How much muscle can be added in 1 year for an untrained noob?

codsterlaing95
codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
As the title says, how much dry muscle can I add in one year under ideal circumstances? I'm a completely untrained beginner. Can I go from 110 LBM to 130 LBM in one year? I'm 20 years old btw. Thanks.

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    edited December 2015
    There are a lot of factors that can drive this, but I have seen some estimates as up to 20lbs the first year, but I am not sure I would count on it, especially as you are untrained.

    Definitely interested myself if anyone has more concrete scientific knowledge on this.
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    As a newbie and as a male 20-25 lbs. Female probably half that as I read a long time ago.
  • lucygoesrawr
    lucygoesrawr Posts: 184 Member
    'Dry' muscle? What's that?
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  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    edited December 2015
    So I can go from 115 LBM to 140 LBM in 2 years of dedicated training? I need to lose 30 lbs of fat first, though.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    Muscle is 75% water so "dry" wouldn't be a good description. You're probably looking at "fat free mass", and it's not impossible for an untrained person to put on 10lbs of muscle in a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Never heard of dry muscle. Lol. You mean, like, rotted decayed flesh? Why would you want that?

    They bring up a good point. Unfortunately It's hard to gain muscle in a year after you dry up and die. I for one am glad to come in here and discover dead people are not expanding annually.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    edited December 2015
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Muscle is 75% water so "dry" wouldn't be a good description. You're probably looking at "fat free mass", and it's not impossible for an untrained person to put on 10lbs of muscle in a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Only 10 lbs!?

    Then how about this guy?:

    http://imgur.com/a/ZJ11x

    He's the same age as me and that looks like a lot more than 10 lbs of muscle gained (mind you this is 1.5 years). He did not do gear or anything as far as I know.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    edited December 2015
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Muscle is 75% water so "dry" wouldn't be a good description. You're probably looking at "fat free mass", and it's not impossible for an untrained person to put on 10lbs of muscle in a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Only 10 lbs!?

    Then how about this guy?:

    http://imgur.com/a/ZJ11x

    He's the same age as me and that looks like a lot more than 10 lbs of muscle gained (mind you this is 1.5 years). He did not do gear or anything as far as I know.

    I only see pictures and not anything stating a time frame, starting/ending stats, and how much muscle he gained (and how he measured the gain).

    And what is dry muscle?
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    edited December 2015
    Huh? His stats are listed above his before pictures. And his time frame is 18 months.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Muscle is 75% water so "dry" wouldn't be a good description. You're probably looking at "fat free mass", and it's not impossible for an untrained person to put on 10lbs of muscle in a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Only 10 lbs!?

    Then how about this guy?:

    http://imgur.com/a/ZJ11x

    He's the same age as me and that looks like a lot more than 10 lbs of muscle gained (mind you this is 1.5 years). He did not do gear or anything as far as I know.
    Oh it can be more dependent on the person. Genetics matter, how one eats, rests, trains matter. Personally myself, in 6 months I put on 30lbs when I started, but I know not all of it was muscle. I was dedicated, discliplined and well trained.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Huh? His stats are listed above his before pictures. And his time frame is 18 months.

    Nope. Not seeing it. All I see is the caption above each picture- Before, Physique and Zyzz Pose. *shrugs*
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    So I can go from 115 LBM to 140 LBM in 2 years of dedicated training? I need to lose 30 lbs of fat first, though.

    How did you figure your lbm?
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    Look again...it's there.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    M/20/5'11" [138lbs to 185lbs] (1 year; 6 months) + (B: 300lbs; S: 410lbs; D: 480lbs)
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    edited December 2015
    So I can go from 115 LBM to 140 LBM in 2 years of dedicated training? I need to lose 30 lbs of fat first, though.

    On the plus side if you start now losing fat will be like gaining muscle percentage wise. Strive to keep what you have if you're trying to lose first.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    edited December 2015
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Muscle is 75% water so "dry" wouldn't be a good description. You're probably looking at "fat free mass", and it's not impossible for an untrained person to put on 10lbs of muscle in a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Only 10 lbs!?

    Then how about this guy?:

    http://imgur.com/a/ZJ11x

    He's the same age as me and that looks like a lot more than 10 lbs of muscle gained (mind you this is 1.5 years). He did not do gear or anything as far as I know.

    Using other people as examples is silly. Some people will put on 20lbs in a year. Some will struggle to put on 5. Do it and find out. The theoretical means literally nothing in cases like this. ESPECIALLY when you consider that most LBM estimation methods are extremely inaccurate. Therefore, judging something like this is not only pointless in the long run, but very difficult to calculate in the first place.

    In other words, go train and see where you get in a year. You're a young male so you should have pretty good results.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    richln wrote: »

    ^ Great article with a lot of good, detailed information for the OP.

    The answer to his question is "maybe". With good genetics and diet/training on point, 20 pounds in a year would be possible for a 20-year old male. The only way to know for sure is to try. Maybe you're one of the guys who can do it, maybe not - but if you're consistent and put the effort in, you can be 100% sure that you'd look better and have more muscle/less fat than you do now.
  • adamhendrickson92
    adamhendrickson92 Posts: 29 Member
    Under ideal circumstances as far as diet, exercise, and rest go, you could gain at least 30lbs of muscle in a year. Genetics will definitely play a role as to what the upper limit of this will be (also your height), but your goal to gain 20lbs is a very real possibility regardless of your physical predisposition.

