- Are you working out and gaining weight? Is it muscle?
- How much muscle can you really put on in a month?
- What factors contribute to muscle gain?
The question now is, how long does it take to build it and how fast can it be done?
Well, once again, I’m going by various trainers/coaches I’ve heard discuss the true rate of muscle growth among their clients, the few studies that I have looked at this as well, and my own 20+ years of first-hand experience and observation.
Based on all of this, here’s how fast you can expect to build muscle on average:
- Average Natural MAN: between 0.25 and 0.5 pounds of muscle per week (or about 1-2 pounds of muscle gained per month).
- Average Natural WOMAN: between 0.12 – 0.25 pounds of muscle per week (or about 0.5-1 pound of muscle gained per month).
Most of what you read on this is based on averages and generalities. But there are 6 major factors that affect how fast you can build muscle. This varies a lot between different people. Here are those 6 factors:
1. Steroids/Drugs
It is no surprise that adding steroids or other drugs into your routine completely changes how much a person can gain and how fast they can gain it. So, when you see crazy claims of muscle growth or see people who have clearly exceeded the rates and limits mentioned above there’s a really good chance it wasn’t done naturally.
To be clear, I do not recommend ANY artificial enhancements to gaining muscle. Do it the good, old-fashioned way. It is way better for you in the long run.
2. Training Experience Level
One simple fact of training is that everything comes MUCH quicker and MUCH faster when you’re a beginner. You have more ground to gain. That’s why weight training newbies will often consistently build muscle at the high-end of the average rate, and possibly even exceed it at times. However, the more experienced you get and the more muscle you build, the slower your rate of muscle gain will become.
How big is the difference? From my experience, the amount of muscle you can build in your first year is TWICE as much as it will be in your second year. And from there, it will drop off by about 50% each year after that.
3. Muscle Memory/Muscle Regrowth
Did you know muscle can be regained after you lose it at a much faster rate than it can be gained in the first place? It’s true. Muscle memory is real and it makes a significant difference.
This tricks people into thinking they are getting amazing muscle-building results but in reality it’s just that the person lost a bunch of muscle at some point and was now RE-gaining it.
4. Genetics
Probably one of the biggest influences in how much muscle you can gain and how fast you can gain it is genetics. Hormone levels, muscle length, bone structure and more, all play a huge role in your ability to build muscle.
Unfortunately, we can’t change our genetics, so if you ended up with less-than-stellar genetics (thanks mom and dad!), you’re kinda screwed to some extent. You can certainly still build muscle… it’s just going to be a bit harder and slower, and your overall potential is going to be lower than someone with average or better genetics.
And if you are one of those rare people who did hit the genetic lottery, congratulations! Enjoy all of the awesome results that come with being a genetic star, and always know that people in the gym will envy you.
5. Age
Here’s another one that shouldn’t really shock you. A 16-year-old with raging hormones will be able to gain a lot more muscle a lot faster than say a 50-year-old whose testosterone levels are hitting record lows by the second. It’s another unfortunate fact of life (unless of course you’re the 16-year-old).
In terms of the rate of muscle growth, the younger you are, the better you are. The older you get, the more you can expect things to get slower overall.
6. Your Workout and Diet
And finally, if your workout and diet are set up as optimally as possible, you can definitely expect to build muscle faster than you would if your workout was less than ideal or your diet was a mess altogether. This also seems obvious, but it sure hasn’t stopped people from working out ineffectively then making it worse by eating junk.
Summing It Up
So, that’s how much muscle you can expect to gain, that’s how fast you can expect to build it, and those are the 6 main factors that can influence those amounts and what your body’s exact potential is.
In most cases, muscle cannot be gained anywhere close to the rate some people like to make it seem like it can, or some of us just wish we could.
You can now set realistic goals and have realistic expectations. And at the same time, you can ignore much more of the silly deceptive marketing hype found everywhere in the diet and fitness industry. Meaning, if you ever come across someone who claims to have consistently gained more muscle faster than I’ve explained is realistically possible, or a product that claims it will allow you to do the same, ignore it.
That person is either an insanely rare exception/genetic freak, using drugs, regaining lost muscle, flat-out wrong, flat-out lying, or just trying to sell you something.