Growing Muscle Faster - Is It Possible?
08
Sep
Growing Muscle Faster - Is It Possible?
Reading time - 5 mins
So I am guessing you all want FAST muscle gains and strength to soar? Everyone wants the magic pill, the “secret”, the 12-week transformation blitz. Well, guess what? You are human!
You want everything here and now, especially in this fast paced society saturated with social media and marketing telling us we need to look a certain way and live and dress like this or that.
I mean… why would you want slow gains?
Why would you want to feel like you are giving it your all but getting minimal return? BLIMEY!
But it's well known by now, or should be anyway, once you have trained for over 6 months and moved beyond your newbie level, those gains slow down.
Yeah, you occasionally get spurts of growth, but on the whole...it has all narrowed down to diminishing returns.
What helped you grow in phase A at X point of your journey may simply not be optimal for YOU at THIS point. Or what you found to help you at one stage of either your growth or fat loss phase previously may not give you what it did back then!
REMEMBER as YOU evolve as an athlete or just a simple fitness lover at the gym.... so too does the way you need to train and what you NEED (not want) to do to elicit the growth you desire...
So Ruby, what is the rate of gains I can expect???
Simply put:
- Males - Shoot for about 0.5kg (1lb) of muscle PER MONTH
- Females - Sorry but you are expecting half of that (yes I am crying on the inside too)
BUT of course, that is it broken into the simple stats… as there are many factors that play a role in this as well and GENETICS is a major contributor.
Also are you a responder or non-responder?
The degree to which you respond to any certain stimulus or input varies from person to person. Your nutrition is VITAL to this process, not just what you do in the gym... as too is rest and recovery!
ONCE AGAIN: Genetics come to the forefront.
We want it all remember? We all want the 1:0 ratio of fat to muscle gain but unless you are some genetic freak.... that is not going to happen.
Achieving a 1:1 ratio of muscle to fat gain isn’t that bad of an occurrence. You can shed the fat off easier and at a quicker rate than muscle gain, which is much more limited by speed.
If you employ a SMART fat loss phase where you maintain as much muscle and strength as you can, you will, in the end, be left with a larger bulk of muscle at a lean body fat level to allow you to start a gaining phase again where you are hormonally at an optimal place to begin.
Now - How about STRENGTH?
Well, if it was always on the increase, wouldn’t we all be superheroes by now?
Sometimes you will feel like it is SKY ROCKETING and you are on a massive winning streak, other times, you can barely lift 80% of your 1RM.
So strength goes through lots of ups and downs. It is highly dependent on YOUR environmental factors and training + nutrition.
Review your progression (or get a coach too) - the exercise selection, rep ranges, frequency, the undulation and the frequency of deloading.
Your eating....
How you're overloading/overreaching....
Review those factors regularly, ensure you are progressing and the results will come. Happy eating, lifting, resting, and living your balanced and happy lifestyle of fitness!!
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