I firmly advocate building muscle naturally and in total honesty can say that I believe if an athlete trains properly, fuels their body correctly and takes full advantage of the legal, natural ergogenic supplements readily available in today's international market, they will grow larger, stronger, better performing muscle over time than will their drug aided counterparts. Yes, a natural athlete will grow slower, however, the growth can last a lifetime. Let's look more specifically at the important principles behind attaining muscle mass naturally. Muscle growth is a result of hypertrophy, which is really just the enlarging of muscle cells which already exist in the body. The goal of natural muscle mass gain will always be hypertrophy.
Overload simply refers to a very heavy weight.
The heavier the weight, the greater the muscle overload. The greater the overload, the more the hypertrophy or growth. In order to continue to grow larger and larger muscle, the muscle must be subjected to heavier and heavier weights. In other words, when fueled properly, the muscle that is subjected to overload in the form of very heavy weight, will first experience stress, then recover and finally grow. It adapts to the stress state and overcompensates to ready itself for future muscle stresses.