Truth and Lies about Burning Fat and Building Muscle
Take a look at the cover of most fitness magazines and you'd be forgiven for thinking that building muscle or losing fat is the easiest thing in the world.
You'll see headlines about how to get a summer body in 7 days... lose fat without breaking sweat... 923 ways to make your life better now... a 6-pack in 24 hours... torch flab in 20 minutes.
I'm not kidding. Those are genuine headlines from the covers of various magazines that I've seen in the last few days.
Everything is always "instant ways to get this" and "easy ways to do that."
Well, here's a quick dose of reality:
Getting in shape is not easy.
Getting in shape is not instant.
Truth of that matter is that it's bloody hard work.
Of course, most people see the claims on magazine covers for what they are: the normal "puffery" commonly indulged in by
companies trying to persuade you that their product is "the key" to solving all your problems.
But a lot of people do get confused when they see claims about how much muscle it's possible to gain and how much fat it's possible to lose over a 3-4 month period.
So let me clear this one up once and for all. What sort of results should you expect?
When it comes to losing fat, the more of it you store, the faster it'll come off when you start eating less and exercising more.
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If you're overweight (20% body fat or higher), you'll be able to lose between 2 and 5 pounds of fat per week.
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If you have an "average" (15-19%) level of body fat, aim to drop 1-2 pounds of fat per week.
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If you're "lean" (10-14% body fat) and you want to get even leaner without losing muscle, you'll need to be happy losing only 0.5-1 pound of fat per week.
These figures were calculated primarily for guys. Women, on average, will drop fat more slowly than men. That's because most women have a smaller body than men. And when you have a smaller body, you have lower calorie needs.
For example, let's take a guy who has a maintenance calorie intake of 2500 calories per day. If he cuts calories by 20%, he has a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day (2500 x 0.20 = 500). This should allow him to lose around one pound of fat per week.
However, a woman who weighs less will have a maintenance calorie intake that's a lot lower. Let's say around 1500 calories per day. If she creates the same relative deficit (20%), her calorie deficit is only 300 calories per day (1500 x 0.20 = 300). This means it'll take her roughly 12 days to drop one pound of fat.
What about muscle growth?
If you've never picked up a weight before, you should be able to gain between 2-5 pounds of muscle per month in your first 2-3 months of training [1, 2].
However, you won't keep building muscle at the same rate forever, and gradually your rate of progress is going to slow down.
What this means is that over the course of a year you're looking at gaining somewhere between 10-25 pounds of muscle.
In your second year of training you can cut that number in half, giving you a gain of 5-12 pounds per year. In year three, the gains will be halved again, giving you 3-6 pounds of new muscle.
Although I haven't seen many studies on muscle growth in women, my best guess is that gains in the average female are approximately half those seen in males.
On a related note, if you're loading with creatine (20 grams a day for 5 days), or you eat a lot more carbohydrate than normal, you can gain lean tissue more quickly than the numbers of I've just given.
For example, you might put on 4-5 pounds of lean tissue in your first week on creatine and a high-calorie diet. But "lean tissue" doesn't necessarily mean muscle tissue, as stored fluid and carbohydrate also contribute to gains in lean tissue. And you won't keep on gaining weight at that rate indefinitely.
So how much muscle is it possible to gain?
For a drug-free, genetically "average" guy, getting to a lean (8-10% body fat) 180 pounds is a significant achievement. If you can make it to 190 pounds while staying close to 10% body fat, you're going to look pretty damn impressive.
And remember that bodyweight is relative. If you have 30-40 pounds more muscle than an average untrained man of your height and bone structure, you're doing extremely well. That's about as much as most people can realistically expect to gain over the course of their training lifetime.
Am I saying that 30-40 pounds of extra muscle is the absolute upper limit for most people? No, but I am saying that it's pretty close.
If you want a customized estimate of the maximum amount of muscle you can build, take a look at Casey Butt's Maximum Muscular Bodyweight calculator.
It's based on equations that Casey developed during 6 years of research and analysis of data from drug-free champions both past and present, and gives you a pretty good idea of the maximum muscular bodyweight (at roughly 8-10% body fat) that a drug-free trainee of your structure is likely to reach.
About the Author
 My name is Christian Finn. I run a private "members only" website designed to help people burn fat, build muscle and get strong.
If you want accurate, honest and in-depth reviews on the latest "hot topics" in the world of fitness, you're confused by all the conflicting advice out there, or you just want some training routines that will give you better, faster results, click here now to learn more about how I can help you.
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References
1. Willoughby, D.S., Stout, J. R. & Wilborn, C. D. (2006). Effects of resistance training and protein plus amino acid
supplementation on muscle anabolism, mass, and strength. Amino Acids, 32, 467-477
2. Hartman, J.W., Tang, J.E., Wilkinson, S.B., Tarnopolsky, M.A., Lawrence, R.L., Fullerton, A.V., & Phillips, S.M. (2007). Consumption of fat-free fluid milk after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accretion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young, novice, male weightlifters. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86, 373-381
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