Can i get muscular in 4 months

Similar to losing weight, gaining weight takes time and consistency - and patience. Also, the type of weight you are looking to increase is important to consider - you probably want to gain muscle, not fat or excess fluids.

And the faster you are gaining, the more likely you are going to see the scale creep up from water retention and fat, not just muscle. Not to mention, rapid weight gain also causes stretch marks. And for some, especially women the rate of muscle gain may be even slower 1. At this rate, the average person can gain roughly 25 pounds of muscle in a year. Of course, this isn't necessarily feasible long term.

A more realistic pace is around 5 pounds of solid mass every six months. Many will need to take breaks from their bulk and cycle through cutting phases as needed. Plus as your muscles grow in size, the rate at which you can gain steadily decreases. Traditional muscle gain is achieved by gaining weight. Yes, you can gain a little bit of muscle while losing fat, but this process is fairly slow and not as efficient as building muscle during a true bulk.

If you want to gain some serious muscle mass, this requires weight gain. The thing about weight gain and weight loss is that it is always a combination of lean tissue and fatty tissue - never one exclusively. Which means you will always gain some additional body fat when trying to gain muscle and lose some muscle when trying to lose body fat. Depending on a number of factors, for each pound you gain, anywhere from one-third to two-thirds will result in fat, with the remaining being lean tissue 3.

Your rate of weight gain, genetics, training schedule, and type of food you choose are all important factors for promoting healthy weight gain in the form of more muscle over body fat. But the biggest determining factor might be your starting body composition. Studies suggest that naturally lean individuals are more likely to put on weight in the form of muscle over fat. And similarly, those with a higher starting body fat percentage were more likely to add more body fat than muscle 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9.

But this has really only been evidenced in people who are naturally lean, not necessarily those that have dieted down to a lower body fat percentage. And good news for newbies, research suggests that beginners tend to gain muscle more efficiently than those that are highly trained Of course, this rate starts to decrease as you become more fit over time and some of this mass gain might be skewed due to increased water retention in newer lifters Bulking diets , just like weight loss diets, put a slight strain on your body.

And being on a long term weight gain diet is not typically recommended for most people. To help grow muscles and cut excess weight, a lot of people have success with higher protein, higher fiber diets, he adds. One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to trying to build muscle is focusing too narrowly on one part of the body like doing a whole lot of arm exercises to try to lose fat there. You need to make changes throughout the entire body.

And remember the patience part, Schroeder says. It can take months to see the changes you might want to gain from a program. So pick a diet and training plan you can maintain, he says.

Want more tips like these? Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Share this —. Follow better. Another quarter of the lifters made absolutely zero size gains, and the bulk of people increased quad mass by 32 percent.

For example, while a training protocol of 3 sets of 10 reps 3x10 have long been the go-to for muscle building, a meta-analysis in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research shows that as long as you train to fatigue—meaning that you cannot eke out one more rep—you will spur muscle growth regardless of your rep scheme.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association NSCA suggests multiple sets focused on one muscle group in a rep range of 6 to 12, with 1 minute rest between sets, for maximum hypertrophy the cellular process behind muscle growth.

Increasing time under tension and maximizing your range of motion within the constraints of proper form, of course are other strategies for building the most overall muscle possible. Of course, maintaining a high level of protein intake is also critical. One review published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests that, for optimal muscle growth, guys should consume between 0.

So, if you weigh pounds, that works out to four meals of 33 to 45 grams of protein each. The current NSCA standard is a bit higher, at 1. One pound of body fat is equal to around 3, calories, according to the Mayo Clinic. As a result, cutting about to 1, calories per day from your diet would lead to a loss of 1 to 2 pounds of fat per week. However, this rate of weight loss might be too fast if your goal is to maintain or even build up your muscle mass.

The faster you lose weight, the higher the amount of weight loss that comes from reduced lean tissue — your hard-earned muscles. According to an article published by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in , your calorie intake should be set at a level that causes weight loss of 0.

However, in order to build muscle, you need to consume enough of the right nutrients. Food is made up of three macronutrients — protein, fat and carbohydrates. Protein is your most important nutrient during a three-month transformation. This nutrient is used to build and repair tissues — including muscle. For the general adult population, the recommended intake for daily protein is 0. But, while you're building muscle, protein should make up 10 to 35 percent of your total calories.

However, your individual nutritional needs will vary as you're looking to get ripped and uncover your abs in three months.

Depending on your starting body composition and your ultimate goals, these percentages will likely need to be tweaked. According to the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition article , most bodybuilders respond best to a diet that provides 2. For best results, consider working with a sports nutritionist to develop your ideal diet during your three-month workout plan.

When designing your workout plan to get ripped in three months, first decide how much time you have to dedicate to your goal. In order to build your muscles, you'll need to focus most of your efforts on lifting weights.

According to the American Council on Exercise , your chosen weights should be heavy enough to allow you to perform eight to 12 repetitions per set. Weight-lifting workouts can be performed in to minute sessions — or even less — if you pick the right exercises and minimize your rest time. It's also important not to overwork your muscles.

You'll need to allow at least one day of rest between workouts that target the same muscles. Otherwise, you'll likely end up injured. To design your three-month workout plan, first decide how many days per week you will exercise.

This will determine whether you do a full-body workout or break it down into regions of the body. As advised by ExRx. You can also perform a split workout, dividing the exercises into upper and lower body or splitting up body movements such as pushing and pulling on separate days. For example, a three-day split workout could target your chest and back on one day, legs on the second day and arms and shoulders on the third day. Abdominal exercises can be included on the chest and back workout day.

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