The Maximum Amount Of Muscle You Can Gain In A Week.

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Impatience is the biggest enemy for those of us trying to gain muscle weight. On 'average' the best anyone can do with a perfect diet, excellent & hard workout routines, and everything else being perfect, is about 0.454kg (454 grams = 1 pound) of muscle per week. Scientifically this is the maximum limit for human beings. We cannot gain more muscle than this per week.
The only exception to this MAXIMUM rule of 454 grams per week for ANYONE is drugs, such as steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). Which have very high probabilities of giving you health problems that you really DON'T want to even considering risking (that is, if the drugs don't kill you first).

Considering almost NO one has everything (diet exercise, etc) 100% perfect, this maximum is realistically going to be about 300 grams or 0.75 pounds per week.

So now you're asking "yeah but why do some people have much bigger gains that that?" Answer: growth spurts (which are out of our own control). Growth spurts can shoot this upward of 1 pound per week. Which is why at times you may see big gains, and at other times none. Growth spurts are erratic at best and will not LAST continuously and are also unpredictable as to when they can occur, and may only occur very occasionally. The scientifically calculated average of 1 pound of muscle gain per week MAXIMUM for anyone includes this. But like I said, realistically you will be lucky to achieve 0.75 pounds of muscle gain per week.

So, for example, if you're 150 pounds, and you want to be ripped at 185 pounds, that's 35 pounds have muscle to gain. (if you're only 5'9 - 185 is very ripped) you can only gain 0.75 pounds per week that's 35/0.75, which is 46 weeks, over 11 months, or just under 1 year. The whole period must be consistent hard training, no cheating, at least 1 gram per pound of protein per day, etc. SO in other words, don't expect to see a change on the scales from one week to the next, try more like month to month, and don't expect massive gains all the time. IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME, nothing happens overnight here.

One last thing, since almost everyone on here sounds like they want to be ripped, a 6 pack is obviously an integral part of the ripped look. Remember 6 packs are made of muscle just like any other muscle, so work them out like you would any other muscle, DO NOT DO "1000 sit ups a day", would you do that to your biceps? - NO. Most of all you body fat on AVERAGE should be below 6%. It doesn't matter if you can do sit ups all day with a 500 pound back pack, if you have too much fat covering your gut, you wont see any definition there at all.
 
FROM

Impatience is the biggest enemy for those of us trying to gain muscle weight. On 'average' the best anyone can do with a perfect diet, excellent & hard workout routines, and everything else being perfect, is about 0.454kg (454 grams = 1 pound) of muscle per week. Scientifically this is the maximum limit for human beings. We cannot gain more muscle than this per week.
The only exception to this MAXIMUM rule of 454 grams per week for ANYONE is drugs, such as steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). Which have very high probabilities of giving you health problems that you really DON'T want to even considering risking (that is, if the drugs don't kill you first).

Considering almost NO one has everything (diet exercise, etc) 100% perfect, this maximum is realistically going to be about 300 grams or 0.75 pounds per week.

So now you're asking "yeah but why do some people have much bigger gains that that?" Answer: growth spurts (which are out of our own control). Growth spurts can shoot this upward of 1 pound per week. Which is why at times you may see big gains, and at other times none. Growth spurts are erratic at best and will not LAST continuously and are also unpredictable as to when they can occur, and may only occur very occasionally. The scientifically calculated average of 1 pound of muscle gain per week MAXIMUM for anyone includes this. But like I said, realistically you will be lucky to achieve 0.75 pounds of muscle gain per week.

So, for example, if you're 150 pounds, and you want to be ripped at 185 pounds, that's 35 pounds have muscle to gain. (if you're only 5'9 - 185 is very ripped) you can only gain 0.75 pounds per week that's 35/0.75, which is 46 weeks, over 11 months, or just under 1 year. The whole period must be consistent hard training, no cheating, at least 1 gram per pound of protein per day, etc. SO in other words, don't expect to see a change on the scales from one week to the next, try more like month to month, and don't expect massive gains all the time. IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME, nothing happens overnight here.

One last thing, since almost everyone on here sounds like they want to be ripped, a 6 pack is obviously an integral part of the ripped look. Remember 6 packs are made of muscle just like any other muscle, so work them out like you would any other muscle, DO NOT DO "1000 sit ups a day", would you do that to your biceps? - NO. Most of all you body fat on AVERAGE should be below 6%. It doesn't matter if you can do sit ups all day with a 500 pound back pack, if you have too much fat covering your gut, you wont see any definition there at all.

doesn't it change if your a teen due to high test tho meaning higher gains
 
5lbs a year

Muscle is hard to build, lean muscle mass is even harder to gain.

The average mature individual can only expect to gain 5lbs/YEAR. If all is perfect they may be able to gain a little more. A top level bodybuilder, on drugs is happy is their lean body mass increases goes up 5lbs from year to year.

A teenager may gain more than 25lbs a year but it is not all muscle. Everything is growing at that age so they are taller, wider, stronger. They will not do this every year. One year may produce big gains while the next may only see half the results.


Look to add 5lbs of lean muscle mass a year, if you gain more than that good job, but do not expect it.
 
The average mature individual can only expect to gain 5lbs/YEAR.

That might be true if you are a sissy who does not understand the first thing about training.

It is easy to gain more than 5lbs a year.

Your top level BB example is not a good example. Many of them have good size and need to bring up certain body parts to look more symmetrical. The ball game is completely different at that level and more size is not necessarily what will help win more contests.

I do agree that year to year results will be different. Where some years will have huge gains and other years will have less gains. Most of this has more to do with the evolution of the lifters diet and training than anything else.
 
Muscle is hard to build, lean muscle mass is even harder to gain.

The average mature individual can only expect to gain 5lbs/YEAR. If all is perfect they may be able to gain a little more. A top level bodybuilder, on drugs is happy is their lean body mass increases goes up 5lbs from year to year.

A teenager may gain more than 25lbs a year but it is not all muscle. Everything is growing at that age so they are taller, wider, stronger. They will not do this every year. One year may produce big gains while the next may only see half the results.


Look to add 5lbs of lean muscle mass a year, if you gain more than that good job, but do not expect it.

ROFL
You can gain MUCH more than 5lbs of muscle a year, unless you train like a sissy like georgen said and your diet just sucks. More like 25lbs of muscle a year, if your dedicated.
 
plus with the bodybuilder example they are already near their natural maximum potential...

A guy like me can probably pack on more muscle mass than those guys each year because I am not as developed as them.

Right?
 
plus with the bodybuilder example they are already near their natural maximum potential...

A guy like me can probably pack on more muscle mass than those guys each year because I am not as developed as them.

Right?

Yes.

I posted this article to mainly calm myself down a bit. I have added 12-14 pounds in a month. So that means I probably reached the max of a pound a week but the rest was fat/water. So I think I only gained 4 pounds of muscle and like 8-10 pounds of fat.
 
Yes.

I posted this article to mainly calm myself down a bit. I have added 12-14 pounds in a month. So that means I probably reached the max of a pound a week but the rest was fat/water. So I think I only gained 4 pounds of muscle and like 8-10 pounds of fat.

Really? Tell me more..

What was your diet like? Were you just eating like a slob?

Did you possibly start creatine or anything like that that would give a lot of extra water weight?

Were you previously cutting? If you go from cutting to bulking you gain weight really quick.
 
Really? Tell me more..

What was your diet like? Were you just eating like a slob?

Did you possibly start creatine or anything like that that would give a lot of extra water weight?

Were you previously cutting? If you go from cutting to bulking you gain weight really quick.

My diet was whatever it took to get 1.5 grams of protein per bodyweight, double that in carbs, and some fats.

I didn't start creatine or anything like that however I have been eating some high sodium foods and not drinking enough water so water weight does play a role. I wasn't previously cutting.
 
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