Can you gain 10 pounds of muscle in one month
Is it possible to gain 10 pounds of muscle in one month. Most people say it is not possible and certainly those who know about it. I took up the challenge and below is my report.
The Challenge
March 10, 2013, the day I said with my big mouth that it is easily possible to gain 10 pounds of muscle in a month. I said that in front of a group of 14 people (practitioner trainees).
One such trainee said, 'Ok and then what's the counter effort? What if you don't make it?'
Oops, I thought, now it's serious. The counter effort was that I would then take everyone out to dinner from the course. Well of course, that's not terrible or anything, but it gave me enough motivation not to let that happen :-)
Before going to bed I weighed myself and was just 80 kg. So on to the 90 kg mark! Mind you, this was in the evening so at the peak of my weight.
Next Day
March 11, 2013, I went to a gym for the first time in years with Tim Ferris' book "The Four Hour Body" in my bag. I would follow that schedule. Tim claims in his book that he gained (without drugs!) 15 pounds of muscle in a month by following that schedule. So I thought, then 10 kilos must surely work!
Opinions were certainly divided. Most people I talked to said it couldn't be done, and certainly those who had been doing strength training for years. It just couldn't be done without 'tools'
Those people I heard from and it went in one ear and out the other. It has to. After all, I don't know either, and then if you start listening to the "experts" and you assume that, it certainly doesn't work out. So I started to imbibe that it was going to succeed.
The schedule
That roster actually states the following very simply:
- Don't over train (less is more)
- Train to failure
- Grab between 2 and 10 devices and certainly no more!
That's it. That's all it is. You grab 1 set of the weight you can handle and then make sets until you really can't take any more and your whole body is shaking. Then you stop and take a 3-minute break and move on to the next machine.
For more information, you must purchase the book because it tells you exactly how to determine weight and what devices Tim used for his challenge. I won't write it down because it is more than 5 pages from the book and then it becomes a very long article ;-)
So you train for a maximum of only 40 minutes, no more. And that a maximum of 2 times a week.
Nutrition
In addition, it's important to eat more, of course. You don't gain weight on air. Personally, I wasn't really a breakfast guy. I breakfasted with a bowl of yogurt and granola. Well, that wasn't possible anymore and it became 5 eggs with lettuce, zucchini and beans. That was something different.
I also started drinking shakes, taking multivitamins and eating well 5-6 times a day. In the beginning this really took a lot of getting used to but I noticed much more energy in my body after just a few days. Lots of pasta and protein.
The result
I started training according to the schedule and also eating according to the schedule. I also ordered and started using the supplements recommended in that book.
In addition, I also trained my mind in the results. I applied self-hypnosis to start believing it and also visualized what it would look like.
Now I have 2 more days and I am now at the 90 kg mark. My fat percentage has gone up a bit but not a whole lot. But my muscles have definitely grown. The size of my arms, chest and and shoulders have increased a lot.
Not very extreme of course and I can have those 10 pounds just fine with my height. I certainly met the challenge and anyone who would like to achieve the same can achieve it with that regimen.
Photo below
Not the very best quality but you can tell the difference I think. Most of the weight is on my legs but I didn't have a before picture of that.
The next challenge is already in the planning though I will continue training for a while until summer ;-)
Realize well that if you really want something it really is possible when you put your all into it. Set the right intention for yourself and go for it. You can do more than you think!