How Fast Can You Gain Muscle?
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuAWck2JufY
How Fast Can You Build Muscle?
1. Gaining 1-2 lbs per week will inevitably lead to fat gain
It is common for people to try and gain 1 pound of muscle per week! Therefore they consume approximately 500 calories over maintenance in hopes to store all of those calories into their muscles. Short of a heavy supply of anabolic steroids this rate of muscle gain is completely futile.
If you were to gain 1 lbs per week over the course of 6 months that would equate to a massive 26 lbs increase in scale weight. Best case scenario half of that would be muscle. That would mean 13 lbs of muscle and 13 lbs of fat. Let’s say you started off at 10% body fat and 150 lbs, well that would put you at 16% body fat and 176 lbs. That’s a huge 6% increase in fat composition. Now you would have to undergo a 3 month long cutting phase to get rid of the fat and hope you don’t lose any of that precious muscle gain.
Alternatively, if you would have aimed to gain 0.5 lbs per week and set the calorie surplus to reflect that then you would have gained almost entirely muscle without any fat gain. After 6 months you would have an additional 13 lbs of muscle without the extra fat. For the next 3 months instead of having to diet off the fat you could continue building muscle.
The best part is that you wouldn’t ever have to walk around with all of that unpleasant fat ruining your physique and face. You get to look lean and great all year round. As well, since you aren’t gaining much fat at all you never have to undergo long dieting phases.
2. Aim to gain 0.5 lbs per week
As I explained above, if your goal is to gain muscle you should aim to gain about 0.5 lbs per week. This means consuming about 250 calories over your calorie maintenance. You have a couple options here. You can eat 250 over maintenance everyday or you can fluctuate calories up or down depending on the day. For example if you are lifting 3x per week you might consume 500 calories over maintenance on lift days and you might eat a small 100 calorie surplus on non lifting days. If you prefer to keep calorie intake constant then you can do that. Both options work.
3. Track your body composition
I recommend tracking your body composition by measuring your waist circumference on a weekly basis. During a muscle gaining program you never want your waist to go up by more than one inch. A one inch increase on your waist circumference usually reflects about 5 lbs of fat gain. If your waist is staying the same and your gaining strength and gaining weight slowly then you’re doing everything right. If your waist goes up by one inch then you should lower the calories by about 10-20%.
4. For advanced lifters you should only be gaining 1 lbs per month
If you have been training for several years and have already built an appreciable amount of muscle mass then you will not be able to gain muscle at the rate of 0.5 lbs per week. Simply as you get closer to your genetic limit the rate of muscle gain slows down considerably. For that reason I recommend eating only about 100-200 calories over maintenance and aiming for about 1 lbs of weight gain per month. For truly advanced lifters you may only be able to gain 5-6 lbs of muscle over the course of an entire year.
Final Comments
For a fool proof system for packing on pure muscle in the most aesthetic and functional way possible I recommend my kinobody muscle building course. So far the response has been incredible. If you read the comment section you will see what people have to say about the program.
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Hi Greg,
In term of BMI ranges (with maximal natural potential being 26 right?), what would correspond to “normal” lifter (0.5lbs/week aim), advanced lifter (1lbs/month aim) and truly advanced lifter (5lbs/year aim).
Thanks in advance,
Aris.
Yeah those are good numbers as far as how much muscle you can build depending on training status.
Hey Greg,
When trying to bulk up this way (lean) would you recommend around 20 calories per body pound? And with that, what would be your break down of macros? Trying to stay lean when getting into my next bulking stage….
Thanks man!
20 is very high unless you’re extremely active. I would suggest averaging around 16-18 calories per pound. 25% protein, 35-30% fat and 40-45% carbs
I think there are variations to this. I am a skinny guy and eat about 17 calories per pound, but yet I’m only maintaining my weight. I am not very active either. It would seem to me as though I would need about 19 calories per pound for actually bulking.
