How many pounds of muscle could I really put on?

abbylg1983

OK, I am an average size female and I do a little strength training, but nothing very consistent other than carrying my daughter around.

Let's just pretend for a minute than I did weight lifting by the book- with optimum nutrition and recovery time and was very consistent with my workouts and progressed heavier each time. How much muscle weight could I honestly expect to gain per month?

I read a lot where women complain that they are working out and gaining weight, and everyone is like, oh it's muscle, that's good, but it's like, 2 pounds in a week. That seems a bit much. I have heard 1-2 pounds a month if you're doing everything right which seems more reasonable but I am no expert.

I know gaining muscle varies from person to person but is there some general average for women?

6spdeg

yea MUCH harder to build muscle than put on fat. if you are lucky id say 1-2 lbs in a mo. depending on your body type..prob less than a lb be more realistic.

budru21

As a beginners, you could realistically put on 7-10 pounds in a year. After a year or so, you would taper off and be lucky to put on 3-5 in a year. That is the advice I have been given by several of my bodybuilding trainers.

budru21

yea MUCH harder to build muscle than put on fat. if you are lucky id say 1-2 lbs in a mo. depending on your body type..prob less than a lb be more realistic.

Agreed!

ipiddock

I don't think there is any clear cut answer to this. I believe for the normal person (whatever that is) it will be a slow process. However, if you are intentionally building muscle you can bulk up on protein and do lots of strength training and you will gain muscle mass quicker.

abbylg1983

wow, only 7-10 pounds? That's really not very much. I always grit my teeth when people say, oh I must have just gained muscle weight, when it's some absurdly high number over a short period of time.

jacksonpt

It depends on so many things it's almost impossible to say. 1lb/month max seems to be the generally agreed upon number for the average person with average genetics, a good diet, good routine, and excellent dedication. Women will generally have a harder time hitting that number than men due to lower testosterone levels.

Start changing any of those factors (genetics, diet, routine, dedication, etc) and your results will vary even more.

kiachu

if your were an average woman operating at 110%. Maybe a pound 1 or 1.5 per month I think.

ninerbuff

OK, I am an average size female and I do a little strength training, but nothing very consistent other than carrying my daughter around.

Let's just pretend for a minute than I did weight lifting by the book- with optimum nutrition and recovery time and was very consistent with my workouts and progressed heavier each time. How much muscle weight could I honestly expect to gain per month?

I read a lot where women complain that they are working out and gaining weight, and everyone is like, oh it's muscle, that's good, but it's like, 2 pounds in a week. That seems a bit much. I have heard 1-2 pounds a month if you're doing everything right which seems more reasonable but I am no expert.

I know gaining muscle varies from person to person but is there some general average for women?

The average male would LUCKY to put on 1lb a month even in surplus. A female in calorie deficit? They'd be lucky to put on 0.5lb in 6 months.
It's practically improbable to gain muscle on calorie deficit. Not impossible, but genetics, experience (newbie), past activity (former athlete) and being obese/very overweight would have the be the category you'd have to be in to gain doing it. And even then it's not as much as everyone thinks.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

As a beginners, you could realistically put on 7-10 pounds in a year. After a year or so, you would taper off and be lucky to put on 3-5 in a year. That is the advice I have been given by several of my bodybuilding trainers.

And this is for a MALE. Females much less unless "enhanced".


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Angie__1MR

A woman would be genetically gifted to put on 5 pounds of quality muscle a year.

godmummylouise

Im hitting the gym and swimming virtually everyday which is burning lots of calories BUT im not losing on the scales. in fact im standing still.although im feeling slightly trimmer and tighter.
i thought i was doing something wrong and needed to cut down my calorie intact for the days, but i was advised to keep going as i am.
Personally i think my body has gone into shock and the reason im not losing weight is due to that fact. i think some of it may be muscle, or water, im not sure, but i think its something you just have to work through and give it LOTS of time.
I am gonna keep doing what im doing and hope that my body starts getting used to the new healthy eating and intensity of workouts and balances itself out.

