How much muscle can you gain naturally

Develop consistency, enjoy the process, and let time take its course. How much muscle can I build in a year? How do I know if I'm progressing at the right speed? Good question. And the next logical progression after assessing how much muscle you can build over the long term. Lyle McDonald has developed guidelines for determining your rate of muscle growth, based on the years of training under your belt.

The important thing to note here is that the estimations are based on the number of years of proper training AND nutrition. So, throwing a few weights around, attending a few body pump classes, and being lax with your nutrition, doesn't count. Using Lyle's guidelines, here's a simple calculator you can use to set your expectations for the next 12 months.

And if you HAVE been managing your training and nutrition properly for several years, the news is bleak. In fact, I've not even included you in the calculations, because your rate of muscle gain is almost immeasurable. After reading this article, you might be excited at the prospect of transforming your physique and fulfilling your genetic potential.

And to do that, you need training, nutrition, and mindset to be aligned. One thing that's important to get right is your calorie intake. If you're fuelling your body and training sufficiently, you'll build more muscle. And if you eat the right amount of protein, you'll turn your efforts in the gym into muscle and visible change to your physique.

Click this link to get free access to my online calorie and macro calculator. You can calculate the right calorie target and start making progress, today. And as an added bonus, I'll send you the Lean Life Kickstarter pack. You'll get a free 4-week training programme to help kickstart your training, as well as recipe packs, and a complete guide to calories and macros. To kickstart your journey to a leaner, healthier life, click here.

Give me your email address, and I'll give you access to my free online calorie and macro calculator. It will tell you how much you need to eat to lose fat and build muscle, in less than 60 seconds.

Share 0. Tweet 0. With A Calculator. With that said, here's what the article covers: The factors that define your genetic potential. A method for assessing if your goals are achievable without drug enhancement. A guide on how to determine if your favourite social media personality is as drug-free as they claim. Another online calculator to help you determine how much muscle you can build in a year. So, if you want to find out more, read on. Confused about calories and macros?

Type your email address below and get access to my free online calorie and macro calculator. Birth Weight: According to a study , higher birth weight is positively associated with greater long-term potential for muscle gain.

Initial Lean Mass: A study in looked at potential muscle gain over a 12 week period, based on subjects' starting levels of lean mass. Joint Size: An analysis of participants looked at the association between ankle and wrist size, and free fat mass FFM, i. So what conclusions can we draw from this? For this calculation, you'll need to know your: Height cm Ankle Circumference cm. Measure at the smallest point.

Wrist Circumference cm. Measured at the Styloid Process the boney lump. Any lower probably isn't sustainable for very long. Secondly I have noticed that there are a lot of websites out there which state we can pack on pounds of muscle in a year naturally? I personally believe, and I think you would agree, that the most amount of muscle most of us can put on inside a year assuming excellent nutrition and good solid sensible workouts would sit at around 7 pounds ish.

Going by your realistic figures Marc it would appear that a lot of us would reach our genetic potential within a few years of committed training and nutrition which to me sounds about right, whereas these other websites are more or less indicating reaching the height of our genetic potential inside a year or 2!

James — Thanks for sharing your in depth thoughts. I agree with everything you said and I wish you luck on your journey to reaching your ideal physique. I plan on adding a lot more helpful articles to BuiltLean in the coming months, so I look forward to your participation. Are you kidding me? The main point of the article was to highlight the unrealistic expectations of a lot of guys who have a misinformed belief they need to weigh lb when ripped to get the body they want. I am natural 5 foot 5 and at 12 percent body fat so currently my lbm is What should I do about competitions.

I have very decent measurements. My only problem is my right tricep is smaller than my left. I appreciate the article. But almost every estimation I have looked at for natural muscularity limits puts me right at or above my supposed natural limits. But I would not consider myself huge… more like a healthy athletic slightly more muscular than average build. Sounds like you are in this camp. Like what competetitions should I enter and how could I even up my arms. Its only 16 and I feel I might make it far in the business seeing my age and measurements and id like to know where to start please and thank you.

Your arms on not majorly out of proportion at 0. If you do more dumbbell work, that could be your best option. Ive been lifting for about 8 months now and ive never lifted before that.

When I first started lifting I was pounds and around 8 to 10 percent body fat. I was lifting 5 to 6 days a week doing just about everything in the gym. I just started doing squats and deadlifts and I found out I can do more then I thought. I deadlift and squat My goal is to get up to , just wondering by focusing on my legs more will this add that 10 pounds that I want.

Start Here Results Education About. Unnatural vs. The Genetic Bell Curve The bell curve can be applied to body type to arrive at what percentage of people will experience average, above average, or below average muscle mass development. Hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions! Comments temporarily closed.

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By John Leyva General Health. What Do I Do? By Nick Holt Fitness Motivation. Gaining much more than that is going to be damn near impossible. In those cases gains of pounds at year six are fairly realistic. The gains start to get cut in half for the next few years until they become pretty miniscule after year five. Mike Mentzer used to claim that with proper training and nutrition you could come very close to hitting your genetic potential for muscular gains within just a few years.

He was probably closer to being right than most of us would like to think. Most people have the potential to add a good thirty pounds of muscle to their frames regardless of how shitty their genetics are.

Some can add forty. And a smaller percentage can add fifty. After your initial newbie gains progress will be random and unpredictable. You might gain two pounds one year, zero the next, and one the year after that. But no matter what you do naturally, your potential is limited. A lot more so than supplement companies and bodybuilding mags would have you believe. Think about this for a second- John Cena, a professional wrestler with the WWE pictured to the left , has what many would argue to be some of the best muscle building genetics ever.