Yeah you are an outlier. You burn a ton of calories, so yes, you may very well have to eat 19 cals per pound to lean bulk. That said, if you’re eating 17 cals, and training properly and building strength, you may very well be building muscle. Don’t worry too much about weight, it doens’t tell you the full story.
I am bulking
Hey Greg wonderful article. Just wondering what should my macronutrients goals be for training days and rest days? I understand on training days high carb,moderate fat, high protein and rest days low carb, High fat, High protein but I would like to know what the exact numbers or ratios for carbs protein fat should be respectively so that I can calculate accordingly . Thank you
It depends if you’re cutting or bulking.
Can a woman gain this amount of muscle in this amount of time?
Great question Jenna! Unfortunately not. For women you will need to cut this number in half due to physiological variances.
So that would then be 125 calories over maintenance per day (as an example) for a 1 pound monthly muscle gain, as opposed to 250 for men and a 2 pound monthly gain?
Exactly! Maybe go to 150 for a more round number. Fat gain will be minimal with such a small surplus.
Thank you! Also, how is it that these extra calories go towards building new muscles as opposed to being stored as fat? What I mean is, what’s the difference between someone who’s lifting 3x a week and eating those few extra calories, and someone who sits in front of the TV all day, and eats those extra calories?
Lastly, 150 calories on top of a calorie requirement of someone who just lifts 3x a week seems like it could be easily nullified by say having to do a lot of chores in and around the home. Could this be the case?
Well if you’re strength training 3x per week and increasing your workout performance each week, your body will be able to use those surplus calories to build more muscle. If you’re not training then your body has no reason to add muscle so it will store fat.
Yes, it’s a very subtle increase and it is possible that you will burn through it if your normal activity levels increase. If you want, you can do a 300 calorie surplus and 2-3 days per week you can go down to maintenance or 100-200 calories below.
I know I’m late on this but damn, I’m glad someone finally told the truth about this.
The whole you need to eat a metric ton is crazy, and not needed…unless you want to become a big walking hairy ape, then well, it’s slightly needed.
Good article man.
i bought your program
for assistance exercises 6-10 reps you said start with max weight 7 reps then 6 reps 6 reps
why dont you start with 10 then next set 8 then next set 6 ?
i dont understand this concept
when you say start with 7 reps do you mean i select a 7 rep max weight ?do i go to failure ?
You completely misunderstood. For assistance exercises you’re using the same weight for all sets and resting about 2 minutes between sets. Each workout you want to increase one of your sets by 1 rep. So on the first set you’ll try and add a rep and keep the other two sets the same. The next workout you’ll try and add a rep to your second set and then finally your third set. Understand?
so for an assistance exercise 6-10 reps what weight should i use ?a 7 rep max weight ?as you give example 7 ,6 ,6
Yes.
Hey man,
iv been following your muscle building program for about 10 weeks now and have made some really awesome gains in strength, however i seemed to hit a plateau recently with some of the lifts such as incline bench press. whats your thoughts on breaking a plateau. do you think doing a higher volume workout for a couple weeks then going back to it would work? (Im doing the strength workouts rather than the superhero workouts at present)
Also another quick question. when doing a recomp, on average how much muscle and fat can you expect to lose each week or month? for someone who has a fair bit of muscle still to gain?
I’d actually recommend shifting the repetition range. Drop down to 3 reps for your first set, 4 for your second and 6 for your third. You should be able to continue making strength gains (2.5 lbs total per workout) at this new repetition range. Once you hit a plateau you can switch to 6, 8 and 10. Then 5, 6, 8. Then 4, 6, 8, Then 3, 4, 6.
Greg, I need a little help on my off days diet. I’m using 2450 as my maintenance cals and a surplus of 300 cals on my 3 lifting days. Lifting days consist of a meat and pasta, potatos or rice with some broccoli. Do I need to bring my carbs down on rest days by substituting some veggies for the rice and pasta? Or will I be ok to eat the same thing just keeping it to 2450 (or a small deficit) to continue with a lean bulk?
