For most gaining 1/2 pound of weight a week represents a fairly quick rate of healthy weight gain. And for some, especially women the rate of muscle gain may be even slower (1). At this rate, the average person can gain roughly 25 pounds of muscle in a year.
By eating 1,000 excess calories per day over 6 months, you may see a weight gain of around 25 pounds (11.4 kg), though a larger portion of this gain may comprise fat ( 4 ). Weight gain progress will vary depending on your body size, goals, and a number of the other factors previously discussed.
Although it's easy to gain weight by eating more calories, gaining 20 pounds of muscle mass is a bit more challenging. A reasonable goal is to gain 0.5 to 1 pound of muscle mass each week, which should take you 20 to 40 weeks to complete.
Depending on the person, the average individual can put on between a half a pound and 2 pounds of muscle mass per month. Keeping this rate in mind, it would take a normal individual 15 to 60 months to gain 30 pounds of muscle.
The only person with the ability to potentially gain 18-20 pounds of muscle in a year is a gym newbie—someone who's never lifted weights or trained before. Why? Their genetic muscular potential hasn't been activated yet. In other words, they haven't even approached their greatest gains.
Remember that you will likely gain more muscle during the initial one to three months of training, but gain less after that. Overall, around 8 to 15 pounds per year could be a good estimate, but again, some people may gain more (or less) than that.
For most gaining 1/2 pound of weight a week represents a fairly quick rate of healthy weight gain. And for some, especially women the rate of muscle gain may be even slower (1). At this rate, the average person can gain roughly 25 pounds of muscle in a year.
So, how much muscle can you realistically gain in one month? For most beginners, gaining 2-4lbs of muscle per month is a realistic rate of muscle gain. More advanced lifters should aim to gain 1-2lbs of muscle per month, as research has shown slower rates of muscle gain the more advanced a lifter becomes.
Those who have been training for less than a year can actually expect to see large increases in muscle size. In fact, from Schoenfeld's experience, it's not unusual for a novice lifter to gain 15 or more pounds of muscle over the initial six-month training period.
5 Pounds - It will take you about three months to build your first 5 pounds of muscle. That's not a long time at all, and will have a noticeable impact on your physique. 10 Pounds - After 7 months in the gym you will have built a approximately 10 total pounds of mass.
You can gain up to 12-15lbs (6.8kg) of muscle in 3-4 months when closely following a researched program. (Afterward, muscle gains slow drastically.) These results are achievable for every healthy man and woman. Having “bad genetics” is not a thing preventing beginners from gaining muscle.
“Anecdotally, we are definitely seeing weight gain,” Dr. Morton says. “You can put on 30 pounds really quickly—you can do it in three months.”
Your ability to mainline protein plays a role (more on that later). But, yes, the general rule is that you can gain about a pound of muscle mass each week safely.
In fact, it's entirely possible to gain 20 pounds of quality mass in as little as 28 days. That's what Nate did recently with some help from GSP's nutrition coach, Dr.
Gaining 20 pounds of muscle in three months is possible, but takes meticulous planning and nutrition. In fact, strongman Jonathan Lawson was able to gain 20 pounds of muscle and lose body fat at the same time in only 10 weeks. Not only is it possible, but you can do it without the use of steroids or supplements.
Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks. Most individuals gain one to two pounds of lean muscle per month with the right strength training and nutrition plan.
Typically, muscle mass and strength increase steadily from birth and reach their peak at around 30 to 35 years of age. After that, muscle power and performance decline slowly and linearly at first, and then faster after age 65 for women and 70 for men.
“Muscle mass peaks around age 40. [Then it] begins to decline due to sarcopenia,” explains Pete Rufo, a performance coach at Beast Training Academy in Chicago. “A major contributor to muscle mass decline is lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyles.
Stuart Phillips, Ph. D., who has conducted many of these studies at McMaster University in Ontario, says he expects the average subject to gain 4 to 7 pounds of muscle in three months.
Most people think that they need to gain way more muscle than they really do to make a noticeable visual difference. Particularly if you stay lean, even just 5lbs of muscle can be seen, especially if it's in the “right places” like the shoulders, forearms, chest, lats, etc. 15lbs is a LOT!
One way to tell that you're building muscle is if your strength increases. Typically, strength gains parallel with muscle gains so if you've noticed that you've become stronger, then that is a good indication that your muscles have grown. Record your workouts so you can track your progress.
The beliefs that hair is in competition with the fetus for nutrients and that long hair can negatively affect the growth and development of the body and mind are absolutely bogus.
Key Takeaways. Most men can naturally gain 40 to 50 pounds of muscle in their lifetimes, and most women can naturally gain 20 to 25 pounds. Research shows that you can use the circumference of your wrists and ankles to predict how much muscle you can gain naturally.
In general, you should expect to spend at least 4-6 weeks in any bulking or cutting cycle; any less time makes it unlikely that you'll see much in the way of results. Longer cycles can be more effective with a few caveats. First, the most effective bulking cycles are generally at least 3-4 months, if not longer.