“Rapid” muscle gain typically requires three things:
- Genetically gifted
- New to training, or returning after an extended break
- Incredible adherence to a well-designed training program
For most of us, seeking ‘“rapid” muscle gain (you know, the “build 30 pounds of muscle in 30 days” promises you see in magazine and online) is a direct path to frustration and discouragement.
The good news, once we stop focusing on “rapid” gains, things become a lot easier.
Muscle growth is typically a slow, tedious process.
Even if you’re not genetically predisposed to build muscle quickly, if you’re new to training and can follow a well-designed training program, you’ll likely put on some muscle pretty quickly.
After 3–6 months, that starts to decline, and you join the rest of us in our slow, steady pursuit of progressive gains over time.
Once the initial gains begin to slow, that’s when the work really starts.
This is why it’s so important to learn to fall in love with training. It doesn’t have to become your life, and you won’t always want to train, but you should generally enjoy what you’re doing. That makes it so much easier to show up day after day.
Even better, shift your focus from building muscle to increasing performance.
A well-designed program will have this baked in because your trainer should know the importance of progressive overload.
For many of us, when we chase performance, aesthetics tend to follow. When we get stronger, increasing the weight we lift over time, we start to FEEL stronger and LOOK stronger.
Lean, powerful muscle continues to show everywhere on our bodies. Not the big, bulky, steroid-looking muscle, but the muscle that makes passers-by think, “damn, they definitely squat.”
This can only happen if you play the long game. Ignore promises of rapidity. They’re empty at best.
Get a little better each time you pick up a set of dumbbells or put plates on a bar. Trust me, this will change your life (not just your body).
What’s your FAVORITE exercise of all time (or Top 3 if you can’t choose)? Comment below and let me know. Mine? Squat, Bench, Deadlift!
