You’re here for an answer, so I’m going to get the ugly truth (that will probably make you sad) out of the way.
How fast can you build muscle?
Under OPTIMAL conditions, you can expect to gain around 1-2 pounds of muscle per month.
We’ve found that for most Rebels here in the Nerd Fitness Rebellion (our community), closer to one pound per month is the reality.
“Optimal conditions” mean that you are:
- Eating the right amount and the right kinds of food.
- Potenntially using 1-2 supplements (protein and creatine).
- You are training perfectly for muscle growth (which we explain in this section here).
Oh, and proper sleep is also absolutely necessary.
This also means you are trying to thread the needle of eating JUST enough to build muscle, but not too much that you put on a lot of fat, too.
Yeah, you could go full hulk mode (“dirty bulk”) and just eat anything and everything, maxing out your muscle building… but it’ll be buried under fat, which you’ll have to trim again and restart the cycle.
While it is certainly one effective way to gain muscle and strength, we more often recommend fiddling with your diet and training so you can find that sweet spot where you’re building muscle and not gaining too much fat.
All of this to say: Yes, can build muscle quickly, but it will NOT be the crazy amount you read about in the magazines, unless you’re taking Dr. Stark’s super serum (ROIDS!).
If you had grand visions of looking like the dudes in the ads you see in muscle and fitness, don’t expect to do so in 90 days with a few days of training and protein shakes.
Remember: Expect 1-2 pounds of month of muscle gain…under optimal conditions.
The one possible exception to gaining strength and muscle fast? Noob gains.