Understanding the rate of muscle development
Dawson Persons
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Recently, several of our members have asked us the same question: how long does it take to build muscle?
The honest (and sometimes frustrating) answer is that it depends.
Muscle growth, also known as muscular hypertrophy, is influenced by far more than just lifting weights. Resistance training is important, but it’s only one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Since muscle mass is extremely important to our overall health, it’s worth knowing how we can impact the rate of muscle gain.
The factors that affect muscle growth
A variety of factors determine how efficiently your body can add lean muscle tissue, including:
Sleep quality and duration
Nutrition (especially protein intake)
Hydration
Age
Lifestyle habits and stress levels
Genetics
All of these factors, combined with consistent resistance training, can either support or hinder your ability to gain muscle.
For example, you could follow the perfect training program, give every workout your best effort, and sleep eight hours every night. But if your protein intake is too low, you will likely see minimal muscle growth. Your body simply doesn’t have the building blocks it needs to grow.
Obviously none of us can be perfect at all of the items listed above at all times, but getting into the habit of prioritizing the things you can control (sleep, nutrition, hydration, lifestyle habits, stress levels, and exercise) will dramatically impact our rate of muscle gain.
The role of age and genetics
Although these things are out of our control, it’s important to remember that age and genetics also play a significant role. Adults over the age of 50 naturally experience a gradual decline in muscle tissue, which is only amplified if proper training and nutrition aren’t in place. On top of that, some individuals are genetically predisposed to gain muscle more easily than others.
While these factors can’t be controlled, they’re important to acknowledge when setting realistic expectations for muscle growth.
How much muscle can you expect to gain?
When all variables are optimized (training, nutrition, sleep, and recovery), research gives us some general guidelines:
Inexperienced lifters may gain approximately .5-2 pounds of muscle per month
More experienced lifters typically see slower progress, around 0.25–.5 pound per month
These numbers are averages based on large data sets. Individual results will vary, and it’s important not to compare your progress directly to someone else’s. It is also important to remember that for adults over 50, the rate can be slower. Because muscle mass can naturally decline for these individuals, it is impressive to both gain or maintain muscle.
Why building muscle matters
At Rise, our primary goal is to help our clients build and maintain healthy muscle mass. The reality is that this becomes more challenging as we age. And that’s exactly why it’s so important.
Higher levels of muscle mass are one of the strongest predictors of lower all-cause mortality. Simply put: Muscle allows us to move better and be more independent as we age.
Like we always say, what you do in your 40s, 50s, and 60s affects how you can live in your 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond.
The bottom line
While we absolutely love seeing our members lose weight, nothing excites us more than watching them get stronger and build muscle. Strength is about more than aesthetics. It’s about long-term health, resilience, and quality of life.
So this year, make your fitness a priority not just in the gym, but outside of it. Take the mindset you have in the gym and apply it to all of your daily habits; sleep, nutrition, hydration, etc. Each choice you make today affects your health in the future.