Whether you are a beginner or a fitness expert, the answer to the question on every strength trainer’s mind, “How long does it take to build muscle?” depends on four major factors. Perhaps you have just begun a new strength training workout. Maybe you have been frequenting the gym for several weeks and are still waiting to see results. Get to know more about muscle building here.
How Long Does It Take to Build Muscle? | What You Need to Know
4 Factors Affecting Muscle Growth
1. Your Body Fat Percentage
Like wearing a bulky sweater, body fat conceals the muscle definition lying beneath. If you have a higher body fat percentage, it will take longer before you can see the results of your strength training efforts. You will need to gain more muscle before it becomes visible than you would with a lower percentage of body fat. The American Council on Exercise recommends male athletes strive for six to thirteen percent body fat, while female athletes aim for a body fat percentage between fourteen and twenty percent.
If you find yourself struggling with body fat, take a look at your current diet. You might want to swap processed foods, added sugars, unhealthy fats, and simple carbohydrates for high protein options, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats found in whole foods, such as:
- Poultry
- Fish
- Red Meat
- Eggs
- Tofu
- Whey
- Dairy
- Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
- Whole Grains (quinoa, brown rice, and steel cut oats)
- Olive Oil
The body stores unused calories from carbohydrates as fat. To lose body fat while strength training, consider limiting carbohydrate intake to training days only.
2. The Intensity of Your Workouts
Groups of fibrous, protein-based tissues make up every muscle in your body. When you strength train, challenging your muscles, these fibers break down. As your body recovers from a strength training session, it rebuilds these fibers and adds new muscle mass. For this process to begin and actually increase muscle mass, you have to challenge your muscles. The more intense your workouts, the more muscle fibers your body will need to repair and increase.
3. How Consistently You Train
When it comes to strength training and muscle growth, consistency is key. You should not work out the same muscle groups every day because your body needs time to rebuild fibers. Most fitness experts recommend strength training each muscle group twice a week, allowing plenty of time between workouts for recovery. To keep your activity level up and consistency in the gym, rotate muscle groups throughout each week’s workout sessions.
4. Your Current Fitness Level
The rate at which your body synthesizes new muscle varies depending on your current fitness level. Those new to strength training notice improvements in their strength right away, as their nervous systems learn the movements associated with each new exercise. Although it will likely take several weeks or even months, novices will also see visual improvements develop more rapidly than those who have been strength training longer.
More seasoned strength trainers have to work harder than ever before to see results and changes similar to those they noticed when they first began working out. As you become stronger and build more muscle mass, you have to work harder to provide your body with muscle-building challenges.
No matter how hard you work in the gym, every person will eventually reach a genetic limit to the amount of muscle mass he or she can develop. At this point, athletes can focus on maintaining and balancing their physiques and perfecting other aspects of their fitness, such as diet and routine.
5 Tips to Encourage Muscle Growth
1. Don’t Over-Train
If muscle growth is your goal, do not over-train. The fibers that make up your muscles break down during a workout. Your body needs time to recover and rebuild these muscle fibers. As the body repairs muscle tissue, it adds new fibers, building your muscles. If you work out too soon (before your body has had enough time to full recovery), your muscle fibers will break before they have grown.
2. Vary Your Workouts
Incredibly complex, your body’s muscles are designed to stretch, flex, and contract with an entire range of motions. One single move, like a bicep curl, only works the bicep in a single direction. Vary the way you train your muscles with a diverse variety of moves, range of motion exercises, and varied pushing and pulling movements to work and build every fiber inside your muscles.
3. Eat to Build Muscle
You vary your workout, challenge your muscles, and allow your body enough recovery time but still do not see the desired results? You might need to change your diet. After a strength training session, the body uses a process called protein synthesis to repair muscle tissue and build new muscle fibers. To increase your muscle mass and encourage effective protein synthesis, feed your body a high-protein diet.
To gain muscle, you will need to increase the number of calories you take in each day. Though, this doesn’t mean you should eat a second slice of chocolate cake. Instead, focus on increasing your intake of calories from protein, aiming for about one gram of protein per pound of your body weight. Serve yourself around 30 grams of protein per meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and pick up the rest with healthy snacks spread throughout the day.
4. Celebrate Every Milestone
People start workout routines for different reasons: appearance, confidence, fun, and improved health. Shift your focus from the appearance of your muscles (definition, tone, and size) to other achievements. While you wait for noticeable muscle growth, celebrate your increased strength, new-found energy, and improved health.
5. Be Patient and Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
Everybody operates with a slightly different chemistry, metabolism, and genetic makeup. Comparing your progress to that of others will not help motivate you in the long-run. Instead, be patient with yourself and keep track of your own progress. Take photos and record your strength training circuits (moves, weights, sets, and repetitions). Then, compare what you can do three months from now with your current abilities. Reassess your progress again after another three months. Although changes in the gym happen slowly, you will be pleasantly surprised with the noticeable improvements you observe in yourself over time.
So, How Long Does It Take to Build Muscle?
Your body begins to build muscle following your first strength training session. The microscopic, cellular process happens quickly but requires lots of time before the naked eye can see the results. Yes, genetics, determination, and fitness levels do affect the results, but most see noticeable results after four to six weeks of training.
Strength trainers begin to feel results much faster. Before you notice changes in muscle definition, you will experience increased energy and improvements in the gym.
How long have you been challenging your muscles? Share your experience in the comments section below.
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