10 lbs muscle/year

[Mifody]

i know as a beginner people can gain lots of muscle in their first years, but at what point do the gains really start to slow down and why? is it when you reach a certain age or when you gain a certain amount of weight that your body just stops? right now 10 pounds of muscle a year doesnt seem like anything.. i'll probably add double that this year.
basically i was thinking this:
if i'm 160 now and gain 10 pounds a year for 12 years.. then i'll be 34 and 280 pounds!!
but obviously it doesnt work that way.. or can it? somewhere in that 12 years does the amount of muscle i gain basically stop or what?

 

[shooter]

The way I understand it, each muscle only has a limited number of muscle fibres, and each fibre has a limit on how big it can get. I could be wrong though? This is an interesting topic.

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If you can't run with the big dogs...don't get off the porch.

 

[Scotty the Body]

Yes, once your 30. hahahahaha J/K

There are many factors:
Age
Genetics
Diet
Rest
Enviroment
exercise
etc
etc

I can't tell you if you'll keep gaining, it will get harder the older you get and the bigger you get.
I've been lifting STEADY for 2 years now and I've only gained maybe 10lb and dropped maybe 5% in BF but I am much stronger then when I started.



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Just another day in the gutter

 

[TheSupremeBeing]

"The way I understand it, each muscle only has a limited number of muscle fibres, and each fibre has a limit on how big it can get. I could be wrong though? This is an interesting topic."

Muscle fibers *may* be able to split into two (or more) - hyperplasia. Although this has never been shown in conditions you would want to replicate in your everyday training program, it has been proven to occur in mice and birds, and their muscles are very similar to ours. The hyperplasia was induced by very prolonged stretching of muscles (up to 30 days, with NO rest), and when overload was applied the greatest increase in muscle fiber number was produced.

Muscles biopsies have shown, however, that it is in fact the individual fibers that have grown in bodybuilders, not an increased fiber number. Muscles do not necessarily have a given limit, the potential size of muscle can be increased by doing certain things - such as a layoff from training.

Protein synthesis is limited by the amount of nuclei present in the muscles fiber, and more nuclei = more protein sythesis = a greater potential for muscle size.

Yes, we all have genetic limits, but can we surpass these limits by altering our muscular physiology? Yes.

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Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.

 

[Arnold]

I thinks it's feasible for a beginner to gain 10lbs of muscle for the first couple of years. After that, one pound of muscle per month is A LOT! I think any "average" person would need drugs to continue those gains past 2 years of training.

that's my .02


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Just because the majority believes it, does not make it true!

 

[ALBOB]

I've used this analogy before with success. One pound is 16 ounces. Go to the meat section of your grocery store and look at a 16 ounce steak. Imagine 10 of those plastered to your body. Looks pretty darn good, doesn't it? I know it would be spread out more in real life, but you get the idea. Ten pounds will show a dramatic difference on your body, so don't ever scoff at a lowly ten pounds, every ounce of lean muscle is pure gold.

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Life is hard so quit whining and go out there and be alive.