Max Muscle Mass Gain

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

A BB of considerable credibility has told me that the maximum amount of muscle mass able to be gained by natural means per year is approximately 8 pounds.

In the past year I have managed to put on 6kg of lean muscle mass (13.2 pounds), and I have a ridiculously high metabolic rate, and very low body-fat percentage.

Has he gone wrong somewhere or have I misunderstood something?

My body seems to be favoured towards lean muscle mass as I am getting alot stronger quickly, but not gaining much size. Is this just a result of my metabolism, or will I need to just load up on professional supplements to help override my metabolism?

2

It is too difficult to put a maximum limit on gains. There are way too many variables.

Good gains on your part.

3

Thanks a bunch mate…trying my best! A bit more bulk would be nice

4

eat more if you have a fast metabalism

5

Yeah eat more…Up the healthy fats. No Cardio…

6

[quote]foremangrill wrote:
A BB of considerable credibility has told me that the maximum amount of muscle mass able to be gained by natural means per year is approximately 8 pounds.

In the past year I have managed to put on 6kg of lean muscle mass (13.2 pounds), and I have a ridiculously high metabolic rate, and very low body-fat percentage.

Has he gone wrong somewhere or have I misunderstood something?

My body seems to be favoured towards lean muscle mass as I am getting alot stronger quickly, but not gaining much size. Is this just a result of my metabolism, or will I need to just load up on professional supplements to help override my metabolism?

[/quote]

Well, CT’s put forward the idea that you can only gain about .2-.5 lb a week of lean, DRY, muscle naturally. That translates out to between 10 lb and 26 lb per year. I’d bet that for a bodybuilder with an already large mass, it’d be lower, in the 6-8 lb a year range. So he’s pretty much right, for HIM. A newbie can gain more.

Good job on the gains, your strength is up and you’ve stayed relatively lean, I assume. Keep in mind though, your body doesn’t gain dry muscle, it gains “wet” muscle, meaning that you gain glycogen, connective tissue, and cellular component mass along with your contractile muscle. Basically, you need to gain a support system for your muscle as you go along. If you’re happy with your gains don’t sweat it, if you’re new to weight training and you’ve gained that much you can gain more and you should eat more and more often.

7

My first 3-4 months of weight training I put on about 30 lbs of muscle. Set your goals higher, don’t let anyone put a limit on anything you do. What your mind can conceive your body can achieve.

8

“My first 3-4 months of weight training I put on about 30 lbs of muscle.”

WOW

9

[quote]marlboroman wrote:
“My first 3-4 months of weight training I put on about 30 lbs of muscle.”

WOW[/quote]

This is very possible.

I was very underfed and extremely underweight before I began my athletic career. Probably taking in around 1000 cals a day. At 6’2, bout 130lbs(with no visible abs), I was more than skinny-fat.

Within a year of “bulking”(still bad food, but much more calories), I was up to 200lbs. No stretch marks, no tits, no gut, no supplements. I was still skinny, just not AS skinny.

It all depends on the individual.

10

30lbs in 3-4 months!!! That’s amazing. HOw old are you?

eat more? That’s going to be tough. At the moment most of my pay slips go toward buying food cos I eat like a mammoth. My appetite is at the point where people suggest that I may have tapeworm, and that’s no joke! But when I think about it the food I eat doesn’t really promote bulk, although it is highly nutritious.

I’ll take what you all suggested on board and try to eat more…may have to sacrifice my rent though! lol

I’ll keep you informed of my progress…thanks again!

11

bullshit.

everyone know that it has been scientifically proven that the max amount of muscle you can put on in 1 year is 9.32114lbs. duh. that is a mother-fucking fact!

12

[quote]foremangrill wrote:
30lbs in 3-4 months!!! That’s amazing. HOw old are you?

eat more? That’s going to be tough. At the moment most of my pay slips go toward buying food cos I eat like a mammoth. My appetite is at the point where people suggest that I may have tapeworm, and that’s no joke! But when I think about it the food I eat doesn’t really promote bulk, although it is highly nutritious.

I’ll take what you all suggested on board and try to eat more…may have to sacrifice my rent though! lol

I’ll keep you informed of my progress…thanks again!

[/quote]

Don’t sweat it too much. Nutritious food is much more useful than crap “bulk” food, if you want to stay healthy and keep your joints and stay a little leaner. Really, it comes down to you–Are you happy with the gains you’ve made and the rate you’re making them? If yes, don’t sweat eating more. If no, then log everything you eat for a week following your “normal” plan and see where you are. Then either the answer will present itself to you, or you can post again and we can help more with the background you give.