You can eat the same foods on rest days but just reduce the portions so you’re consuming less calories. There is no need to cut out carbs completely.
Hi Greg you’re looking great on facebook ;)
By the way i’ve one question.
I’m 165 lbs 5.10 with 33 inch waist 49.20 inch shoulders 15 inch arms and 42 inch chest.
My abs are visible what are my percentage of body fat?
I want to gain about 15 lbs of muscle in 6-8 month.
Do you think i’ve to cut before gain other muscle or recomp diet doing your density and strenght program ?
5’10, 165, 33″ waist I’d say you’re around 14-15% bf. I would recommend dropping 5 lbs of fat and getting to a 32″ waist before thinking about undergoing a lean bulk. Great stats by the way. Get the waist under 32″ and you’ll look really great.
;) Thank’s Greg
To get the waist under 32 can i use you’re strenght and density routine and surplus calories on litf days and lower calories on rest days?
And at the end of the summer being 170 lbs of pure muscle? ;)
Do the strength and density workout but I’d keep calories in a deficit more often. I like 4 lower calorie days (20% calorie deficit) and 1 hgih calorie day (maintenance or 10% higher). This will result in better fat loss.
Hey greg,
Your looking huge on facebook. Can we have a video of ur progress?
Thanks
I’ll film one in a few days. Maybe make a post about my cut.
Great article dude. I have one question though
How long does it take for someone to become an advance lifter?
I’ve heard its 1 year of “constant” lifting.
appreciate your adviec!
Good question!
I consider intermediate what some people would consider advanced. I would say it’s more like 3-5 years to become advanced. Sometimes longer depending on the trainees level of commitment and consistency. Usually you can become intermediate in 1-2 years of training. Its very rare for someone to reach advanced level lifts in 2 years or less.
Hey Greg, awesome vids and advice man. I’ve been following Kinobody for over a year now and had great results with your Shredding program. I slacked off on working out for a while and kinda…drank too much so I packed on a good (I should say bad) amount of weight. Anyways, I’m going back to it and have your Muscle Building Course to help. My main question is since I’m currently about 16% BF right now and I really am trying to get down to 10% for summer, would the Muscle Building Course still be good to do while maintaining a weekly caloric defecit of about 2000 calories? I appreciate the help man. Tanks. H
Hey Mikey!
Yah you can do the muscle building course while dieting. Just make sure to stick to the strength and density routine. Save the specialization and superhero program for when you are no longer dieting.
Gotcha! I appreciate it man. Ill keep you posted on the progress and as always, your site is the shit! Have a good one!
When trying to make gains and adding about 0.5lb a week, do you recommend doing cardio with it? I am trying to slowly get bigger yet get more defined and lean so you can see everything. I do not know if this is even possible. I might have to cut the cardio out for about 2 months and then hit cardio while fasting.
Cardio is not necessary. If you have a hard time eating enough to gain 0.5 lbs per week then it might be easier to skip cardio. If you want to include cardio then you will need to account for the calories burned. Getting bigger and leaner can be tricky. The best way to do it is to eat at a 200-300 deficit on non lifting days and a 200-300 surplus on lift days. Alternatively you can diet until your desired level of leanness and then switch to a lean bulk.
how do i know my maintenance calories?
You will need to track your calorie intake for a couple weeks to get an idea of your maintenance. A good starting figure is around 14-16 calories per pound of bodyweight. You will need to adjust depending on your weight changes.
If I am 67 kg and measure 1.77 how much should i be waiting i have a 11% body fat, and I want to know what would be my Maintenance calorie? I´am 15 can I do the SuperHero workout? I want volume.
There is no set number for how much you should weigh. At 15 you are still very young so it’s not going to be until you are 18-20 that you will be able to carry a decent amount of muscle mass. Yes, you can do the superhero workout. Focus on making progress and everything will fall into place.
You need to track your calorie intake to figure out maintenance. That said, maintenance is usually around 14-16 calories per pound for someone that gets about one hour of physical activity per day.
