How Much Muscle Can You Really Gain Naturally?

[WillBrink]

That’s a question I have been asked at least 8,973,172,984 times in my career, and I never felt comfortable answering it for various reasons, some of which would be obvious to some, not so obvious to others… Here, once and for all, is my attempt at answering that question…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X1uSCecLyA

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Will

I Have been traning with weights on and of for 12 years and that is one question I have never even thought of asking seams obvious to me most guys get out what they put in.

I have a comitment to keep my body clean.

[J-Dub]

well too many variables out there to answer that question.

Training, diet, genetics, life style...the list goes on, they all play a role.

[WillBrink]

Will

I Have been traning with weights on and of for 12 years and that is one question I have never even thought of asking seams obvious to me most guys get out what they put in.

Yes, but that seems to be approx what they will get from it, with the reality that some will get more, some less, due to genetics, and other variables.

[WillBrink]

well too many variables out there to answer that question.

With absolute precision, no. A reasonable approximation yes.

Training, diet, genetics, life style...the list goes on, they all play a role.

As mentioned in the vid, yes.

[300WM]

As everyone has said above, it depends on your ambition, as much as anything. Take a guy like Kiyoshi Moody for example (2009 all natural Mr. Olympia). He is the epitomy of ambition for gaining muscle, naturally. For a man his height (5'9"), he should have a BMI of around 160 lbs, which is at the heavy end of normal for that height and his frame build. His competition weight was 200 lbs and 3% body fat. That is 40 lbs of added muscle on a man 5 feet, 9 inches tall. I on the other hand do not have that ambition, and maybe not the genetic disposition he does, but I do train hard, and I eat a natural diet with rest and recovery time. I am 5'11" and should be at 172lbs according to the BMI, and I carry a weight of 196 to 198lbs nine months of the year (I take Dec., Jan., and Feb., off for joint rest and tend to gain a few lbs.)at around 6 to 7% body fat. That is only about 22 to 24lbs of lean muscle added to my normal build. I have the genetics to gain more, and I certainly eat the right foods, but the time and ambition needed to gain more is a challenge for me.

As everyone says, many variables. Put desire and ambition at the top of the list.

[D.S. Brown]

disregard

[WillBrink]

Put desire and ambition at the top of the list.

Obviously, those are important factors, but if you aint got the genetics for it, no amount of desire will change it. I can desire all I want to run like an Olympic sprinter, win a national level bodybuilding show, or break records at the Boston Marathon, it still will not happen. Hence, genetics, is the number one factor at the end of the day.

Your genetics are a major factor of how you respond to exercise. People never like hearing that fact...

For example, individual differences VO2max are found with aerobic training with people put on identical protocols. Some are "super responders" some are average responders and some are total non responders.

Take a look at the Heritage study below, which has even identified specific genes that tells them who will respond well to aerobic exercise and who will not!

Some day, I'm sure those genes responsible for why some respond so well to resistance training and others don't, will also be isolated.

HERITAGE --Genetics, Response to Exercise, Risk Factors

Introduction

It is widely recognized that individuals can respond quite differently to a given intervention, such as drugs, diet, or exercise. For instance, there are considerable individual differences in improvement in maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max; measure of aerobic endurance capacity) with aerobic training.

Studies conducted with young or older adults have typically reported gains in VO2max ranging from almost 0% to 50%, even though all the subjects completed exactly the same training program under close supervision. Scientists had previously assumed that these variations result from differing degrees of compliance with the training program, i.e., good compliers have the highest percentage of improvement and poor compliers show little or no improvement.

However, it is now clear that even when there is full compliance with the program, substantial variations occur in the percentage improvements in VO2max values of different people. The same principle is also thought to apply to other physical activity-related phenotypes, including differences in response of the various risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, previous studies conducted with identical twins have suggested that heredity plays a major role in determining to what degree the body adapts to an intervention such as an exercise training program.

Cont:

http://www.pbrc.edu/heritage/index.html

[sniperfrog]

Will,

I'm glad you posted this. It took me many years to figure out just how much genetics plays in ones abilty to gain muscle, stamina etc..

I get tested for VO2max every year and actually train pretty hard for this. I have tried every conceivable workout to improve my VO2 but it's always roughly the same regardless of what I do or don't do.

I know a guy that pretty much does nothing aerobic yet his VO2 is about 10 points higher than mine.

I've also been lifting weights for about 20 years now and have pretty much stayed the same size since I was 22 years old regardless of all the different approaches I've used to gain muscle.

I've never had a "six pack" either no matter what kind of diet I follow.

A friend of mine in the Navy was a freak. He could go several months without running than go out and do a 10 miler and maintain roughly a 6 minute mile pace. Same guy also never lifted weights, ever. One day we were bench pressing and had 225 on the bar. We asked him to give it a try and he does it 7 times. This guy only weighed about 165lbs. Not bad for someone who never benched before.

[WillBrink]

Will,

I'm glad you posted this. It took me many years to figure out just how much genetics plays in ones abilty to gain muscle, stamina etc..

I get tested for VO2max every year and actually train pretty hard for this. I have tried every conceivable workout to improve my VO2 but it's always roughly the same regardless of what I do or don't do.

I know a guy that pretty much does nothing aerobic yet his VO2 is about 10 points higher than mine.

I've also been lifting weights for about 20 years now and have pretty much stayed the same size since I was 22 years old regardless of all the different approaches I've used to gain muscle.

I've never had a "six pack" either no matter what kind of diet I follow.

A friend of mine in the Navy was a freak. He could go several months without running than go out and do a 10 miler and maintain roughly a 6 minute mile pace. Same guy also never lifted weights, ever. One day we were bench pressing and had 225 on the bar. We asked him to give it a try and he does it 7 times. This guy only weighed about 165lbs. Not bad for someone who never benched before.

Yes, those are people on the extreme side of the bell graph. I know some guys who can gain muscle by just thinking about lifting a weight. Those are rare, but show the extremes of genetic variances. Victor Richards told me he was 260lb hard at 16 before he ever lifted a weight.

So, such genetics exist running (per study above) and most other activities.

Vast majority of people, as expected, fall somewhere in the middle and will respond to exercise well.