Initial bulk

shangri la

I read the longer you lift the less muscle you will gain from one month to the next and the biggest monthly gains are to be found in the first 3 months of a proper weights and nutrition regime.

Some of the information I came across said that gains of about 1lb to 2lbs a month can be expected in the second year.

I am looking for educated guesses on what gains I could reasonably expect to gain with a proper weight lifting program under the guidance of one of the instructors in the gym combined with a high protein diet.

I'm 24, 6"2, very skinny, office worker, not much resistance training up to this point, reasonably fit (5 a side). I would be very dedicated for the 3 months and can put in as much time as is recommended in the gym. As a side note my diet so far has been dire but I have been learning how to cook suitable meals in preparation for this period.

Thanks for any advice.

Inspector Coptoor

It would be extremely difficult to estimate what kind of gains you could make in the three months.

Id say that there aint nothing to it but to do it.

Get a programme done out for you at the gym (make sure it includes free weights and movement s like squats, deads, pull ups, bench press and bodyweight excercises like inverted rows, push ups and lunges)

Eat right, sleep loads and lift.

shangri la

Was thinking it would be too difficult to estimate.

To put it another way, considering it is the first 3 months, if the exercise and diet are good, would it be reasonable to gain 12lb to 14lb of muscle?

marathonic

shangri la wrote: »

Was thinking it would be too difficult to estimate.

To put it another way, considering it is the first 3 months, if the exercise and diet are good, would it be reasonable to gain 12lb to 14lb of muscle?

The figures that I've read suggest that, in the first year of serious training, you should expect to gain 1lb of lean muscle every 2 weeks. There are 13 weeks in 3 months so that'd suggest aiming for 6.5lbs of muscle.

Do not underestimate the difference 10lbs of muscle makes to someones physique. I added 8-9lbs of muscle last year and had comments from people saying that I shouldn't add any more as I'd be too muscular - this isn't the case as I'm 5' 11" and 79kg (with 15% bodyfat) at the moment. However, it goes to show that you don't need to add a stone of muscle for it to be noticed.

BTW, I'm not disagreeing with Liam Henners257 here - genetics plays a huge role and you could gain significantly more. I'm just saying that setting out with an expectation of 12-14lbs of muscle in 3 months is likely to end up in you getting de-motivated as 90%+ of people will be unable to achieve this.

Inspector Coptoor

Estimates are just that, guesses.

Just get to it man, and let us know in 3 months how you got on.