How long does it take to build muscle? Many trainees would like to find out the answer to this question and be able to calculate how long it will take them to achieve their goals.

If you’re one of those people, welcome to my site! I want to give you some useful information about building muscle mass (in a natural way) and answer this very popular question regarding time needed to build muscle mass.

Building muscle mass is different for beginners and more experienced trainees. Consequently, I can’t give you one perfect answer.

Firstly I’ll give you approximate numbers for a beginner (less than 1 year of experience with bodybuilding) and then we’ll talk about building muscle when you’re more experienced (more than 1 year of consistent training).

But before we start, let’s talk about…

The Delusion of Building Muscle Fast

Many magazines and websites advertise that you can gain 20 pounds of muscle in a few weeks or a few months (sometimes thanks to “proven training techniques”, sometimes thanks to a supplement, sometimes thanks to a new “science discovery”).

The hard truth is that it’s impossible. No one (unless you take drugs and I don’t condone it) can grow that fast (and we’re speaking about rock solid muscle, not simply gaining fat).

Any advertisement that promises that you’re going to gain a few pounds of muscle in a few days or something in the line of “20 pounds in six weeks” lies. There’s no way to gain that much muscle mass if you’re a natural bodybuilder.

Okay, now that you have no illusions about building muscle, we can talk about real numbers.

How Long Does It Take to Build Muscle For a Beginner?

If you’re just starting with weightlifting (or if you’ve been training for less than one year), you’re going to gain muscle mass much more quickly than an average trainee.

On average, if you do everything right (good diet, good training plan, proper recovery etc.), you’ll be doing well to gain approximately 1/2 pound (0,23 kg) of muscle per week or up to 2 pounds (0,9 kg) of muscle a month. These are numbers for an average male trainee – females will gain approximately half of this.

If you have good genetics, it’s possible to gain up to 3 pounds of muscle per month, but it’s better to expect that you won’t gain more than two pounds a month and 24 pounds a year.

Disappointed? You shouldn’t be. Two pounds of pure muscle mass a month is A LOT and 24 pounds of muscle a year is an incredible number (it’ll significantly change your physique).

Keep in mind that we’re talking about pure muscle here. Since it’s (almost) impossible to gain muscle mass without gaining fat, you’ll gain more weight than this. A typical ratio is one pound of fat per one pound of muscle (so after 12 months, you’ll gain 48 pounds – 24 pounds of muscle and 24 pounds of fat).

How Long Does It Take to Build Muscle If You’re More Experienced?

What if you’re more experienced? Unfortunately, after the first year of training, things slow down and you no longer can expect to gain 2 pounds of muscle a month.

An average male trainee after more than one year of consistent training will do well to gain one pound of muscle a month (1/2 pound of muscle for females).

With each year of training, it’s getting harder and harder to gain muscle mass quickly so if you have been training for a few years, you should be very happy if you gain one pound of muscle a month.

And again, remember that we’re talking about pure muscle mass here. After 6 months of bulking, you’ll gain more weight than 6 pounds of muscle – you’ll gain approximately 12 pounds (6 pounds of muscle AND 6 pounds of fat).

Tips to Build Muscle Mass Fast

1. Have good eating habits

Nutrition is the most important part of building mass. Your training alone won’t be enough to build muscle. You have to give your body all nutrients it needs to recover after a workout and build bigger muscles.

The most important principles are the following:

1. Eat the majority of carbohydrates after your workout – your body needs carbohydrates to recover after a workout. Good sources of carbohydrates include potatoes (NOT French Fries), rice, beans and whole grain pasta and bread (but they are less healthy).

2. Eat at least one gram of protein per one pound of your weight – if you weigh 200 lbs, eat approximately 200 grams of protein a day. Protein is needed to build muscle.

Some people say that you can eat less protein (e.g. 0.8 gram of protein per one pound of weight) but it’s good to eat more because plant sources of protein don’t have the same biological value as animal sources of protein (and you’re going to eat both).

Good sources of protein include lean meats, fish, eggs, cheese, yoghurt and milk (organic full-fat milk preferred) and form plant sources beans, quinoa, nuts and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower).

3. Eat clean – avoid highly processed foods such as white-flour products (white bread, pasta etc.), cereals, processed meats (hot dogs etc.), snack foods (chips, candies) and focus on lean protein, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

4. Drink clean – the same principles apply to drinks. You should drink plenty of water and tea and forget about unhealthy sodas (including diet sodas), processed sugared juices etc. Water is the best, tea is also great, coffee is also okay.

