Comments on: General Philosophies of Muscle Mass Gain

By: linda

linda — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:10:33 +0000

I am a 40 year old, mom of 3 kids – figure competitor, headed to nationals after reviewing pictures from last show clearly I need to add muscle, development of legs more and some size upper body. I love reading your article which makes perfect sense. Nationals will be July so I have 8 months to build, define and then lean out nice for presentation. wondering if the build/diet build would be the most efficient.

By: Project Swole

Project Swole — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:09:51 +0000

Great article man. We know that it’s possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time by following the right kind of diet, training heavy, using the right supplements, and sleeping enough every night. Some people might choose that route because it keeps them stable year-round. I personally prefer a moderately lean bulk followed by a slow diet phase designed to keep the new muscle. It has worked really well for me and my clients over the years.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:11:34 +0000

I feel depressed to read that you can only gain one pound of muscle per week. I’m currently bulking and thought two pounds per week was a reasonable goal. Im 22, 6’1” and started out at 175lbs. After two weeks I’m now at 180 and don’t think I put on any fat. My goal is 200 lbs with below 10% body fat, I’m currently at 11%. But if half the weight I’m gaining is not muscle, then when I get to 200 in 10 weeks I’ll have an extra ten pounds of fat, which will put me at 15% body fat… guess I have to slow down and take a solid five months to get to 200lbs. When I first started weight training in high school, I went from 150 to 175 in three months, without gaining fat, but I guess that was the early results phase.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:12:49 +0000

hey Lyle,

so in the beginning of the article, you mentioned that unless you are some 15 year old underweight teen, then you can only put on a half pound of muscle per week.

i just so happen to be 114lbs and 15 years old 5’7″. How much muscle can i realistically put on per week?

best wishes

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:08:55 +0000

Hi there,

Please could you elaborate a bit more why a consolidation (“hardening phase”) is required after a mass gain phase?

I can understand that a maintenance phase after dieting will help to prevent rapid fat gains caused by elevated hormones. But wouldn’t slightly elevated “fat burning hormones” help to rapidly reduce body fat after a long mass gain phase?

All the best,
Ryan

By: Matt O

Matt O — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:52:51 +0000

Also this might interest you:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19197210

it seems that 3 weeks of a 40% caloric deficit didn’t hurt the post-dieting performance of competitive cyclists.

By: Matt O

Matt O — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:34:18 +0000

Lyle,

Would you recommend something similar for endurance sports, eg. cycling? I ask because I’m not certain but I believe that mitochondrial density is more important than total muscle, and I wonder how this would respond to something like a calorie deficit/surplus.

By: Carl the six pack abs guy

Carl the six pack abs guy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:03:10 +0000

Hi Lyle,

Great article, as usual.

I’ve come to the same conclusion in my training and practice. “Lean gains” are too slow and bulked up is not what most people want to end up looking like.

My only suggestion would be to alternate more often between muscle gain and fat loss. You mention a 16-week training cycle for men. That seems like a long cycle to me. In my experience, switching the focus more often produces more gains, since the body doesn’t get adapted.

Even if you vary your hypertrophy-style training, after a few weeks, it seems your body gets tired of trying to put on mass.

What I do is change the focus every 6 weeks.

Thanks for your tips,

Carl

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:06:32 +0000

Hi Lyle,

Are there any benefits of eating more on training days and less on non-training days during a mass gaining phase? Assuming the same weekly calorie intake of course.

I usually eat the same stuff everyday. For example, on training days, meal 2 becomes pre-workout and lunch becomes post workout. But how would non-linear eating affect partitioning, if at all?

Thanks

By: lylemcd

lylemcd — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:39:53 +0000

All skeletal muscle is lean body mass.
All lean body mass is not skeletal muscle.

Read the article What Does Body Composition Mean.