Hey Greg awesome video! Just one quick question, if my maintance calorie is 2500 is it alright for me to eat 2800 on lift days and then 2500 on off days? I really don’t want to gain any necessary fat so was wondering if that is too much
That is a very small surplus. At that intake you will be gaining roughly 1 lbs per month. Should be all muscle.
Thanks Greg, I’ll try to bulk on some more muscle in the next few months and see what the results are.
Much appreciated.
Neil
Great tips Greg. I always look forward to your emails.
A few questions for you. What is the best way to figure out what my body fat % is? I’ve lost a lot of weight in the past 2 years, 76.2 lbs to be exact. from 225 lbs to 148.8 lbs. All through excersize and proper eating. Going from Neil size portions to reomended size potions. I’ve got good muscle definition that I’ve NEVER had before.
I’m struggleing with getting my skin to shrink in my lower mid section.Don’t get me wrong, it has shrunk drastically. I gone from a 40″ waist to a 31 3/8″ waist. When I’m doing planks the skin around my mid section looks like I’ve had liposuction done and my skin hangs there looking like a raisin. Any suggestions on what I could be doing?
Neil
Here is a great calculator – http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/
You can try and maintain your body fat for 6 months while adding strength and muscle and see if that helps your skin tighten up. If not then you might require surgery.
Great tips Gregory,totally makes sense.
I agree with everything you say. But my issue is once I cut calories I inevitably lose weight and I do not know from where. Right now I am 5 foot 11 169 lbs. And I need help cutting baby fat from my lower abs.
You can’t choose where you lose fat from. Your body will lose fat in a specific order and you can’t change that. The only thing you can do is keep strength training so you maintain all of your muscle.
Wil you make a video like this about fat loss greg?
Keep up the great work!
Yes, i’ll have some fat loss videos coming soon.
Great post Greg! From personal experience i can say you are spot on. Starting visual impact 8 months ago, I went from 10% bodyfat up to 16% during phase 1 and 2 and had to spend 2 and half months cutting back to 10% with only a 10lbs of lean muscle gain to show for it. Just started Kinobody Strength and Fitness and have been seeing consistent strength and muscle size gains for the past month. Just what I needed thanks again and keep posting!
Greg,
Great tips man. I prefer staying lean year round within +5 lbs or so of single digit body fat (I’m 5-7 so I have a little less margin). I agree that it’s not worth gaining muscle if you pack on too much fat along with it. Lean and strong is way more impressive than fat and strong.
Alykhan
Finally, someone who speaks the truth! Muscle growth is SLOOOOOOOOOOW. This year I plan to go from 175lbs to 185-190lbs. An entire year to gain just 10-15lbs. That’s just how it is and people shouldn’t believe everything they are told about ‘rapid muscle gain’ and all that nonsense.
Great vid buddy,
:)
10-15 lbs of muscle to your already jacked physique would be insane! I’ve got to see that.
Lol, I’m hardly jacked but hopefully I will be by the end of this year. Here’s to an anabolic 2013!
Cheers,
Dennis
What is an example of 500 calories over maintenance?
If for example your maintenance is say 2500 then 500 calories over maintenance would be 3000 calories.
How much would 1/2 a lb. be? For instance would RPT with a chest emphasis add a couple of inches to the chest measurement in a couple months on a 5’2″ person?
Well the lats also play a big role in the chest measurement. So to increase the chest measurement to any meaningful degree you would have to build your back as well. Say you add 30 lbs to your bench press and 30 lbs to your weighted chin ups in 2-3 months. You should probably see a 1-2 inch increase in your chest measurement.
awesome, I can see a big difference in your biceps! Any tips!
If you’re already doing heavy weighted chin ups and heavy barbell/dumbbell curls then it will make a big difference to do some higher volume biceps training in your routine. I’d recommend doing 6 sets of 8-12 reps on cable curls. That will give the biceps quite a bit more size over time.