Everyone knows that muscles don’t spring up overnight. But how long does it take to build muscle? Because, when, after weeks of working hard in the weight room, you flex in the mirror and see… maybe a little bump? Well, it can be hugely frustrating.
That’s especially true because, earlier during your workout, you might have actually thought you were starting to see some muscle definition. “Called transient hypertrophy, or a muscle pump, this physiological phenomenon occurs when blood rushes to your muscles to supply them with workout-powering fuel and even jumpstart the recovery process,” explains Sam Simpson, C.S.C.S., co-owner and vice president of B-Fit Training Studio in Miami. He notes that this muscle pump often starts mid-workout and subsides within a few hours after leaving the gym. And when the muscle pump deflates, so do many exercisers’ motivation.
There’s good news, though: These temporary muscle pumps are critical to improving muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth, according to research in the Strength and Conditioning Journal. So, you can think of your weight-room pump as a preview of the muscle results that are to come.
Speaking of which, how long does it take to build muscle?
How Long Does It Take to Build Muscle? – Tracking Through The Days, Weeks, and Months
The process of building muscle begins the second that you challenge your muscles to do something to which they’re unaccustomed – whether that’s picking up a dumbbell, performing a pushup, or sprinting on a treadmill. “These actions all stress and, thus, create microscopic damage within your body’s muscle cells, also called muscle fibers,” Simpson says.
Each of these cells are tiny – about the size of a human hair. “As your body repairs the cells, taking in and laying down new structural and contractile proteins, that each muscle cell becomes bigger than it was before,” explains Albert Matheny, R.D., C.S.C.S., co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab in New York City.
Depending on the amount of microscopic muscle damage done during any given workout, your muscle cells can take anywhere from one to several days to grow back bigger and stronger than before, (which is why most experts don’t recommend working the same muscle group on back-to-back days), he says.
However, in the beginning weeks of starting a new workout routine, the majority of strength gains aren’t actually a result of this muscle protein synthesis and muscle hypertrophy. Rather, they are a result of the body’s neurological system learning when and how to fire the needed muscle cells, explains Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., associate professor of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. (Think of it this way: The first time you perform a new exercise, let’s say a bench press, you likely feel pretty shaky. Your arms aren’t totally in sync and the weights may sway a bit from side to side. But by the time you perform your second or third set of that same exercise, things are getting a little smoother. That’s your neurological system at work.)
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For the average previously sedentary person starting a new strength training routine, neurological adaptations will be responsible for the majority of strength benefits for roughly the first four to six weeks of that routine. “These improvements are generally pretty remarkable or large because the neuromuscular system is rapidly adapting,” she says.
So how long does it take to build muscle… not just neurological strength? Well, hypertrophic (muscle-building) adaptations are still occurring, and as the weeks go on, they account for more and more of the progress, Simpson says, noting that the longer and more consistently you have been strength training, the more of your initial strength gains will come from actual muscle growth.
The result: Most beginners can expect to see noticeable muscle hypertrophy within eight weeks of starting a new strength training routine, and more experienced lifters within as little of three to four weeks, says Smith-Ryan. Any muscle growth will be more noticeable in areas like the arms that tend to carry less fat, which can block the muscles from view, Matheny adds.
Over the course of weeks, months and years, this process ebbs and flows, but with the right exercise and nutrition plan, most people can gain anywhere from one to two pounds of lean muscle per month, Simpson says. How long does it take to build muscle? There’s your short answer. But, wait! There’s more!
Competitive and professional bodybuilders, however, can often build up to two to three pounds of muscle per month during dedicated “bulking” periods. “But they are living and breathing muscle growth, they aren’t just in and out of the gym like most people,” Simpson says, noting that, under extreme conditions, hyperplasia, or the growth in not the size, but number of muscle cells, may actually occur, further adding to muscle growth results.
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However, it’s also important to realize that, for everyone, at a certain point, building muscle actually becomes more difficult and how long it takes to build muscle increases over time. “We all have an endpoint to our genetic potential,” Matheny says. “Someone who is starting strength training for the first time can build muscle with a lower percentage of their 1RM [the max amount of weight they can lift for one rep] than a more tenured athlete. The longer you train and the closer you to get to your natural potential, the more specific you need to get with your training and nutrition to keep making progress. And that week-by-week progress will likely be much smaller than it once was.”
Fortunately for impatient muscle-seekers, no matter how long you have been training, you can build muscle faster with these four expert- and research-backed strategies:
Train Each Muscle Group Twice Per Week
To maximize muscle hypertrophy, exercisers should train every major muscle group at least twice per week, according to a 2016 Sports Medicine review. While the jury is still out on if training each muscle group three days per week is better than two at spurring muscle hypertrophy, it is likely better suited toward experienced lifters than to beginners, Matheny says.
To work a given muscle group two to three times per week while still getting proper recovery – it’s still important not to work the same muscle group two days in a row – try splitting your weekly routine based on muscle groups or body parts.
Eat a Gram of Protein Per Your Ideal Body Weight
The protein you eat becomes the protein in your muscles, and is vital to muscle recovery and growth. As an easy rule of thumb, Matheny recommends muscle-builders eat one gram of protein of their ideal body weight per day, and space that protein intake throughout the day.
For example, a 2015 review in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism suggests that, for maximal muscle growth, people consume 25 to 35 grams of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You’ll find that in a chicken breast, cup of Greek yogurt with slivered almonds, or three-fourths block of tofu.
Lift 3-6 Sets of 6-12 Reps
“Your training stimulus has the largest impact on your degree of muscle growth,” explains Smith-Ryan. “It must be large enough with enough volume.” Training volume denotes the amount of weight lifted multiplied by the number of reps and sets for which you lift that weight.
Sound complicated? Fortunately, there’s an easy guideline for increasing your training volume: For each exercise, perform 3 to 6 sets of 6 to 12 reps, resting for 30 to 90 seconds between each set, she says. The weight used should be enough that you can get out your last reps with proper form, but wouldn’t be able to perform any additional reps.
She also notes performing three or more exercises per muscle group will increase that muscle group’s training volume and size gains.
Focus on a Full Range of Motion
Moving as far as anatomically possible – for example, in a squat, lowering as low as you can without breaking form – leads to the greatest muscle adaptation, per a 2017 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
To lift this way, you might need to reduce the amount of weight you use during some or all exercises. That’s okay, says Matheny, and for muscle hypertrophy it’s more important to lift – and lower – the weight you use slowly, under control and through a full range of motion than it is to lift a certain number of pounds.
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