5. Eat at least 10% over your maintenance – there are many daily calorie calculators which will help you find out how many calories you need a day to maintain your weight (for a typical 180-pound male who exercises 3-5 times a week it’s about 2500-3000 calories a day).

Once you find out your maintenance calories, eat at least 10% to 20% more calories a day. If you need 2500 calories to maintain your weight, eat at least 3000 calories a day. Shoot for a calorie surplus of at least 2000-2500 calories a week.

You can zig zag calories – for instance eat 3000 calories on your workout day and 2500 calories on your rest day. It’s a good way to gain more lean mass and less fat.

If you gain weight, don’t change anything. If you don’t gain weight or if you gain less than half a pound a week (for a male, for female 1/4 pound), up your calorie intake.

Read “Best Muscle Building Foods” to get to know the best foods for building muscle mass. If you’re a vegetarian, make sure to read “How to Build Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet?”.

2. Do the right exercises

Forget about biceps curls, triceps extensions, Swiss ball exercises and other isolation exercises. Building mass is all about multi-joint (compound) exercises which train all your body parts and make you cry (yeah, you heard it right!).

Squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull-ups and military press are all your friends. Don’t be stupid and overtrain yourself – one to two sets of each of these exercises is enough. What about reps? Stick to the rep range of 6-12 reps for upper body exercises and 12-20 for lower body exercises (20-rep squats for the win!).

Remember: building muscle mass is about building strong muscles. Focus on building strength and muscle mass will come.

3. Recover

Your training shouldn’t last longer than 45 minutes. Keep it short, but very intensive. And always keep at least one day between your workouts (that’s why the best way to train is three times a week).

Don’t forget about getting enough sleep. You should sleep at least 8 hours a day (and it won’t hurt you to sleep more if you can).

Without proper recovery, your body won’t be able to rebuild your muscles and your performance in the gym will suffer. Getting enough sleep is extremely important for building muscle mass.

4. Make sure that you don’t start bulking too fast

If you are more than 15% of body fat (25% for women), you should first start a cutting phase (eat less than you need).

It’s because the higher your body fat level is, the harder it is to gain muscle without gaining a lot of fat. You should be fairly lean before starting your bulking phase (because it’s a real pain to burn fat if you start bulking when you’re more than 15%-20 of body fat).

How to tell if you’re too fat to start bulking? Just look for some pictures of people with different body fat levels. If you look like a person who has 20% body fat, forget bulking – start cutting.

5. Train hard

If you want to gain mass, you have to consistently force your body to rebuild stronger and bigger muscles. There’s only one way to do it – you have to train to failure (with the proper form).

Add more weight or do more reps with each workout for as long as you can. When you can’t lift more, it’s time for a break.

And speaking of training, here’s some additional important info about training to build muscle.

How to Train to Build Muscle?

As mentioned before, two most important tips to train to build muscle are doing the right exercises (multi-joint exercises such as squats, deadlift, bench press, pull-up and military press) and training hard (training to muscle failure – but with the proper form).

Focus on the proper form, concentrate on building strength and give your body the opportunity to recover so that you can lift more next time. Keep a journal of your workouts – you have to know your progress rate.

There’s nothing complicated in training to build muscle mass – you just have to focus on building strength and avoid isolation exercises such as biceps curls, crunches, triceps extensions etc. A great book about training to build muscle is “Beyond Brawn” by Stuart McRobert.

To learn more about training to build muscle mass, read “How to Train to Build Muscle?”.

An Important Reminder

Please remember that the best way to build muscle mass is to build it in a natural way. I don’t condone taking drugs (steroids) to build muscle fast. It’s dangerous and stupid.

Also, keep in mind that there are no supplements which will help you gain muscle mass much more quickly than 2 pounds a month if you’re a beginner or 1 pound a month if you’re more experienced. Don’t believe false promises.

Keep training hard and keep eating the right foods in the right amounts and you’ll definitely see results. One of the most important parts of bodybuilding is patience. Be patient – you WILL see results, it just takes more time than most people would like.

I hope that my answer to this very popular question “how long does it take to build muscle” satisfied you and that now you have no illusions about the rate of building muscle.