Recovery Time For Naturals

[Motoman22]

Hey guys I am a natural lifter and I've been working out for 3-4 years now. I'm in my early twenties, 5'7, 150 pounds around 10 % bodyfat. Over the past 4-5 months I've been trying out programs like Layne Norton's PHAT program and another at this link: [ Dropbox - Workout Program (1).docx ] I was given from a "natural"(doubtful) lifters (David Laid/Qwin Vitale from YouTube).

I've come to realize that I cannot recover quickly enough to stick to these workout plans so I've had to remove movements/push workouts off a few days despite eating a caloric surplus of good quality food/protein, getting enough sleep/rest and training intensely/correctly in the gym (not injuring myself but pushing myself). One guy on YouTube (Zach Zeiler) claims he lifts everyday but gives his muscle groups 48 hours recovery time before the next workout. However he is clearly NOT natural...so is that the recovery time for steroid users? About 48 hours after say, an intense leg workout?

What about for naturals? Because after a hardcore leg day I find myself needing around 4-5 days before I can do another one like it...yet these programs only give like a couple days recovery time and then you're supposed to be going heavy AF doing multiple compound leg lifts (squat/deadlift) in the same day despite still not being recovered. I've heard that many of the great/well known programs out there were made by steroid users which would explain why naturals have a hard time sticking to them. Anybody knowledgeable on this?

 

[Nitrust]

I would say it has to do alot with how much you do the actual workouts, but who knows we are all on gear here

 

[Skull]

You may need toeither dial your training down a bit, get more sleep, or both bro.

Here check out this sleepstudy a guy did on himself. It might not answer all your questions but his findingswere very interesting anpretty much what I wasthinking.
Sleep For Success!

 

[ebkallday]

Sleep more and seriously EAT more brother. As long as you are getting enough of those, you are in your early twenties, you should have no issues. I myself am 5'7". If you are only 150 pounds, you got some eating to do. Aim for a minimum of 6 meals a day to get into the habbit, even if they start out small.

 

[Motoman22]

I would say it has to do alot with how much you do the actual workouts, but who knows we are all on gear here

Lol well from your experience, how long does it take for you to recover and be ready for another intense leg day? 48 hours? Less, more? I'm on the verge of starting my first steroid cycle but I wanted to try just one more run through a program as a natural to see if I really do need to start roids now or not. So i'm just trying to pick a program that fits my natural recovery time... Thinking about W 5/3/1 or ICF 5x5 due to less frequency and volume.

 

[RodgerThat]

Natural or not my workout is the same, I always could recover. It's not about whether your own gear or not it's how much sleep and how much surplus your in, plus a good training program will work with recovery but as an advanced lifter you aren't actually suppose to recover from workout to workout or even week to week and that's the reason for reloads. Now I can tell you that you aren't in that catagory so I'd say more sleep and more food for sure, what are your main 3 lifts at and what are you training for?

 

[NoScopeKen]

It's all based on how much volume you do in your workouts/ how much time you recover. You don't have to go too overboard with volume, just focus of getting stronger each time. I believe from my own experience the best thing for natural lifters is powerlifting.