Want to know how to identify a competent fitness professional? And trustworthy? Ask them how much muscle you can gain in a month. If they give you an answer other than “it depends”, work with someone else.
In a world that values quick fixes, it’s natural to wonder how soon a training plan will start producing visible results. But hypertrophy – or the growth of skeletal muscle fibers – is a complex equation with multiple variables. Biological sex, genetics, nutrition, training, sleep habits and current fitness level all play a role.
“Saying how much someone will gain is an impossible question to answer,” says Todd Buckingham, Ph.D., chief exercise physiologist at Life in shapea wellness coaching company. “I couldn’t even answer that question for myself, to be honest.”
What if someone tells you a specific amount of pounds or inches? “They’re full of them!” jokes Buckingham.
While no one can accurately predict how much muscle you can gain in a month, you can use what we know about muscle growth to optimize your training and lifestyle to achieve your body composition goals. Here’s what you need to know.
How is muscle formed?
Hypertrophy is the body’s way of adapting to new or increased stimuli, Buckingham explains. This comes in the form of mechanical stress and metabolic stress.
Mechanical stress refers to the force placed on your muscles during resistance training, which causes micro-tears in your muscle fibers.
“Your body has to repair and rebuild these micro-tears to make your muscles bigger and stronger, so that the next time you do the same activity or lift the same weight, they won’t be damaged as much as the last time. “, explains Buckingham.
Metabolic stress occurs when you work your muscles to the point where “metabolic waste” (a byproduct of energy production) builds up in your body faster than it can be eliminated.
But where is the balance between mechanical stress and metabolic stress when it comes to building lean mass?
According to research from one of the leading exercise scientists, Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., CSCS“mechanical and metabolic stresses occur in tandem, making it difficult to distinguish the effects of one from the other.”
What we do know is that real muscle building happens between workouts when your body is at rest.
“As you lift, you break down your muscles, but then they grow,” says Buckingham. In addition, the hormones that facilitate muscle growth are mainly released at night. “This is why sleep is really important for increasing muscle size,” he adds.
How fast can you gain muscle?
Even if muscle growth happens at night, it definitely doesn’t happen overnight — several factors affect how quickly you can gain muscle. And even if you focus on muscle improvement at the start of a new fitness program, the most significant gains actually occur in your nerves.
“In the first eight to 12 weeks after starting a strength training program, the most effective factor in improving your strength is neural adaptation,” says Buckingham. “Your nervous system becomes more efficient at sending messages from your brain to your muscles and recruiting more appropriate muscle fibers.”
Buckingham compares it to running a maze. The first two times you try, you will find yourself in dead ends. But, over time and repetition, you eventually learn the quickest path.
“Lifting and recruiting muscle fibers are kind of the same thing,” he says. At first, your nervous system may recruit too many muscle fibers or the wrong muscle fibers, but eventually it learns the quickest and most precise path. And It is when hypertrophy begins to become measurable.
So if you see little or no difference in your muscle size after a month of training, don’t stop! Your body is changing – you can’t see it yet.
Factors that affect muscle growth
Factors within and outside of your control determine how much muscle you can gain in a month (or any period of time). When setting body composition goals, it is important to consider the following.
1. Genetics
Here’s the unfair truth about genes and muscle mass: You can follow the same diet, weight lifting routine, and sleep schedule as someone else and get completely different results. A few research suggests that heredity accounts for 50 to 80 percent of your muscle mass.
Additionally, men tend to gain more muscle faster than women. “This is mainly due to testosterone and growth hormone,” says Buckingham, since women have less of it. But research also shows that the strength gains made by women are generally similar to those made by men, meaning they are able to build muscle without adding bulk.
2. Age
As we age, our levels of anabolic (growth) hormones decrease, making it more difficult to gain muscle. Even the most dedicated lifters will eventually experience sarcopenialoss of muscle mass associated with later stages of life.
“Strength training will help preserve some of that muscle mass, but it’s inevitable that even if you continue to lift weights for the rest of your life, your muscle mass will decline,” says Buckingham.
3. Diet and Nutrition
Most people understand that a high protein intake is necessary for muscle repair and recovery. Studies suggest that a range of 1.4 grams has 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day can be effective for building muscle.
The other macronutrients – carbohydrates and fats – are also essential, as they are integral to recovery and hormone production (among other physiological processes). Additionally, you need enough carbohydrates to fuel your workout.
Buckingham also notes that you need to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle. “A lot of people want to lose weight but also want to gain muscle mass, and that’s just not going to happen because to gain muscle you have to have extra calories.”
4. Rest and recovery
“Sleep is where you release hormones that cause muscle growth,” says Buckingham. “So if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not causing these hormones to be released.”
Try to get at least seven hours of sleep a night and build in recovery time between workouts by periodizing your training and scheduling rest days. “If you’re constantly lifting weights and never giving your muscles a break, they won’t have time to repair, rebuild and grow,” he says.
5. Training
How you structure your exercise program has a huge impact on your muscle growth, and fortunately, it’s something you can calibrate based on your goals. Typically, you want to hit each muscle group several times per week (with recovery time interspersed) and your load should generally be heavy.
“Three to four sets of 8 to 10 repetitions at 75 to 85 percent of your one-repetition maximum,” says Buckingham. “This will give you the most bang for your buck.”
Weightlifting programs on BODi like DIG DEEPER, LIIFT4And Of course Target different muscle groups during each workout to maximize training and recovery. They also vary exercises and intensities to prioritize progress and keep things fresh.
The best exercises for rapid muscle growth
For hypertrophy, Buckingham recommends focusing on compound (multi-joint) lifts that target large muscle groups. Below are some essential exercises.
1. Front squat with dumbbells
- With the bar resting on a squat rack, grip the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart. Bring your shoulders under the bar so that your elbows are bent and facing forward and the bar rests under your palms or fingers on the top of your shoulders.
- As you lift the bar from the rack, step back and stand up straight with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. This is the starting position
- Keeping your back flat, chest lifted, and core braced, push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
- Pause, then push through your heels to return to the starting position.
2. Romanian Deadlift
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a pair of heavy dumbbells or a barbell in front of your thighs, palms facing you. This is the starting position.
- Keeping your back flat, shoulders back, and core engaged, push your hips back, lowering the weight along the front of your body to shin level, maintaining only a slight bend in your knees. .
- Pause, then slowly reverse the movement back to the starting position.
3. Dumbbell bench press
- Lie on a flat bench holding a pair of dumbbells directly above your chest with your palms facing forward. Your head, upper back, and buttocks should touch the bench, and your feet should be flat on the floor. This is the starting position.
- Keeping your core engaged, slowly lower the weights to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body (your upper arms and sides of your torso should form a 45-degree angle at the bottom of the movement).
- Pause, then push the weights back to the starting position.
4. Bent-over row with dumbbells
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Brace your core, push your hips back, bend your knees slightly, and lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor. Keep your glutes engaged to protect your lower back.
- Let the dumbbells hang at arm’s length, palms facing each other. Engage your shoulder blades to keep your shoulders pulled back. This is the starting position.
- Without moving your torso and keeping your elbows in and your back flat, place the weights on the sides of your ribs while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Make sure your elbow is bent 90 degrees so you are rowing toward your ribs and not your armpits.
- Pause, then lower the weights to the starting position.