I don’t know how long you’ve trained seriously with weights or other sports, so I really don’t know what to tell you about your gain rate. I will say this, though–30 pounds in 3 months is NOT normal. Such big gains usually happen in short spurts, or when someone is going from vastly underfed and untrained to properly fed and hard training. If you’ve been at it for a while, it ain’t going to happen that fast. Aim for .5-1 lb a week. Ish. You could be higher or lower.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And you need money to live on ;).

13

It is very possible for someone who was malnourished to gain a considerable amount of muscle when first beginning a program, given enough calories.

And while it may be difficult for an advanced bodybuilder to put on huge amounts of LBM each year, I can’t imagine limiting a beginner to 6-8 lbs. CT did say .5lbs per week was probably the upper limit, but that is still 26lbs a year.

If you eat and train right, and get adequate rest, you shouldn’t have a problem gaining much more weight than was suggested by the bodybuilder. You may have misunderstood him, or you may have been misinformed. Either way, disregard that advice.

14

[quote]foremangrill wrote:
A BB of considerable credibility has told me that the maximum amount of muscle mass able to be gained by natural means per year is approximately 8 pounds.

In the past year I have managed to put on 6kg of lean muscle mass (13.2 pounds), and I have a ridiculously high metabolic rate, and very low body-fat percentage.

Has he gone wrong somewhere or have I misunderstood something?

My body seems to be favoured towards lean muscle mass as I am getting alot stronger quickly, but not gaining much size. Is this just a result of my metabolism, or will I need to just load up on professional supplements to help override my metabolism?

[/quote]

13.2 pounds of lean mass in a year is good training. In Thib’s article he recently states that around 24 pounds of lean mass is the most an individual can gain in a year.

In reality its hard to say, but if the average trainee put 24 pounds of muscle on in a year they’d look like a new person. So i reckon your doing pretty well

15

that may be for a bodybuilder that is at the height of his muscle mass. I gained over 30 lbs in my first year of weight training.

16

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
bullshit.

everyone know that it has been scientifically proven that the max amount of muscle you can put on in 1 year is 9.32114lbs. duh. that is a mother-fucking fact![/quote]

Thanks for your useless input smart-ass!

17

[quote]Aragorn wrote:

Don’t sweat it too much. Nutritious food is much more useful than crap “bulk” food, if you want to stay healthy and keep your joints and stay a little leaner. Really, it comes down to you–Are you happy with the gains you’ve made and the rate you’re making them? If yes, don’t sweat eating more. If no, then log everything you eat for a week following your “normal” plan and see where you are. Then either the answer will present itself to you, or you can post again and we can help more with the background you give.

I don’t know how long you’ve trained seriously with weights or other sports, so I really don’t know what to tell you about your gain rate. I will say this, though–30 pounds in 3 months is NOT normal. Such big gains usually happen in short spurts, or when someone is going from vastly underfed and untrained to properly fed and hard training. If you’ve been at it for a while, it ain’t going to happen that fast. Aim for .5-1 lb a week. Ish. You could be higher or lower.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And you need money to live on ;).[/quote]

Thanks alot for your help mate. I’m really happy with my gains since I started working hard with weights. Previously I was a dedicated cyclist and have always been involved in athletics, which kept me very lean. I’ve had a knee injury which got me started on the weights as a substitute, and

I’ve enjoyed enough to want to go further with it. Seeing and feeling results for your hard work is a good motivator, and I can already feel my body is more balanced in its strength, whereas before it was all in the lower portion.

I’m at the point where I am lifting every second day unless muscles not repaired enough, and have been at it seriously for a few months. Before that it was just the odd bench here, curl there…you know the drift.

Due to my low body fat % it is easy to see development over a short period of time, and due to my previous cycling my legs and gluts are already built up, so upper body, back and core are the areas I have been focussing on, both with weights sessions and body-weight training. Lots of push-ups of differing widths, pull-ups and torso-lifts. I find this helps my stabiliser muscles, leading to results in other areas too.

I’m in for the marathon all the way baby, and it’s great to have some good advice and help on hand here :slight_smile:

18

[quote]elliotnewman1 wrote:

13.2 pounds of lean mass in a year is good training. In Thib’s article he recently states that around 24 pounds of lean mass is the most an individual can gain in a year.

In reality its hard to say, but if the average trainee put 24 pounds of muscle on in a year they’d look like a new person. So i reckon your doing pretty well

[/quote]

Thanks a bunch mate. I’ll just keep going with what I’ve been doing (and maybe add a touch of whey powder). The fact that I am exerting all this extra energy whilst lifting and still growing means my diet must be relatively sufficient. I’m sure I will have more questions for you all in time tho :wink: