When a person joins the gym or starts lifting weights the most common question he asks is, “how long does it take to build muscle?”.
If you also have this question then you are at the correct place. This article will clear all your doubts regarding this query. Keep reading to know how to get started and build muscles faster.
How Long Does It Take To Build Noticeable Muscles?
Muscle building is not a simple process. It’s a very demanding and long-term game to build muscles and get a ripped physique. But to see some noticeable changes in your body is not that difficult.
If you do everything correctly, then you can gain a noticeable muscle mass in a few weeks to several months.
However, if your goal is to build a greek god physique like “Jeff Seid” or to be a professional bodybuilder, then it’s a different thing. This will take years of hard work and dedication to accomplish.
In how much time you can build muscles is a very complex question. There’s not a single answer to it. It depends on how much muscle mass you want to gain and the person who is building the muscles.
It is not possible to predict precisely how much time one would take to build muscle. Because it depends on multiple factors and varies from person to person.
What Affects Your Muscle Growth?
Here are some factors that affects how long would you take to build muscle:
1. Your genetic makeup:
Your genetic blueprint has a big impact on how much and how fast you can build muscle. If you’re genetically blessed, then congrats, you can gain muscles at a faster rate than most people.
But in my opinion, you should not think much about your genes as this is something over which you don’t have any control.
2. Your Age:
In the case of muscle building, age is not just a number. The younger you are, the easier it for you to build muscle. Because the two most important hormones, testosterone and HGH (Human growth hormone) are at their peak.
As you grow older, your testosterone levels start reducing (especially after 30), hence it becomes slightly harder to build muscles.
3. Your training experience:
As a beginner, it’s easier for you to build muscles (something that people call the ‘newbie gains‘). But as you keep gaining muscles and getting more advanced, it becomes harder for you to build muscles.
As your muscle mass increase and you reach closer to your genetic potential, the rate of your muscle growth becomes slow. That’s because you are going to touch the upper limit of the amount of muscles you can gain.
4. The way you train:
You can’t build muscles fast just by going gym regularly. You have to train smartly – according to your body type and goals. Following training variables determine how long will you take to build muscles:
- How many sets should you do for muscle gain,
- The optimum rep range for muscle hypertrophy,
- How much rest between sets for muscle growth,
- How many exercises per workout should you do,
- Cardio before or after weights,
- High reps vs low reps, etc.
Check out the above articles and plan your workout routine smartly to gain muscles faster.
5. Nutrition:
Good nutrition is the most important factor to build a good physique. No matter how hard you are pushing in the gym, if your diet is not up to the mark, you won’t see progress.
A good muscle-building diet doesn’t mean eating a lot of protein. There must be a proper combination of all the macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) with enough calories.
Read More: Find Your Macros For Lean Muscle Gain in 3 Simple Steps
6. Rest and recovery:
Taking enough rest and giving ample time to recover your muscles is as important as training and nutrition. Lack of sleep and mental stress can extend your recovery rate which ultimately results in slower muscle growth.
The Rate of Building Muscles
Let’s assume you are a youngster or in your 20s with an average genetic structure. Now you just started lifting weights with a perfectly designed workout plan and taking proper nutrition.
Here I’m also assuming that you are following your workout and diet plan with full dedication. Giving your 100% in the gym, day in day out, month in month out.
Now with proper discipline and consistency, an average guy can gain about 0.3 to 0.5 pounds of muscles per week.
This number is much lower for women as they don’t have enough testosterone to build muscles. Still, women can gain about 0.15 to 0.25 pounds of muscle per week.
How much muscle can you gain in a month?
Now with this rate, you may be thinking that you can gain 2 pounds of muscle every month. But unfortunately, our body doesn’t work like that.
As a beginner, you can build muscles at this rate but this will not remain constant. The rate of building muscles keeps reducing as you gain more training experience.
So in the beginning, you can build 2 pounds of muscles in a month. But with time, this rate will keep on reducing.
At an intermediate level with about 2 years of training experience, you may gain just 0.4 to 1 pound of muscle per month. And at an advanced level (with 3+ years of training), you would experience minimal muscle gain per year.
How much muscle can you gain in a year?
In the first year of training you can gain maximum muscle mass. This would be proved as a golden year for you to build muscle. However, the amount of muscle you can gain in a year keeps reducing with your experience level.
| Category | Years of experience | Muscle gain per year |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Less than 1 | 15-25 pounds |
| Intermediate | 1 to 3 | 8-12 pounds |
| Advance | More than 3 | 3-6 pounds |
No matter what supplements you take, what kind of special foods you eat, you can’t gain 10 pounds of muscles in a month. So be aware of these types of fake claims.
In order to build muscles, proper training, healthy and nutritious diet, and enough rest is the only way to go. Do this with consistent hard work and you’ll get the desired results for sure.
So how long does it take to build a muscular physique?
First of all, you need to understand that you can’t keep gaining muscle endlessly. There is an upper limit to build muscles. But you can’t reach there in a few months or even in a year.
To reach the maximum muscular potential, most people need 3-5 years of hardcore training and good nutrition.
Now if you play your game smartly, then these 3 to 5 years of hard work will definitely give you that dream muscular physique you desire.
However, in older age, you may take more time to reach your maximum potential as the rate of building muscles becomes slow as you age. But hard work and perseverance will get you there soon.
How Muscle Growth Happens (Science Stuff)
When you do resistance training or weight training, you put extreme stress on your muscles. However, the level of stress depends on the intensity of your exercise. Because of this, your muscles fibers undergo wear and tear.
Due to this damage, the satellite cells get activated which are present on the outside of the muscle fibers. Their work is to repair the damage which results in slightly bigger muscle fibers.
In this way, your muscles get adapted to tolerate slightly more stress next time and gradually your muscles grow bigger. This process is also known as “muscle hypertrophy“.
Read more: What Is Muscle Hypertrophy & How To Maximize It
There are some hormones that help to grow your muscles too. They are responsible for:
- forming new blood capillaries,
- building new muscle cells,
- repairing the old ones,
- supplying nutrition to your muscles,
- boosting metabolism, etc.
Some hormones like testosterone, HGH (human growth hormone), insulin, etc. play a major role in building and retaining muscles.
How Long Does It Take To Build Muscles – SUMMARY
Building muscles is not a game of a few weeks or months and also a difficult and slow process. It demands pure hard work, discipline, and consistency over a long period of time.
As a beginner, you can gain about 2 pounds of muscles in a month and a total of 15 to 25 pounds of muscles in your first year of training. But as you gain experience, the rate at which you build muscle keeps reducing. Hence, the muscle mass you can gain in a year also keeps decreasing.
At an advanced level, you may take 4 to 6 months to gain those 2 pounds of muscles. Please note that you’ll achieve these results only if your training and nutrition is up to the mark.
Even with the best fitness trainer and iron-strong willpower, you’ll take about 3 to 5 years to reach your maximum muscle-building potential.
