We all want to build muscle faster. Whether you’re a beginner in the gym, or an expert fitness guru, we all want to get jacked as fast as possible. But just how long does it take to build muscle? Well, the answer might surprise you.
Unfortunately, most bodybuilders and fitness marketers out there are on steroids, and they tell you that you’ll be able to gain crazy results when you buy their programs… and while this isn’t necessarily the truth, you can definitely build muscle faster if you know how.
So, with that in mind, let’s talk about how long it will take you to build muscle.
How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle?
Building muscle and losing fat will take time. We all know this. If you want to completely transform your physique, it’s going to take a while for you to do so.
But, here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to take as long as you think. In my experience, having lifted weights for over a decade, here’s what you need to master first:
- The Right Workout Routine
- A Good Diet
- Enough Recovery
Once you get all of these things down, muscle growth will happen a lot faster. Most of the clients I coach, and men I engage with, who are having trouble building muscle, are usually not doing one of these three things.
If you do all of these things properly, you can probably expect to gain about 5 pounds of muscle for your first month of working out.
That might not sound like a lot, but believe me – 5 pounds of muscle looks like a lot more than it sounds. All it takes to go from “skinny to jacked” is about 15-25 pounds of muscle (depending on your frame), which you can easily put on in under a year.
After about your first month of lifting, your gains will start to level off. Don’t get me wrong – you’ll still gain muscle very rapidly, but it just won’t be as fast as the first month.
Most beginners gain the most muscle during their first 6-12 months of working out. Beyond this however, there’s some unique tricks and strategies you can use to pack on weight faster.
Let’s start off with the foundations, first. Without these, it doesn’t matter how many supplements you’re on – but once you get these down, you’re golden.
Foundations Of Building Muscle
Working Out (Foundation #1)
You’re not going to build muscle very fast if you aren’t working out. Even if you are working out though, without the right routine, building muscle is going to take very long.
There’s a million different workout routines on the market, and it can sometimes be very overwhelming for beginners to decide which is right for them.
So, with that in mind, ask yourself: “What are my goals?”
In general, there’s three different goals for the weight room:
- Build Muscle and Strength
- Lose Excess Fat
- Do Both (Body Recomposition)
Depending on your goals, your workout routine might change slightly. That being said, if you’re a beginner, Starting Strength is a great place to start.
Originally created by Mark Rippetoe, a bodybuilding veteran and fitness trainer of over 30 years, Starting Strength has shown to be one of the most effective ways for beginners to put on massive stacks of muscle in a very short period of time.
The workout routine is based around the “Big 5” compound lifts:
- Squat
- Bench Press
- Shoulder Press
- Deadlift
- Power Clean
The Starting Strength routine is very simple, and takes only 30 minutes for each workout, which you do 3x per week. This is a great choice for beginners, because it’s easy to build the habit of lifting weights when it isn’t a huge time commitment.
The routine has two days: Day A and Day B. You alternate these days each week, so you can give your body time to rest. Here are what the days look like.
Starting Strength Day A
- Squat 3×5
- Overhead Press 3×5
- Deadlift 1×5
Starting Strength Day B
- Squat 3×5
- Bench Press 3×5
- Power Cleans 5×3
You’ll notice that the workout routine is very simple. This is good – it’s what you want as a beginner. You simply alternate the days, 3x per week, and continue onwards.
For example, maybe you do Day A on Monday, Day B on Wednesday, and then Day A on Friday. Then, you rest for the weekend, and continue starting with Day B on Monday, and keep alternating the days like this.
If you do the Starting Strength routine for a few months, you can probably expect to put on 10-15 pounds of muscle.
That being said, you also need to master the other foundations of fitness, if you want to make the most of your progress, and build muscle as fast as possible.
The Right Diet (Foundation #2)
Without the right diet, you will not gain any weight, period. There’s an old saying that bodybuilders have, which is that abs are built in the kitchen, not in the gym.
In other words, you break your muscles down in the gym – but you build them back up in the kitchen. So, without the right diet, all of that working out is useless.
A good diet is composed of three macronutrients:
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrates
Depending on your goal, you might opt to change the ratios of each macronutrient, but as a general rule for building muscle, you want at least one gram of protein per pound of your goal lean bodyweight.
So, if you want to weigh 185lbs at 10% bodyfat, eat 185 grams of protein each day. If you want to weigh 225lbs at a lean bodyfat percentage, each 225 grams of protein per day.
To help matters, you can download useful calorie counting applications on your phone. I personally use My Fitness Diary (for Android and Apple), and log all of my calories daily.
If you’re trying to build muscle, I recommend you find a calorie counter online, and eat roughly 300-500 calories above your “maintenance” level. This will give you enough calories to successfully build muscle, and not enough calories that you start gaining fat.
Enough Recovery (Foundation #3)
One of the biggest mistakes I see guys making, is they don’t recover enough. This can take many forms, but most commonly it means they aren’t getting enough sleep.
If you’re trying to build muscle, you need to prioritize sleep. No more of this 6-7 hours a night bullshit. You need at least 8 hours a night if you’re trying to build muscle, and ideally 9.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “But Arnold only got 6 hours a night and he was fine!”
Well, you’re not Arnold, and neither am I. Not to mention the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger was on a ton of steroids (as they all are), so this cut down his need for recovery time.
In addition to getting enough sleep, you need to take off enough days from the gym. Don’t work out every day, because you will burn out fast. Aim to have at least 2 days each week where you recover, and depending on the workout routine (like Starting Strength), you may need even more.
