in the body. The | | | | Individuals who fall into the latter category are often |
| effectiveness of the poses being adopted is a | | | | termed 'hardgainers' because they find it very hard to |
| significant factor in deciding which bodybuilders win | | | | gain any further muscle mass after they reach a |
| competitions, so it is believed that many top | | | | certain level. There are many reasons why this |
| bodybuilders spend up to half their training time | | | | happens to some people and not others, many of |
| perfecting these poses. | | | | which will be reviewed in this report. |
| There are many techniques adopted for gaining | | | | People who reach a plateau in this way apart, the |
| muscle mass, with the chosen strategy to some | | | | most common technique adopted by bodybuilders is to |
| extent depending upon whether the individual | | | | do whatever is necessary to acquire as much |
| concerned is bodybuilding for personal satisfaction or | | | | additional muscle mass as possible until an acceptable |
| for competition purposes. | | | | threshold has been reached (in the case of a |
| There are individuals who can work on gaining muscle | | | | recreational bodybuilder) or until a major competition is |
| mass slowly and steadily, people who can continue to | | | | imminent for the competitive bodybuilder. |
| do so almost without any apparent limitations. | | | | After this, the individual concerned will then spend |
| In contrast, there are many individuals who very quickly | | | | some time working on accentuating muscle definition |
| reach a limit beyond which they cannot gain any | | | | rather than adding any extra mass. |
| further muscle mass because they do not have any | | | | |