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Wanna know what prompted me to write this post today? Check this out…

A newbie to my free THT Training routine (see below) contacted me to say that he *only* gained 4lbs last month after switching to THT from another workout.

After almost falling out of my chair, I politely told him that the bodybuilding orthodoxy tells natural lifters to expect a 3-5lbs gain of lean muscle…IN A YEAR.

I realised then that the majority of people out there still don’t know what is reasonable to expect in terms of lean muscle gains. Some people, like the aforementioned guy, are expecting way too much and so will never be satisfied with any plan they try. But others have no idea of the massive potential there is to make big gains over the course of a year…but only when they train correctly.

 

Speaking of training correctly, download my totally free 3-day and 5-day/wk THT training routines; just enter your details below for immediate download. It will tell you the best exercises to use, the best rep ranges, the right number of sets to do, the best training frequency – everything you need for the best gains ever in the shortest amount of time! Don’t worry, there’s no spam, no BS, no weirdness. If you don’t want to hear from me again, I wont be offended. You’re about to get the best gains of your life…

 

 

HOW MUCH MUSCLE CAN YOU NATURALLY GAIN IN A YEAR?

 

OK. So the 3-5lbs is crap. It’s not very motivating. And unless you’ve almost reached your genetic potential over many years of training, you can gain A LOT MORE.

When I educate guys on proper training for hypertrophy (rep ranges, rest times, intensity levels) I tell them to shoot for 12lbs of lean muscle over the course of a year. Trust me, you will look VERY different with 12 extra pounds of muscle. Not 12lbs of total body weight (muscle and fat). 12lbs from muscle only.

Some with less-than-average genetics may gain less. But many of you will gain even more – now that you are training in harmony with the laws of growth (see the new MuscleHack homepage for before/after pics).

 

NOTE: To help ensure you hit those 12 pounds, or gain even more, is to add some advanced strategies into your training. I think of them like “plugins” or “hacks” that you can add to your THT training – or any training program.
So I put together “6 Advanced Techniques You’ve Never Heard Of”. For example, if you don’t know what an “infitonic” rep is, or an omni-contraction, you’re missing out big time.

Just enter your details below to get it immediately (don’t worry, you don’t need to go to your email and I operate a zero spam policy)

 

So let’s do something interesting. Let’s take this 12lbs and break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily gains to see what it looks like…

 

HOW MUCH MUSCLE CAN YOU GAIN IN 1 MONTH?

 

It’s very simple. 12lbs / 12 months = 1lb per month.

Let’s look per week…

12 / 52 = 0.23lbs – that’s less than a quarter of 1 pound per week.

So this astounding bodybuilding success is gained with an increase in body weight of just 1/4lb per week. That’s all!

BUT DON’T GET ME WRONG! Many of you can gain a lot more! But even at twice the gains (24lbs of muscle), you’re only adding on 1/2lb of muscle every week! So stop judging your success by what’s happening on those bathroom scales!

 

HOW MUCH MUSCLE CAN YOU GAIN IN A DAY?

 

But I’m not finished yet. Let’s have a closer look…

A pound of muscle is only about 600 calories (compared to 3500 for a pound of fat). This is because muscle is mostly water, not protein as the bodybuilding establishment would have you believe. Protein is second.

A quarter pound is then 150 calories per week, which equates to around 38g of new protein for the body to synthesize per week.

This comes to 21.5 calories per day, which is about 5g new protein/day to be synthesized.

 

So to make a phenomenal gain of 12lbs of muscle in a year, you need to synthesize 5 new grams of protein per day (or just over 20 Calories worth of muscle).

By the way, how stupid does that make the “eat big to get big” crap look? How absurd it is to recommend 500 surplus calories every single day! It’s no wonder why people who take this advice get fat and look like crap most of the year.

 

IMPORTANT! This does NOT mean that you only need to eat a small amount of protein per day. No no no. Remember, protein is needed for 2 things – Repair and Growth. The vast majority of your daily protein is needed for repairing muscle tissue. Then a little extra for new growth. So still stick to 1g protein per pound of body weight.

 

By the way, what about those participants on my Arms Blast Experiment? Gaining 1/2 to 7/8ths of an inch on their arms over 7-10 days; how much do you think the scales went up with that increase in size? I bet it barely registered despite the phenomenal gains.

 

SO HOW SHOULD YOU MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS?

 

Eating 200-300 Calories (at a maximum) above maintenance, coupled with My THT Training and 1g protein per pound of body weight is the way to go.

 

NOTE: If you’re lost or clueless about how many calories and what your macros should be for either gaining or getting shredded abs, I can personally do all the hard work for you…and even put it all into a meal plan based on your individual stats! So if you want to get buff or shredded, check out what I can do for you here.

 

Now…if you’re not going to see these gains show up on the scales on a daily or weekly basis, how should you measure your progress?

Well, firstly there’s the mirror – my fav method.

But also focus on your workouts and your strength progressions. The cross section (size) of a muscle is directly proportional to its strength. So getting incrementally stronger in each muscle group is a sign that it’s getting bigger, too.

• In a man it’s about 140 pounds per square inch
• In a woman it’s about 105 pounds per square inch

So give all your attention to your THT workouts. It’s all about those progressions!  If you’re progressing, you’re going in the right direction.

If you want to take body weight readings, once a month is plenty. And you can take tape measurements of important body parts once a month, also. Use MyoTape tape for the most accurate readings.

Click here to see how much #muscle you can gain in a year, month, week and day Share on X

 

So now you know what you should expect. Tiny weekly gains add up to huge yearly gains and a completely transformed physique!

Have patience, my friends! You’ll get there. I promise! I got there…naturally…and my genetics are pretty crap 🙂

Mark McManus