Yesterday I watched a video meant to explain why modern natural bodybuilders are breaking the size limits. The idea was that there are people with incredibly good genetics who can build an enormous amount of muscle mass compared to the rest.

The maker of the clip is the popular bodybuilder Marc Lobliner. He used the following example to back his thesis – before Michael Jordan people didn’t know that basketball can be played that well. Consequently, there must be gifted bodybuilders who can shock the entire world by building an enormous amount of muscle mass naturally. I am sorry, but this logic is flawed.

1.Muscle size has nothing to do with skills.

To become a good basketball player, you need two things – good genetics and skills. Therefore, to a certain extent, you can overcome your limitations by working harder.

However, your growth potential is not skill-based. The limitations are physiological. Regardless of how hard you train, all progress will come to an end eventually. Neither nutrition nor lifting has the required capacity to overcome the natty limits. The same is true for basketball and other activities. A human will never dunk a basketball from the center of the field without artificial help.

People need to understand that the muscle size game is limited by nature. The only thing that’s up to you is reaching that limit. Afterwards, it’s game over for everybody.

Sure, there are genetic freaks out there, but even the most gifted natural bodybuilders in the world will look like a lost pony next to the Mr.Olympia line-up.

2.Your bodybuilding success is predetermined.

Whether we want to admit it or not, our lives are largely predetermined. There are a lot of things that we don’t choose, or at least there is not sufficient evidence proving otherwise. Ironically, the very same factors make us who we are.

For the same reason, muscle size is predetermined too. We can kid ourselves that it’s possible to overcome everything with hard work, but that’s not the case. Try to overcome gravity by jumping really hard. It’s not going to happen regardless of your efforts. You will always come back down.

However, this gives power in the hands of the speculators who like to play with the idea of a natural potential. They want you to think that’s it’s basically impossible to reach your potential in this lifetime.

Guess, what?  If you have been training hard for the past 5 years, it’s over. Some permabulkers will never understand that.

3.Voodoo, magic, muscle spells…

I’ve heard all kinds of bodybuilding lies. At one point, everything starts to resemble a cheap comedy show. One of my favorites are interviews with natural bodybuilders. The usual interview goes like this:

“I started when I was 7 years old. I looked at photos of Arnold and Franco. My dad bought me a weight set for Christmas. It was like a dream come true. I’ve been hooked ever since. Today, I weigh 180 pounds at 5’7”, and my arms are 18.2 inches with all kinds of striations and veins on them. That makes me natural, but people don’t want to listen. I tell them: ‘Look at my traps! They are not abnormally large! Therefore, I must be natural.’

Those people are just haters who don’t know how hard I have to train and diet. They say that they are doing the same, but they are not – even if they are.

I also go to bed early to increase my testosterone levels. That’s my secret. I will flex my guns for you now. Boom.”

It’s easy to believe in the impossible when the “magic” is hidden from sight. When you can’t see something, and you don’t know the reality of it, your imagination goes wild and leads you into the land of delusions.

If I tell you that you can grow taller by eating right, would you believe me? I guess not. Then why do you believe that you can build 18-inch arms shredded to the bone naturally by scheduling your protein meals just right?

Because you don’t see the real sacrifice that the guys who have them do to achieve similar results.

A combination of muscle voodoo and spells is clouding your judgement.

The muscle heroes are illusionists.

We are a naive crowd refusing to accept a well-known fact – every magic trick has a logical explanation.