1 pound of muscle a week

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hi kerry,

is it impossible to gain more 1 pound of muscle per week ? (obviously without the use of steroids)

i need to gain 12lb of muscle in 12 weeks . am i setting myself up for failure ?

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kk - It is probably impossible to gain 1 pound of muscle per MONTH, even as a beginner. When you first start lifting weights (providing you are doing it properly with a good diet) you will make your very best gains. The more you lift weights over the years, it becomes diminishing returns meaning the returns you get for your effort diminish, as your body gets used to it. That is why in bodybuilding you must find more and more ways to stress the body. An advanced bodybuilder would be very happy with 3 or 4 pounds of muscle for a years work.

I have known genetically gifted people, or athletes that have had a couple of years off and come back to gain 20 pound of muscle in year 1 but to gain 52 pounds in a year (1 pound a week) especially naturally, is impossible.

You can train an athlete with body fat in a 12 week period who could look like he put 12 pound of muscle on because you have lost a lot of his body fat, the reality is all you have done is made him a lot leaner and this has enabled you to see the muscle that he has got (he may have firmed the muscles he has got or even put 1 or 2 pound on) but the visual impact is dramatic.

If I was you, as you say you have got 12 weeks, I would concentrate more on losing body fat.