4 Must-Dos to Ensure Optimal Muscle Growth
Everyone wants to build muscle as fast as possible. In fact, one of the top reasons why people come to me for Personal Training is to build muscle. However, the truth is that muscle-building is a long, slow and often frustrating process. As a result, it may be hard to tell if you’re actually effectively building muscle or not. And the added fact that progress will slow down as you gain more experience, is not helping.
But roughly how fast can you realistically build muscle? A study at McMaster University found that the average male beginner training 4 times a week can gain about 3kg of muscle in 10-12 weeks. That means about 1kg of muscle per month while training in optimal conditions. In this other study, it was found that with good nutrition and consistent training, 0.9kg of muscle growth per month is possible for beginners. While it may seem little, over time, the results can be significant. With 12 months of consistent training, you’ll be able to gain up to 10kg of muscle mass! But as you progress, the rate of muscle gain will slow down. At the intermediate stage, researcher Alan Aragon estimate the rate of muscle growth for a 70kg male is about 0.4-0.8kg per month. And for advanced individuals, about 0.2-0.4kg of muscle growth per month.
And these numbers are assuming that your training and nutrition are optimal, but since this does not happen for most people, muscle-building can actually be even slower than previously outlined. So the important question is - What should you do to build muscle as fast as possible? In this article, check out the 4 Must-Dos to ensure optimal muscle growth.
How to Pack on Mass Fast for Skinny Guys (or Hard Gainers)
You’ve been training for some time, eating all the ‘bodybuilding food’, and on paper, it seems like you’re doing everything right. But you just can’t seem to put on any size despite all the hard work, and get frustrated. You look at yourself in the mirror daily and feel like you’re just destined to be skinny forever, or in other words, a hard gainer.
I’ve come across many people who once thought they were hard gainers. No matter how much they ate or trained, they just can’t seem to put on any weight onto their skinny frame. Although there are studies that show that body types are not pseudoscience, it is still definitely possible for hard gainers to put on significant muscle mass as long as they are eating and training right. And after these hard gainers realized their mistakes and optimized their training and nutrition, they started to add pounds of muscle to their frame after consistency and patience.
I am pretty sure most of you hard gainers can do the same too. And in this article, I’ll be going through the things skinny guys should be doing to put on muscle mass in the most efficient way possible. Let’s dive in.