    I'll be honest with you, chances are that your circumstances aren't going to be perfectly ideal, and that's why your achievment will ultimately depend how badly you want it. I promise you, if you rise to the challenge and take focused action to change your life, you can achieve incredible results.

    In April I was in the same position as you. Never lifted weights and was always very skinny. I was 22 years old, 6'2" and I weighed around 165lbs. It has been eight months so far, and I've built 30lbs of lean muscle. By next April I'm going to be a dry 200lbs, so for me, at least 35lbs in a year was possible.

    I don't think there's anything special about me except the amount of effort I have been putting into achieving my goals. You just have to get out there and make it happen. If you do, you'll look back a year from now and realize you made one of the greatest decisions in your life. Good luck.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    edited February 2016
    I saw this guy's transformation and was amazed:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/153hc2/progress_1_year_skinny_fat_145_lbs_to_185_lbs/

    He must've put on 15-20 lbs of muscle from 145-185, no? How did he not get very fat by starting a bulk at what looks like 18-20% body fat...?

    That's excellent progress in only one year.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    My first year of lifting I put on approx. 17lbs of lean mass. The majority of it being towards the last half of the year when knowledge and training was greatly improved. My first 4 months were actually spent at a deficit-maintenance so basically a recomp since I didn't quite understand how to gain weight just yet. It's very dependant on training, dedication, rest, and genetics. Apparently the general max potential for average genetics is 25lbs of lean mass in a year.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    jessef593 wrote: »
    My first year of lifting I put on approx. 17lbs of lean mass. The majority of it being towards the last half of the year when knowledge and training was greatly improved. My first 4 months were actually spent at a deficit-maintenance so basically a recomp since I didn't quite understand how to gain weight just yet. It's very dependant on training, dedication, rest, and genetics. Apparently the general max potential for average genetics is 25lbs of lean mass in a year.

    And how much fat did you gain with the 17 lbs of lean mass?
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    I did two cuts in that time both being about 6lbs so probably 11-15lbs of fat. Mostly due to my first bulk being over a pound a week. Still learning at the time. If you take it slow you can keep fat gain to a minimum. On my third bulk atm. Up about 6-7 pounds and I'm still showing definition/vascularity. My prof pic is my most recent. That's 2 months of bulking starting at around 9.5% body fat.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    jessef593 wrote: »
    I did two cuts in that time both being about 6lbs so probably 11-15lbs of fat. Mostly due to my first bulk being over a pound a week. Still learning at the time. If you take it slow you can keep fat gain to a minimum. On my third bulk atm. Up about 6-7 pounds and I'm still showing definition/vascularity. My prof pic is my most recent. That's 2 months of bulking starting at around 9.5% body fat.

    What program did you run for your bulk mate? PS good job.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    I tried out a push/pull/legs routine which I really enjoyed but found my workouts tended to last a bit too long for my liking and I was lacking when it came to my smaller muscle groups. Since they fell short on the totem pole when it comes to which ones get worked first. Since then I've just paired muscle groups that tend to not interfere with eachother my week looks like this
    -day 1 Legs/calves 16 sets legs/8-10 sets calves
    -day 2 abs/obliques 14 sets total
    -day 3 chest/biceps/forearms 14sets/10 sets/9 sets
    -day 4 rest
    -day 5 shoulders/traps/deadlifts 12-14 sets/4 sets/4 sets since deadlifts work your traps so heavily
    -day 6 abs/obliques 12 sets total
    -day 7 back/triceps 14-16 sets/ 9-12 sets

    I'm very aware I should take more than one rest day. At the moment though I'm doing a challenge with my gym where you go 90 days straight with 1 day off a week for the chance to win $2000. Just hit day 60.
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    jessef593 wrote: »
    I tried out a push/pull/legs routine which I really enjoyed but found my workouts tended to last a bit too long for my liking and I was lacking when it came to my smaller muscle groups. Since they fell short on the totem pole when it comes to which ones get worked first. Since then I've just paired muscle groups that tend to not interfere with eachother my week looks like this
    -day 1 Legs/calves 16 sets legs/8-10 sets calves
    -day 2 abs/obliques 14 sets total
    -day 3 chest/biceps/forearms 14sets/10 sets/9 sets
    -day 4 rest
    -day 5 shoulders/traps/deadlifts 12-14 sets/4 sets/4 sets since deadlifts work your traps so heavily
    -day 6 abs/obliques 12 sets total
    -day 7 back/triceps 14-16 sets/ 9-12 sets

    I'm very aware I should take more than one rest day. At the moment though I'm doing a challenge with my gym where you go 90 days straight with 1 day off a week for the chance to win $2000. Just hit day 60.

    Did you design it yourself or have someone put it together?
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    My first program was made by someone else but it just didn't work for me. So I decided to research a lot and made one I felt suited me, I'm constantly trying to improve it though. For a new lifter Id recommend a structured pre made lifting program. Newer lifters tend to repeat movements with way too much volume (eg. Bench press, dumbell press, Machine press, Dbell flys, cable flys.) doing all of those in one workout all targeting the lower pec
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    That is subjective to the individual.

    Why not post your one year progress?
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    That is subjective to the individual.

    Why not post your one year progress?
    Are you referring to myself or the OP?
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