Hey guys, Sean Nalewanyj here of BodyTransformationTruth.com, and in this video I want to answer another
very common question that I receive, which is from people who say that they want to start
working out and start putting on some muscle, but they don’t want to get “too big”
or “too bulky” and would rather just aim for a more athletic look.
Now the problem with this question really is that it’s ultimately coming from a highly
skewed perception of just how quickly (or rather, just how slowly) the average person’s
body actually gains new muscle.
Assuming that you possess average muscle building genetics and that you're not “chemically
enhanced” in any way, building muscle is actually going to be a very slow and gradual
process for you, just like it is for everyone else.
If you’re a male and are a complete beginner (because keep in mind that the less experienced
you are, the faster you’ll be able to build new muscle, and vice versa), then you can
probably expect to put on anywhere from about one quarter to half a pound of actual lean
muscle per week and that's assuming that you’re doing everything correctly.
And since women have much lower natural testosterone levels than men do, they can expect to progress
at a rate about half of that or even slightly slower.
So in other words, unless you choose to intentionally not look at yourself in the mirror, not weigh
yourself and not go out in public for a very lengthy period of time, then the likelihood
that you’ll suddenly wake up one day to realize that you’ve “gone too far” and
have accidentally gotten “too big”, the probabiity of that is virtually zero.
Instead, you’ll always see your increases in muscle size unfolding from a mile away
and you’ll be able to easily adjust and tweak your approach accordingly as you move
forward.
So for that reason, even if you’re not ultimately looking to build a huge amount of muscle over
the long run, your best bet is still to structure your program in a way that maximizes your
current rate of growth.
Unless you are completely and absolutely out to lunch on this, there is no realistic scenario
where you’ll mistakenly get “too big” or “too bulky”, and intentionally taking
actions to slow down your muscle building progress right from the start, that's only
going to increase the chances that you’ll ultimately end up failing altogether.
Whether the person emailing me for advice is a female looking to put on 8 pounds of
muscle and get a “lean and toned” body or a male who's looking to gain 40 pounds
of muscle and get as big and ripped as possible, the basic bodybuilding approach that I would
give to either person would ultimately still be the same.
If a situation eventually arose where either person reached a level of muscular development
that they were completely satisfied with, they could then make adjustments to their
overall plan in order to prevent further muscle growth and to make sure that they just maintain
their current build.
And the simple way of doing that is to keep everything in your program the same in terms
of training and nutrition, except that you're going to want to lower your daily energy intake
from a calorie surplus down to your calorie maintenance level.
So the bottom line on this is, whether you’re a male or a female, and whether you’re aiming
to gain 5 pounds of muscle or 50, there’s no need at all to worry about “getting too
big” or intentionally structuring your program in a way that moderates how quickly you put
on new muscle.
Even if an average male is training and eating perfectly for his body type, he’s still
only going to put on around 2 pounds of actual lean muscle per month as a beginner, with
the rate of growth steadily decreasing as he becomes more experienced.
And like I said before, women are going to progress at a rate roughly half of that.
And on top of this, also keep in mind that there is no such thing as “lean muscle”
versus “bulky muscle” like some people think.
Muscle tissue is muscle tissue, and you’re either gaining it, maintaining it or losing
it.
Someone who you consider “too big” is not that way because they somehow possess
a different “type” of muscle.
Instead, they’re simply carrying a larger amount of it, and the appearance of that muscle
may also be further “enhanced” because that person has particularly low body fat
levels.
So, if you’re wanting to put on some muscle, then just aim to maximize your current rate
of growth regardless of how much you’re specifically aiming to gain.
So thanks for watching this video lesson, I hope you found the information useful here
today.
If you want to learn exactly HOW to maximize your current rate of muscle growth through
proper training, nutrition and supplementation, then make sure to head over to BodyTransformationTruth.com
and grab my complete “Body Transformation Blueprint” System and you can do that by
clicking the icon at the top of the video or using the link in the description box below.
If you did enjoy the video, as always, please make sure to hit the LIKE button, leave a
comment and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future videos.
And make sure to check out my official blog over at SeanNal.com for all of my latest articles,
tips and other updates.
Talk to you again soon.