The Adaptation Principle

The adaptation principle is one of the primary concepts you have to understand to design a successful bulking program.

When you place your body under stress by working out, your body reacts with predictable physiological changes. With a proper recovery period and diet, you become more fit.

Adaptation occurs after overload

A light workout – like the sort people do for general fitness – will prevent muscle atrophy, but it won’t do much to help you bulk up. If you do the same workout every time you set foot in the gym, you are not incorporating the adaptation principle into your exercise program design and you won’t benefit from its effects.

A workout that is too severe can result in injury or some other training setback. When the overload is too great, you do more harm than good. The trick is to reach a happy medium.

If you apply just the right amount of stress – known as overload – your body will naturally adapt to the harder workout provided you have a period of recovery before your next workout. Over time, this is how you make progress; the delicate balance between overload, adaptation, and recovery forms the basis for your exercise progression.

Rest, recovery, and diet

Adaptation is not instantaneous. It takes time to recover from an overload workout. During this time, your muscles repair themselves and become stronger, and all the micro-traumas engendered in your joints and connective tissue start to heal. But for this recovery to take place, you have to have your bulking diet in order.

For skinny guys who want to build more muscle mass, the first step is to design a decent bulking diet, the second step is to lift according to a good bulking schedule, and the third step is to give adaptation a chance by enforcing a period of rest and recovery.

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