Young women can see gains of 8 to 12 pounds of muscle in their first year of dedicated training (beginner), along with another 4 to 6 pounds in their second year (intermediate). After the first three or so years of dedicated training (advanced), it often takes years of persistent effort to see incremental gains.
A more realistic pace is around 5 pounds of solid mass every six months. The amount of muscle you can actually gain and how quickly is determined by many factors including genetics, diet, training, and hormones. And your starting body composition may also be an important factor to consider.
Overall, around 8 to 15 pounds per year is a general estimate of what to expect from gains, but some people may add more or less. You should also allow for some fluctuation in water and carbohydrate storage; You have to work hard, eat a ,healthy, balanced diet and be patient to build muscle; there is no simple way.
So, all things considered, most experts agree that the average woman can expect to gain around ten pounds of muscle during her first year. And to be clear, ten pounds is a lot of muscle. That's enough to add a few inches around her hips and shoulders, dramatically transforming her physique.
A beginner should be able to gain about one to four pounds in a month, while an experienced lifter may only be able to gain about half a pound in a month. Hypertrophy is defined as the enlargement of an organ or tissue due to an increase in the size of its cells.
Beginner: 10-12 kg of muscle mass gain per year (1% per month) Intermediate: 5-6 kg of muscle mass gain per year (0.7% per month) Advanced: 2-3 kg of muscle mass gain per year (0.3% per month) Expert: 1-2 kg of muscle mass gain per year (0.2% per month)
It's not uncommon to see young men gain 15 to 25 pounds of muscle in their first year of dedicated training (beginner), and another 10 to 15 pounds in their second year (intermediate).
The majority of us need to be sending the right stimulus in the gym, and eating a surplus of food outside of the gym to get any kind of true muscle growth. The easiest way to tell if you are a hardgainer, is if you have been putting time in the gym and eating a lot of food and can't seem to gain weight.
In subsequent years, you can expect to gain anywhere from 5-10 pounds of muscle per year, assuming you're consistently following a well-designed training program and eating enough to support muscle growth. It's important to note that these are just general guidelines and everyone's rate of muscle growth will vary.
The term "newbie gains" refers to the significant and sudden increases in strength and muscle mass of people who are new to weightlifting or are in their early stages of lifting career. In addition to learning proper form, the strength that beginners develop in the beginning serves as a foundation.
Downtime between workouts (whether you're lifting, doing cardio or training for a sport) is when our bodies have a chance to actually build muscle. Strenuous workouts cause muscle breakdown, while rest allows our bodies to build it back up.
What is a Hardgainer? The term “hardgainer” is a bodybuilding term that refers to an individual who, despite aggressive training, seems to have some difficulty gaining lean mass and overall body weight. Although most hardgainers have an ectomorph somatotype, it is a bit of a chicken and an egg question.
The ability of the motor unit to activate and coordinate muscle fibers contributes towards muscle contraction and strength, yet not size. Hence, one may have large muscles yet lack sufficient motor unit coordination or activation to produce adequate muscle strength.
One pound of muscle is equivalent to one pound of fat on the scale. Muscle is more dense than fat, meaning that muscle takes up less space on the body and looks harder and less “flabby.” People with more muscle are stronger than those with more fat.
Still, one study suggests that beginners can gain around four to seven pounds of muscle in their first three months of lifting (5). If that progress was maintained at a consistent rate, you could expect to gain around 16 to 28 pounds of muscle in your first year of lifting.
Provided that they follow a sensible, structured diet and training program, a 150-pound beginner fitness enthusiast in Aragon's model can potentially gain 18-27 pounds of lean muscle per year. A 170-pound intermediate fitness enthusiast can potentially gain 10-15 pounds of muscle.
Gained 10 pounds in a month? Or yet, gained 10 pounds in a week? Now that's cause for concern. This kind of totally unexplained weight gain can signal more serious health problems such as a hormone condition or a reaction to an Rx.
A 2020 meta-data analysis from the Strength and Conditioning Journal suggests that it may be possible to lose fat mass and gain muscle at the same time. There's one issue with this, however—all of the studies compiled for the report were based on small samples of young athletes, lacking an inclusive sample population.
Most people can gain about half a pound of muscle in a month, while others new to training may gain two pounds. Prioritizing protein consumption, training consistently, and supplementing with creatine can help you build and maintain muscle.