We all want to look like super heroes and stars, be it Captain America, Daniel Craig, or Katniss Everdeen. And like Homer Simpson, we want it NOW.
Fortunately for us, there is no shortage of magazines, products, and supplements promising us those results in just a few short weeks/months! UNFORTUNATELY for us, reality doesn’t agree. Yes, we can eventually get the results we’re after…provided we put in the time, energy, effort, discipline, and dedication.
So how DO we get there? For most people – the superhero version of themselves would require a loss of fat and both increase in muscle. I've covered the weight loss side of this in recent blogs. Also I am doing a blog series on weight loss and obesity so make sure to follow me if you're interested.
If you’ve read those blogs then you know my recommendation is usually to start with light bodyweight exercises before you pack on some muscle, which is the focus of today’s blog. If you’re a person on the thinner side of average looking to bulk up, this article will cover you too.
Here are some of the most common questions I get that I’ll be addressing today:
How fast can I build muscle naturally?
If I’m new, can I gain more quickly?
I’m worried about getting too bulky, help?
Can I target specific body parts?
I’ll be answering all of those questions in today’s blog
How fast can I build muscle naturally?
- Under OPTIMAL conditions, you can expect to gain around 10-25 pounds of muscle per month if you are a male looking to bulk up while training with HIIT or mid-strength endurance. If you're a female, due to your lack of T/testosterone you can expect 5-9 pounds. If you're already a bulky person with a good amount of fat lying on top, less than 10 pounds (male); less than 5 pounds (female).
If I’m new, can I gain more mass quickly?
The answer would be yes and no! Reason being if you understood what you're doing then you can gained a lot initially extremely fast. But eventually GAINZ®and everything goes down slowly and gradually and become so hard to gain even 5 pounds of muscle without supplements.
If you are experience with weights and bodybuilding like I am then you can always take off any amount of weight and put on any amount of weight super fast. If you're a beginner then it is going to take you a couple months to get seasoned with weight training, workout intensities, hypertrophy, dieting, mental preparedness, meal scheduling, sleep, supplementation and maneuvering thru various exercises. Of course even with a trainer living and sleeping by your side; following you to the toilet when you take a shit, counting the nutrition content of all your meals and pushing you to do weights, still takes months. If you have a trainer like me then 4-6 months will do you well. You will do better than most people doing other rigorous sports. I am a top class experienced trainer, although I am only 19. I've been into fitness instruction for three and a half years and bodybuilding for five and a half years. I trained and learned from 13 time in a row Mr. Jamaica. He won the Caribbean Bodybuilding & Fitness Contest over 11 times. He has trained the most female and male top bodybuilding athletes in my country and is an executive member of Jamaica Bodybuilder And Fitness Association (JABBFA). In peak month gains I've seen 50+ pounds of muscle in under two months. I've gained 6 pounds in 4 days already so I know GAINZ!!
I’m worried about getting to bulky?
I get this a lot from mostly women. The moment they even hear about weights or a simple dumbbell they immediately begin to fear being bulky. All these imaginations of women looking like lady hulk immediately swarm your mind and they are freaked about even beginning to take care of their own heath by lifting weights. You dear steemian do not be so paranoid about it. If you walk down the road you can always stop to rest. You are being equally paranoid if you were to fear not being able to walk down the road and not stop. You can stop walking anytime as much as you can stop working out. You can decrease from a 5 MPH walk to a 2. You just need to breathe and chill the f*** out. You will not get bulky if you don't want to! You will not walk at 5 MPH if you prefer 2 MPH! Now go kill some fat! Build those sexy abs and tighten that curvy backside!
Can I target specific body parts?
Yes it is possibly to target every major and minor muscles in the body. You can do so with simple and compound exercises.
On this teaching series I will teach you everything you need to know about:
• Getting more restful sleep
• Slim n toned to bulky or lean
• How to pick energy foods so you aren't lazy at work
• Choosing the right gym
• How to train properly
“Optimal conditions” mean that you are eating the right amount and the right kinds of food, AND you are training intensely enough to create damaged muscle tissue. Damaged tissue is usually followed by soreness for a day up to a week (dependent on your regime). Proper sleep is also absolutely necessary.
Now I won't say 8 or 9 he's. Just sleep until you aren't tired. Period.
Going from 1 pull up to 4 sets of 15? Adding 550 pounds to your squat? Adding 450 pounds to your deadlift?
I can’t predict what sort of results you’ll see in that first year, but it can be pretty epic if you attack it right! Muscle growth might happen slower than you want, but I expect something different will happen along the way – you’ll fall in love with this idea of building STRENGTH! In fact, getting hooked on progress, and strength training is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
So, if you are young, growing, and brand spankin new to strength training, you’ll be able to pack on muscle nicely. My goal will be for you to do it in a way that’s sustainable!
Hopefully I didn’t put a big damper on your Captain-America fueled dreams!I just want to set proper expectations so you don’t get discouraged with slow progress, and instead get SUPER encouraged with any progress. Getting strong should be freakin’ fun! Weirdly enough, once I stopped trying to get there quickly is when I started to actually make permanent progress.
Good? Good! Now let’s build you some muscle!
Okay, How do I build muscle?
“But Jerome, I don’t have access to a gym – can I pack on muscle with just bodyweight exercises?”
Yes, you can pack on size while only doing bodyweight exercises – I did it while getting ready for a bodybuilding show– and gymnasts train mostly with bodyweight movements. The technique is called isolation training. However, this can feel like playing Halo on Legendary difficulty. It can be done, but damn it can be challenging – especially for lower body movements. If your sole goal is to get bigger as fast as possible, access to a barbell for squats and deadlift is almost a requirement.
One note: Our genetics factor in tremendously – some people can put on muscle easily, some people put on fat easily, while naturally thin people will struggle to put on either. It’s in our genetics and our lifestyle (@thelifestyler knows lifestyles)! We can certainly do our best to fight that battle, but it will be a struggle for some more than others.
Note about all of the above. If you’re confused about how to start with strength training, or you want to start with bodyweight training before trying a gym, or you just want to make sure you’re squatting and doing pull-ups right, I will cover ALL of that in my daily blogs. All you need to do is follow me andy you will get everything you need.
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Amazing job @thelifestyler Followed...
Thank you!
This post was awesome! I love how you said that building muscle with isolation training was like playing Halo on legendary difficulty. I do have a question though. Both my knees are awful and I can't run or jump or do any high impact activities that would put excess strain on my knees. Do you have any thing that would be helpful for someone trying to cut fat and gain muscle without doing any high impact exercises with the legs?
Yes I do! Leg extensions work well with strengthening the knee. Wall sits. Lunges. Walking lunges.Seated calf raises. Hamstring curls. Skipping rope. Deadlift. As for your knees tgemselves and your weight, eat spinach, avocado, quinoa, brown rice, sockeye, salmon, tuna, mackerel, beef, higher protein meals, go out and socialize more, you'll spend less time eating unhealthy foods. Cut out the junk carbs. You'll see major one month improvements!
Thanks! I'll for sure try to incorporate this in my day to day!
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In this super hero craze so many lost their brains freaked out :) Everybody is blessed with something special , that others do not possess what we need to do is to identify that special gift we are blessed with!
I love you information you shared. It was fun listening to you during the chat. It's always awesome to see someone chasing their dreams and doing what they love. I can tell you love what you do and you take it very serious. They say helping others is the best way to learn and master something and you got that down. Thank you for sharing
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dear my friend thanks.
It is my pleasure @forexmaster