Pros and cons of natural training (training without performance-enhancing drugs)

Author: Mikhail Ziborov - author of the site makefitness.pro.
2026-05-05

Building muscle naturally is significantly harder than building it with enhancement. And natural training has its own strengths and weaknesses. You will agree with some of them and disagree with others. But you should know about them. And that is exactly what we do — promote fitness knowledge. For example, through articles, one of which you are reading right now, or in our channels Max and Telegram. By the way, there is more information there.

Cons of natural training

1. You will build a decent amount of muscle mass over years, not months. Because rapid progress happens only with performance-enhancing drugs: muscle protein synthesis is accelerated, the impact of catabolic hormones is reduced, metabolic reactions speed up, and cell differentiation shifts toward muscle cells (which reduces the growth of fat cells).

In general, if at the beginner stage you gain 2 kg in 2–3 months naturally, that is a very good result. As your training level increases, the rate of muscle growth will slow down: after 2–3 years, the figures will be much smaller. But even to build those +2 kg of muscle, you need a proper comprehensive approach (nutrition + training program), not just something taken from the first Yandex search result.

2. Your bench press and barbell squat are unlikely to reach 200+ kg. It all comes down to physiology. Of course, there will be exceptional individuals who achieve significant results with natural training. But for the vast majority of natural athletes, the numbers will be quite average compared to enhanced athletes.

3. In clothes, you will look like an ordinary person. Have you seen jokes online about training for 10 years, only for a police wanted notice to describe you as “average build”? Well, those are not really jokes. Regular clothes like sweatshirts, hoodies, etc. will make you look like an ordinary person. Simply because there is no gigantic muscle mass underneath them. A solid amount of muscle, yes, but nothing extraordinary.

By the way, the next point may be considered a downside, but it can also be somewhat comforting.

4. On the Internet, you will face a ton of negativity. Skinny guys and armchair critics (usually with a belly) will tell you, if you post photos of your results, that you are on drugs and will “definitely” tell you what substances you are taking and what dosages you use. And athletes on a cycle will mock you for being skinny (even though your strength levels may be the same, but they weigh a couple dozen kilos more than you).

So it turns out that compared to actual skinny guys and keyboard warriors, you look impressive, but compared to enhanced athletes, you look honestly weak. And both groups hate on you.

Pros of natural training

1. You will not have side effects from using drugs. Yes, there are well-designed pharmacological cycles, supervision by specialists over your dosages… But no one can tell you with complete certainty whether side effects from using these drugs will appear or not. No one simply knows exactly how even the most proven drug will affect you. Experienced people can only reduce the risks of negative side effects showing up. But the risks still remain.

And if you do not use such substances, then there is no point in being afraid of their side effects.

2. You do not experience hormonal fluctuations. And, as a result, there are no mood swings caused by those hormones. Simply because with natural training, hormones (for example, testosterone) may increase, but they still remain within the normal range.

On the other hand, when you are on a hormone cycle, you have plenty of energy, very high libido, confidence, and all that. But then the crash comes — and you no longer feel any of it.

3. You do not spend a lot of money. This means that you are not buying drugs, not spending money on post-cycle therapy (PCT), constant tests (monitoring your body’s indicators), or coaching from an experienced specialist. For the amount of money you would spend on all that, you could simply fill a bathtub with various sports nutrition products: proteins, gainers, different vitamins, and similar supplements. And that would be much more reasonable in terms of health and taking care of your longevity. You can order sports nutrition from us. We stand behind the quality with our reputation: if you are dissatisfied, we refund your money.

Moreover, you will even spend twice as much on food, because on a pharmacological cycle you will simply eat twice as much.

4. Health. This is actually the main advantage of natural training. When using drugs, the acne (pimples) that may appear is actually the least serious of the side effects. It is just a cosmetic inconvenience. But what will you do if the use of pharmacology leads to problems with your internal organs?

For example, with your blood vessels. Look at Polish bodybuilder Paul Poloczek. He died at 37 right after a competition. Our bodybuilder Nikita Tkachuk, 35 years old. He died in intensive care. Read their stories, and you will understand that they looked healthy, but they died. I think we both know the reason.

And even if we do not talk about death, it is hard to call former bodybuilders healthy. A vivid example is Ronnie Coleman. The king of bodybuilding. A legend. Today, bad knees are the least of his problems. There is also his spine, regular surgeries. Everything is affected. And the point here is not only that he used special substances for gaining muscle mass. It is also that he worked with extreme weights, because those very substances allowed him to do so. The result today is this:

Or take our Stanislav Lindover. He is over 50, with enormous training experience, including the use of pharmacological substances. And some of his health problems are the result of the negative effects of those substances. Today, by the way, he is a natural athlete. Because his health no longer allows him to use such drugs.