korygilliam

Just in case the 'weight gain' is what you are concerned with, not looking for how much you COULD gain

When I do strength training, I gain around 1-3 pounds on the 2nd or 3rd day just due to the swelling of my muscles, which is primarily water weight. If I stop strength training, the weight comes off in about 2 days (along with my muscles calming down. Or, when I did a long time of strength training, that extra weight seemed to flush itself out as my body got used to be used that way.

hottottie11

I'm hoping people will read this and stop telling people (women specifically) that they gained 2-5lb of muscle doing Turbo Jam or 30DS on a calorie deficit in one week. :huh:

jacksonpt

Im hitting the gym and swimming virtually everyday which is burning lots of calories BUT im not losing on the scales. in fact im standing still.although im feeling slightly trimmer and tighter.
i thought i was doing something wrong and needed to cut down my calorie intact for the days, but i was advised to keep going as i am.
Personally i think my body has gone into shock and the reason im not losing weight is due to that fact. i think some of it may be muscle, or water, im not sure, but i think its something you just have to work through and give it LOTS of time.
I am gonna keep doing what im doing and hope that my body starts getting used to the new healthy eating and intensity of workouts and balances itself out.

What's your goal - lose weight or add muscle? How long have you been at it?

lynn1982

I think some of it is water weight? But that's really only directly after you begin a new program and should drop within a few days...at least, that's what happened to me when I did 30 DS. If someone's working out consistently and in a calorie deficit, then they should not be putting on that much weight consistently over time.

abbylg1983

I'm hoping people will read this and stop telling people (women specifically) that they gained 2-5lb of muscle doing Turbo Jam or 30DS on a calorie deficit in one week. :huh:

Yeah that's sort of what I was getting at. I am tired of reading, I'm going to the gym every day and I'm not losing any weight, what gives? And someone always writes, oh you're gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat! So, by the most generous of the guidelines here, you could expect to gain a pound a month. That means if you've been working out for a month and the scale hasn't moved, you have at most gained one pound of muscle and lost a pound of fat. Hmm.

em9371

The average male would LUCKY to put on 1lb a month even in surplus. A female in calorie deficit? They'd be lucky to put on 0.5lb in 6 months.
It's practically improbable to gain muscle on calorie deficit. Not impossible, but genetics, experience (newbie), past activity (former athlete) and being obese/very overweight would have the be the category you'd have to be in to gain doing it. And even then it's not as much as everyone thinks.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Ninerbuff,

sorry to hijack the thread a bit here but you seem to know your stuff and I have a quick question...
I get my body fat measured on a big scanner at the gym and get a print out with my results.
Last month it said my bf% was down 2.5%, overall weight loss was 2kg, but my fat loss was 3kg which would suggest I had put on a kg of muscle in a month.
I thought this seemed ridiculous, is it even possible? I do seem to have lost a lot of inches lately but not much weight.
I eat 2100 cals (p30 / f30 / c40), and would class myself as very active, I do 3 spin classes, 4 boxercise classes and 2 hours of heavy weights per week. TDEE is around 2600-2800 so am in 500-700ish cal deficit.

Thanks :-)

_ylime_

Thank you! I have been getting irritated with people telling me after 3 weeks of Crossfit / Heavy lifting the reason my weight loss has stalled is muscle gain... clearly I have not added 2lbs of muscle in 3 weeks while in a calorie deficit... :laugh:

So my question (sorry for jumping your thread OP)... is when can I expect the scale to start moving in the right direction... I have been at this new routine for 3 weeks. Before that I was doing primarily cardio and losing 1-2lbs per week eating 1700 - 1800 calories... I am eating slightly more 1800 - 1900 now and the scale either goes up or stays the same... I am training 3-4 days per week and doing light cardio on my "off days"... If someone can help me figure this out I would really appreciate it :flowerforyou:

Yanicka1

Most have no idea how hard it is to put on muscles

krisiepoo

They're likely gaining weight from WATER weight that the muscles are retaining to repair and grow themselves. They're not likely actually gaining that much weight from straight muscle gains