A bodybuilder's site says the most muscle you can gain naturally in a year is 5 lbs?

[paolo59]

5 pounds of solid muscle is quite a lot. If one has low body fat, that would be very noticeable. Over the last year or so I have dropped ten pounds, and added a good amount of size, especially in the shoulders and legs. At 5'8" I was not fat at 170 pounds. I am now around 160. Weight alone can be deceptive. I've seen some individuals with incredible physiques, and have been shocked at how "light" they were! It's like, hell, I weigh ten pounds more and don't look anything like that!!!! LOL

[Sevb33]

Is that your actual weight? If so, you're a ****ing monster man.

Yes it's my weight but it's mostly fat, if you've see my chart you'll know I've lost 83.5 lbs since Jan 1st this year. I plan to lose another 80+ by the end of the year. and another 80+ the first 6 months of next year putting me at around 250 lbs (I think is a pretty good weight for me) and all the while I am lifting weights and gaining muscle. I am still learning to "crawl before I walk". I've been averaging about a 3 lbs loss per week, sometimes more, sometimes less, of course.

[RLara85]

It depends how developed you are. For someone who's been in the game for 15 years, gaining 5 lbs of lean tissue in a year is a pretty damn big deal.... go to the grocery store and look at 5lbs of lean meat, that's a LOT of tissue to add to your body, especially if you've already put on pounds of mass over the years.

So yeah, it's logical and I'd say it's a damn good gain.

Weight doesn't matter. I've seen people at 230lbs that look flabby and scrawny, I've seen guys at 170lbs (Jim Cordova) that look freakishly huge. Your bone structure, height, organs, how much water your retain etc. all come into play when it's about your weight. Go by measurements.... if you weight 150lbs and have 19 inch arms.... that's insane, but who cares, you look good. I almost never go above 210lbs, why? Because foods expensive? I've actually dropped down to 205 and my arms, legs, calves, forearms, neck... well, everything, has grown. Just proof that weight doesn't mean much.

[paolo59]

It depends how developed you are. For someone who's been in the game for 15 years, gaining 5 lbs of lean tissue in a year is a pretty damn big deal.... go to the grocery store and look at 5lbs of lean meat, that's a LOT of tissue to add to your body, especially if you've already put on pounds of mass over the years.

So yeah, it's logical and I'd say it's a damn good gain.

Weight doesn't matter. I've seen people at 230lbs that look flabby and scrawny, I've seen guys at 170lbs (Jim Cordova) that look freakishly huge. Your bone structure, height, organs, how much water your retain etc. all come into play when it's about your weight. Go by measurements.... if you weight 150lbs and have 19 inch arms.... that's insane, but who cares, you look good. I almost never go above 210lbs, why? Because foods expensive? I've actually dropped down to 205 and my arms, legs, calves, forearms, neck... well, everything, has grown. Just proof that weight doesn't mean much.

Excellent example! You look at what 5 pounds of lean meat looks like, you're absolutely right, it's a lot!!!

[Obnoxious123]

you guys must realize that the TOP professional bodybuilders come back to the same contest the next year at pretty much exactly the same BF% and are most of the time within 10lbs of what they were the previous year. that is PURE muscle. i think 5lbs a year is average for the average male to gain in muscle over a year, a natural one. around double that for a non-natural.

[Sevb33]

you guys must realize that the TOP professional bodybuilders come back to the same contest the next year at pretty much exactly the same BF% and are most of the time within 10lbs of what they were the previous year. that is PURE muscle. i think 5lbs a year is average for the average male to gain in muscle over a year, a natural one. around double that for a non-natural.

So I guess that shoots down those who say to me on weeks I don't lose as much weight, "You're gaining muscle." and imply that accounts for less weight loss, more muscle gained! But that's unlikely if you can only gain 5 to 10 lbs a year at most, a week is nothing compared to a year.

[2.0Tsunami]

5lbs/year might be a general 'rule of thumb' but will not apply to everyone. I've gained 14lbs of muscle over the past two years but I attribute that to more of how big my frame is AND the fact that it came w/ ~30lbs of fat

[iDrive]

Thought this might pertain to the discussion. Taken from this thread in the nutrition section.

Might wanna actually listen to what I said, broski.

I specifically said that it's rare for drug-free fully-grown adults to have a net gain (not post-diet regain) of more than 50 lbs of muscle during their entire training career. That's an accurate statement. I never said it was impossible, but it is indeed a rare occurence, and it's not realistic for the vast majority of FULLY GROWN ADULTS to expect to exceed a 50 lb muscular gain. Adults stop growing on average in their early to mid 20's. So, how much did you weigh in your early/mid 20's compared to now? If it's more than a 50 lb difference in muscle, you're the exception rather than the rule.

Go to the thread for the full discussion.