The supplement industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and there is no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. It continues to grow year after year without fail. 

Like anything, there are the right supplements, and there are terrible supplements out there. Some are natural, and others have been devised in a lab. Some do your body a world of good, while others cause terrible side effects.

This article is not going into detail about supplements, as there are plenty of those types of articles out there. The one question we will answer is - can you gain muscle without supplements?

I suppose the first question we should ask ourselves is? What’s the difference in using supplements and then trying to build naturally?

The path to “success.”

So How Can It Be Done?

You Need To Lift Weights Regularly

No matter what anyone tries to tell you. To gain muscle mass, you need to exert them to a certain amount of stress regularly. In essence, you will be making small tears to your muscles.

This means lifting heavy weights so you can feel that “burn.” Unless you do, you will find it extremely hard to gain muscle. 

The main goal here isn’t to kill yourself, but to train smarter and improve your daily nutrition. 

Follow a proven plan where you target specific muscle groups at different times, and you will start to build muscle properly without feeling the effects of fatigue. 

Do this wrong, and you will continuously feel yourself being tired and worse, causing yourself serious injury.

Before you embark on this journey, it advisable to get some help from a professional (personal trainer) and check your physical health with a medical doctor first.

Here’s an excerpt from a previous article:

Get stronger

To build muscle mass, your whole body needs to be strong. The more strength you have = more muscle.

Add More Weight

Forget about increasing the reps that you do. As I mentioned earlier, growing reps will only make you sore. Instead, try to focus on improving the weight on the bar.

To start making progress, increase the weight little by little.

The idea is to lift slightly more than last time. In time you will feel yourself getting stronger, which in turn will build your muscle mass.

If you don’t increase the amount of weight on the bar, you won’t grow.

Do Compounds

This is where you will work for different muscle groups at the same time. By using free weights instead of a machine, you will find yourself having to balance and shift your body weight to compensate.

Your routines should consist of heavy barbell rows, bench, deadlifts, overhead presses, and squats.

Use Barbells

Did you know that you can lift more weight with barbells than any other tool in your gym?

As I mentioned earlier, the fact that you need to balance the weight yourself involves much more movement and more muscle groups. Just don’t forget to warm up before you attempt any exercise with a barbell.

Increase The Frequency

I know I said increasing reps wasn’t good. What I meant is that doing this alone wasn’t good.

If you combine the increase in reps with lifting heavier weights and also the frequency in how much you exercise, you should start seeing some spectacular results.

Instead of exercising twice a week, try and bump this up to three days a week instead.

Recover

This is probably one of the most underutilised parts of a workout routine. No matter what muscle group you are trying to grow, you need to give them time to recover. Believe it or not, even your mind needs a rest from time to time.

Not only is this good for your muscles, but it's also good for your mind and wellbeing. It’s also a good idea to drink a lot of water and get plenty of sleep.

Ok, now you have the exercise part down. You need to start looking at your nutrition.

Eat Healthier

If you want to gain muscle naturally without supplements, one of the other essential factors is improving your diet by eating healthily. 

Eating good food that has the three main ingredients present  - protein, carbs, and fat. 

You may be surprised to see fat there, but eaten in moderation, fat helps your body lubricate your joints. 

The protein is used to build broken muscle cells, and the carbs are used for energy.

Now, being vegan is all the rage at the moment, and I’m not saying that you can’t gain muscle without eating meat. However, eating meat regularly makes the task a lot easier. 

Ideally, you will be eating a lot of lean beef, turkey, chicken, and fish. 

As well as meat, eating nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits would also be beneficial to the overall goal of gaining muscle.

Get More Sleep

When people think of building muscle, they often think about exercise and the food they eat. However, what is often overlooked is using sleep to your advantage.

With all that heavy exercise, your body needs rest (more specifically, your muscles). It also helps your other bodily functions and systems that enable you to achieve a better balance. The recommended amount of sleep per night is approximately 7 hours.

During this sleep period, your body also starts to repair the muscles and recharges your energy levels for the next day. So, ultimately, it’s a win, win.

Conclusion

Supplements have been the go-to answer to building muscle fast for several years. But, now we have more information at our fingertips, and the level of education has been distributed a lot quicker and to much more people. 

We have now recognised that you gain muscle quite quickly by having the correct training regime and eating the right foods at the right time.