Have you ever noticed that professional bodybuilders tended to look smaller and less cut back in the days when the sport was in its infancy? Well if you did, you are were right about that. They showed a lot less development than today’s professionals do. Why do you reckon this happened?
Yes, it probably had a lot to do with training techniques, that were not nearly as refined and effective as they are today. Training has come a long way and it has been tweaked in a variety of ways over time. Tweaking though, is not a revolution. It might be considered part of an evolutionary process but it is by no means a complete new approach to the problem. Despite this fact, today’s competitors do show revolutionary muscle development compared to the big names of the past, so the main factor that led to this revolution in bodybuilding has to be sought somewhere else, not in the training routines of the competitors.
Contrary to the simple tweaks and the introduction of new principles in training, nutrition has had nothing short of a revolution. The advances, discoveries and new products resulted from them, took the brunt of transforming bodybuilding into the sport we know today.
Training stimulates muscles, but the right amount of nutrients is required to truly make them grow. Training and nutrition go hand in hand and the both equally important in the development of a quality physique.
The big dilemma bodybuilders were first faced with, was the eternal question: how to get big and cut in the same time. Mass gain never really was much of a challenge, as even in the old days people could easily figure out how to bulk on some body-mass, however, gaining quality mass was a different matter altogether. It always seemed like getting cut had to come at the expense of overall bulk.
Understanding the principles of nutrition, and identifying the elements imperative in the further stimulation of human muscle-tissue led to the appearance of concentrated nutrients and supplements that have maximum impact on development.
Simply identifying the variables involved in nutrition is by far not enough though. Every bodybuilder needs to be something close to a nutritional expert, and be able to apply the general principles to his/her unique needs, taking a whole array of factors into consideration.