How to Accelerate Muscle Building
If you’re 100% natural and don’t take any supplements, you can probably expect to put on 5-15 pounds of muscle in your first 3-6 months. After this, the gains will decrease exponentially.
That being said, there’s some other tricks and cutting edge supplements you can use to build muscle very rapidly… and while some of these may not be recommended for beginners, if you need to get in really good shape, really fast, it might be a good idea to look into them.
In my experience, there’s three ways to build muscle faster:
- Basic Supplements (Whey Protein, Multi-Vitamin, and Creatine)
- Intermediate Supplements (Testosterone Boosters)
- Advanced Supplements (SARMs)
I aim to talk about all three, so that you, the reader, can make your own educated decision. Like I said, if you’re new to lifting weights, you don’t need any of these.
It might be a good idea to get some of the basic supplements, but you don’t need them. That being said, if you’re more advanced in the gym, and are looking for a way to put on muscle really fast, then please, do continue reading on.
Whey Protein, Multi-Vitamin, and Creatine
There’s three basic supplements that almost everyone gain use to put on muscle faster. Using these supplements, you can probably increase your gains by around 30% or more:
- Whey Protein
- Multi-Vitamin
- Creatine
Whey protein is simply a highly concentrated form of protein, that’s low in calories, and gets you the nutrients you need post-workout. Protein shakes are a great way to recover faster.
Most people get way too crazy when it comes to whey proteins, but for beginners, Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard is a great place to start.
Just two scoops has 50 grams of protein, and this stuff has been used by bodybuilders for years to pack on muscle faster. If you do decide to go with ON, get their Double Chocolate flavor.
Take two scoops of whey protein with 10-12 ounces of water, right after your workout. This will speed up recovery, because your body absorbs liquid faster than solid food.
As for the multi-vitamin, Animal Pak is a great place to start. It’s got a ton of nutrients and vitamins that your body will use to recover faster, which is exactly what you need.
Next up, there’s creatine. Don’t buy into the myths and lies that it’s somehow a “steroid” or that it “isn’t natural.” Your body naturally needs creatine to enhance ATP production, and plenty of natural meat sources (like steak) have a ton of creatine in them.
Taking a creatine supplement, will give your body more creatine, that it will use to enhance ATP production in your body. In layman’s terms, this means you’ll get more energy, bigger muscles, and more endurance in the gym.
The best, and most cost-efficient way to take creatine is simply by getting the powder version. Just put a teaspoon in your post-workout whey protein shake, and you’re good to go.
Testosterone Boosters
Now, onto the intermediate supplements. This consists of things like testosterone boosters, which technically aren’t “unnatural,” because they just give your body what it needs to make more testosterone. This means more muscle growth for you.
There’s a lot of scammy testosterone boosters on the market out there, pushing ingredients that haven’t been tested or verified yet. So you have to be very careful when buying them.
That being said, TestRX is a great place to start. It’s got clinically proven ingredients such as Tongkat Ali and Tribulus Terrestris, which have been shown to boost testosterone and libido.
In fact, some studies show that just taking Tribulus Terrestris can boost testosterone by up to 52%. So, when you take all of the ingredients in TestRX together, your natural testosterone levels will shoot through the roof, which means more muscle for you!
SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators)
SARMs are an interesting new class of compounds, which proport to have the muscle-building and recovery-enhancing benefits of steroids, without any of the side effects.
…and while more research definitely needs to be done, preliminary research shows that SARMs such as Ostarine, Ligandrol, or Testolone, can be a great way for people to put on muscle safely.
In fact, one meta-study conducted by the Boston University School of Medicine found that SARMs present an “unprecedented discovery” to improve muscle mass and bone density:
“The last decade has witnessed unprecedented discovery effort to develop selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) that improve physical function and bone health without adversely affecting the prostate and cardiovascular outcomes. This review describes the historical evolution, the rationale for SARM development, and the mechanisms of testosterone action and SARM selectivity.”
“SARMs hold promise as a new class of function promoting anabolic therapies for a number of clinical indications, including functional limitations associated with aging and chronic disease, frailty, cancer cachexia, and osteoporosis.”
While more research needs to be done on SARMs and their long term side effects, much of the preliminary research shows substantial benefits, and very few (if any) side effects.
Another study, conducted by the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, at the Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts, found that a popular SARM known as “Ligandrol” was well-tolerated among test subjects, and rapidly increased lean muscle mass in test subjects:
“Conclusion: LGD-4033 was safe, had favorable pharmacokinetic profile, and increased lean body mass even during this short period without change in prostate-specific antigen. Longer randomized trials should evaluate its efficacy in improving physical function and health outcomes in select populations.”
So again, while more research on the long term effects of SARMs needs to be done, they are certainly an effective way for users to put on muscle, with very little side effects.
Conclusion: How to Build Muscle Faster
In summary, the basics will be responsible for the vast majority of your muscle growth. If you want to gain muscle faster, get those down first.
Make sure you’ve got a good workout routine (like Starting Strength), eat a good diet filled with lots of protein, and get enough sleep at night (9 hours is ideal).
Once you get these things down, you can expect to gain 10-15 pounds of muscle in the first 3-6 months of lifting, and beyond that, your returns will slowly start to drop off.
Keep in mind that working out is a life-long endeavor, and you’re not in this for just a few months to see how fast you can build muscle. Lifting weights is meant to be a healthy lifestyle change, which leads to favorable results in your appearance, and overall physical health.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, be sure to consult with a medical practitioner before you do anything else.
