The 10 Commandments Of Natural Bodybuilding

During my four years of college, I spent most of my time studying the mechanics, structure and function of both the mind and body. In fact, I was so fascinated with each subject that I found myself unable to declare a major until the last possible semester that I was allowed to do so. Although I ended up pursuing my degree in psychology, my coursework reflected what looked to be a hybrid major in the “mind/body connection.” My education taught me the many intricacies of how the mind and body work together and relate to one another, as well as how to harness the power of the mind to affect muscular performance. And this leads me into this month’s “commandment”— UTILIZE VISUALIZATION.

As a natural bodybuilder, you must take advantage of EVERY available tool if you wish to truly explore the outer limits of your genetic potential. Visualization is a tried-and-true technique that is used by most top athletes to help bring about optimal performance on game day. As a bodybuilder, every day in the gym is your “game day” and you too can harness the power of visualization to optimize the intensity and effectiveness of every workout. The best things about visualization are that it is easy to do (although you will get better at it over time), it only takes a few minutes and it costs nothing! I believe that the best time to utilize visualization is before you go to sleep at night (to maximize the following day’s workout) and/or right before you take a preworkout nap. Here is a step-by-step approach to get you started using this powerful mind/body priming technique:

1. Relax yourself and lie down. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Clear your mind and calm your body.
2. Picture yourself in the gym and in your mind’s eye, see the machines, the weights, the mirrors…but nobody else except yourself amongst it all. You are alone in your domain. Hear the music pounding from the speakers, absorb the atmosphere and literally feel the sweat dripping from your forehead onto your soaked T-shirt.
3. See yourself how you wish to be. Bigger…thicker…more defined…more vascular…more striated.
4. Intensely think about each lift you will be performing and picture the perfect set. See a weight on the bar that you have never conquered and imagine lifting it with masterful precision, as if it were a feather.
5. Experience the most incredible, skin-bursting pump you could ever imagine and know that the blood feeding your muscles will make them grow faster than you ever believed possible.
Imbed into your subconscious exactly what you want to accomplish during your workout and your body will be preprogrammed to follow!

Ask Eric

Q: Eric, I have been using your POWER/REP RANGE/SHOCK method of training for the last year and I must tell you that it is the most effective program I have ever used! I put on 15 solid pounds since starting PRRS and I am 100 percent drug and prohormone free! However, I am having a problem bringing out my middle delts. Can you give me a PRRS program to specialize on this area?

A: I am so excited to hear that my PRRS training protocol has been working successfully for you. When I introduced PRRS on the Internet about eight years ago, I had no clue that one day, trainees all over the world would end up using it to help them reach their bodybuilding goals. The cyclical nature of PRRS coupled with the distinct and specific ways that each of the weekly protocols affects the body’s anabolic mechanisms makes it the ideal method for gaining new muscle. As to the problem you are experiencing with your lateral deltoid heads, let’s see if the following program can get the job done for you!

WEEK 1: POWER

• Shoulder-Width Grip Barbell Upright Rows: 3 x 4-6
• Smith Machine Behind-the-Neck Presses: 2 x 4-6
• Cheat Single-Arm Dumbbell Side Laterals: 3 x 4-6

WEEK 2: REP RANGE

• Standing DB Side Laterals: 2 x 7-9
• Rope Handle Cable Upright Rows: 2 x 10-12
• Seated DB Presses (keep elbows wide and back): 2 x 13-15
• Cable Behind-the-Back Side Laterals: 2 x 16-20

WEEK 3: SHOCK

• Superset: Seated DB Side Laterals/DB Upright Rows: 2 x 8-10 each
• Superset: Cable Side Laterals/Single-Arm DB Presses: 2 x 8-10 each

Make sure to warm up properly, take every work set to concentric failure and with the exception for the cheat lateral listed in POWER WEEK, perform every movement with meticulous form. Good luck!