How much weight is safe to gain in a month's time

phatj

Golden Member
Mar 21, 2003
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Obvioiusly, since I want to gain weight and not lose, I am pretty skinny. Not horribly skinny, but skinnier than I'd like to be.

I want to set a goal of 162lbs by Feb 10, 2005. I weight 152 right now.

I just got my gym membership and I finalized my new diet today.

Is 10lbs in a month too much weight to safely gain (or to expect to gain)? I definitely do not want to gain all fat... I figure 80% muscle/20% fat, since my body fat (which I had calculated last week) is only 6%.

What do you think?
 

Martin

Lifer
Jan 15, 2000
29,178
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81
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
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Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

meh, when I was lifting I could put on a few pounds a week. Eat like a horse and work out every day.
 

Syringer

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
19,333
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Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

meh, when I was lifting I could put on a few pounds a week. Eat like a horse and work out every day.

I bet a good portion of it was fat.

Most nutrition expert will tell you that 10 lb. of strictly muscle a year is a very ambitious goal for most people.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
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In HS, we could always tell who the juicers were when they went up 15 or more lbs in a weight class and were still ripped. I'm sorry, but there is no way most HSers in any sport can put on 15-30lbs of pure muscle in a year. And I highly you can do it either without some serious modifications to your lifestyle.
 

Yossarian

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
18,010
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I think an 18-year old could put on 15 lbs of muscle in one year if he trained hard and ate right. that's pretty do-able.
 

Rock Hydra

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2004
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Eating protein is a good way to put on weight. Don't eat a lot of sugars, as the glucose takes a lot of engergy to break down and if you don't break it down, it gets stored as fat. Moderate it, don't just drop sugar entirely, eat it less. Because if you entirely cut out sugar from your diet, you'll probably end up putting on all of that sugar in fat, if you eat any, since your body wouldn't be able to digest it eficciently. Not good. Keep your body in equilibrium as much as possible when conditioning your eating.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Yossarian
I think an 18-year old could put on 15 lbs of muscle in one year if he trained hard and ate right. that's pretty do-able.

Normally it'd be a hard thing for an already athletic person to do. An average person who doesn't train that hard and has a lax diet would have a much easier time getting cut and then gaining muscle mass through an increased training schedule and proper diet, compared to a wrestler for example. The wrestlers in my school trained all year long with a restricted diet and were already in great shape. So for them to go above and beyond that and gain 15lbs+ of muscle in a year was a pretty hard feat.
 

toekramp

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2001
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Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

i've put on 30 lbs in a month, so i would beg to differ

i consumed a ton of protein, took protein shakes, creatine and worked out daily....
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
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Originally posted by: toekramp
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

i've put on 30 lbs in a month, so i would beg to differ

i consumed a ton of protein, took protein shakes, creatine and worked out daily....

How much of that was fat and water? How much of it was pure muscle?
 

Yossarian

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
18,010
1
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Originally posted by: toekramp
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

i've put on 30 lbs in a month, so i would beg to differ

i consumed a ton of protein, took protein shakes, creatine and worked out daily....

I have no doubt that all but 2-3 lbs of that was fat, fatty.
 

Syringer

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
19,333
3
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Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: toekramp
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

i've put on 30 lbs in a month, so i would beg to differ

i consumed a ton of protein, took protein shakes, creatine and worked out daily....

How much of that was fat and water? How much of it was pure muscle?

Yes, creatine stores a loot of water weight.
 

dfi

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2001
1,213
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A while back, I gained 25 lbs in 8 weeks. I was eating tons of fatty foods and intentionally working out less to increase my recovery time. My sleeves were bursting, my shirts were tight, people were commenting about how I had gotten bigger, and I felt like things were looking up. That is, until I realized that for a 25 lb increase in bodyweight, I hadn't gain any noticeable increase in strength. And that's when I knew the weight was all fat.

My contention is that if you're gaining 20-30 lbs of muscle in 1 month, then you better be shattering and totally obliterating all your previous strength records. And you probably wouldn't want to take a drug-test anytime soon either.

dfi
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
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Originally posted by: Syringer
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

meh, when I was lifting I could put on a few pounds a week. Eat like a horse and work out every day.

I bet a good portion of it was fat.

Most nutrition expert will tell you that 10 lb. of strictly muscle a year is a very ambitious goal for most people.

Actually I doubt it. When I really started building i lost a lot of water (that and moving furniture 10 hours a day didn't hurt) and then quickly got muscle. I call shens on you and your silly 10 lbs a year BS.

I went from 195 to 180 to 210 on a 6'3 frame in the span of 6 months and was as hard as a rock. If anything I lost body fat.
 

Whisper

Diamond Member
Feb 25, 2000
5,394
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Gaining almost entirely lean mass of course takes a lot longer than just gaining weight in general. Most people that want to bulk up a good bit (more than 10 pounds) would gain the weight first, and then go into a cutting phase second.

If you want to gain 8 pounds of pure lean mass in a month...it's gonna be fairly tough. I was 155 when I started working out in '99, and I'm only at 165-170 right now (and of that 10-15 pounds, the vast majority came on over the last year). However, if you haven't ever worked out before, it could be possible. Eat more, but eat smart, and hit the gym fairly frequently. Creatine couldn't hurt, also, but it'll add a good deal of water weight (I took it for a few months five years ago, and gained 12 pounds in two weeks...half of which was water).

Best of luck to you.
 

simms

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2001
8,211
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Originally posted by: Syringer
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

meh, when I was lifting I could put on a few pounds a week. Eat like a horse and work out every day.

I bet a good portion of it was fat.

Most nutrition expert will tell you that 10 lb. of strictly muscle a year is a very ambitious goal for most people.


I put on a lot of weight too. Even 2lb a day at the start.

You want proof?

http://www.simon-leung.com/img/w2.JPG
http://www.simon-leung.com/img/workout.jpg
 

simms

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2001
8,211
0
0
Originally posted by: Syringer
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: toekramp
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

i've put on 30 lbs in a month, so i would beg to differ

i consumed a ton of protein, took protein shakes, creatine and worked out daily....

How much of that was fat and water? How much of it was pure muscle?

Yes, creatine stores a loot of water weight.

That's true. I peaked at 180 lbs and lost 10 lbs for water weight. I sit at 170 now, and I'm going to bulk to 200 before I start cutting.
 

dfi

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2001
1,213
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0
Personally, I wouldn't try to put on more than 1-2 lbs per week. Eat a bit more than you think you should, and workout a bit less than you think you should. That's my advice anyways.

dfi
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Originally posted by: simms
Originally posted by: Syringer
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Martin
Feb 10, 2006? yes.

I don't know much, but I don't think its possible to do more than 1.5-2lb/month.

meh, when I was lifting I could put on a few pounds a week. Eat like a horse and work out every day.

I bet a good portion of it was fat.

Most nutrition expert will tell you that 10 lb. of strictly muscle a year is a very ambitious goal for most people.


I put on a lot of weight too. Even 2lb a day at the start.

You want proof?

http://www.simon-leung.com/img/w2.JPG
http://www.simon-leung.com/img/workout.jpg

You don't look like you got stronger, you just look like you got chubbier.