Hunter Labrada reveals his thoughts on enhanced and unenhanced lifting strategies.
Men’s Open bodybuilder Hunter Labrada has become one of the top competitors in the world. He is currently working to build a championship physique for the 2022 Olympia. During training, Labrada took some time to give viewers tips on how to train if you are an enhanced or unenhanced athlete.
Labrada has bodybuilding in his blood. His father, Lee Labrada, was an elite competitor during his career. Now, Hunter Labrada is working to capture the elusive Sandow Trophy. In 2021, Labrada won the Chicago Pro and qualified for the biggest show of the year. He finished fourth at the Olympia in October.
There are many who believe Big Ramy will win his third consecutive title come December. Labrada finished behind Ramy, Brandon Curry, and Hadi Choopan. It will be interesting to see if he can make a jump over any competitor he finished behind.
Hunter Labrada Believes Lifters Should Focus On Intensity
Hunter Labrada shared tips on how enhanced athletes should train compared to natural lifters. He believes the best way is to focus on intensity rather than volume.
“I’d like to say based off of people’s body of work and the people that are at the very top of the bodybuilding food chain right now, most of them are training in a relatively low volume, high intensity fashion.
Which, surprise — it’s the best way you can be training as a non-enhanced athlete. Why? For the exact reason that enhanced athletes recover better; you are not recovering better. You need to pick and choose your battles.”
Despite your status as an enhanced lifter or not, Hunter Labrada believes that all should focus on the same strategies in order to build muscle and speed up recovery.
“I know this might be surprising, but at the end of the day, the best thing that you can do as a non-enhanced lifter is to truly lift like an enhanced lifter. Bang caveat being that progressive overload training style.”
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Hunter Labrada Explains The Purpose Of Steroids
The amount of weight that bodybuilders can move in the gym over the course of a workout is eye-opening. Labrada explained that the use of steroids helps during recovery and this helps do more in the gym.
“I want you to take a step back and think about what all of those steroids that we are taking do. They greatly enhance your recovery capabilities, meaning we can do more work in the gym versus someone who isn’t. So… what does that mean? That means the non-enhanced lifters should be at the level of volume or even a lower level of volume than the enhanced lifters.”
There are many athletes who claim to be natural because of the reputation that steroids have. This is something that Hunter Labrada spoke on in the beginning of the video. He believes that no matter if you are enhanced or natural, it is nothing to discuss or be ashamed of.
I’m going to preface this by saying: if you are natty, good for you. If you are enhanced, good for you. If you are either of them and you brag about it and take pride in the fact and tear others down who are the opposite, shame on you,” Hunter Labrada said.
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