Geschatte leestijd: 7 minuten“But, how muscular can I get?” Everyone can build muscle, but not everyone can build the same amount of muscle. The total amount of muscle you can build is also known as your genetic potential.
In my previous article, I showed examples of what is approximately achievable as a ‘natural’ strength athlete who does not use anabolic steroids. So now you should already have a fairly general idea of an overall upper limit on naturally achievable muscle mass.
In this article, we’ll delve deeper into the question of how much muscle you can build. We do this by examining the influence of several indicators that determine potential. Then you can translate this to your own body.
Let’s begin…
Hoe gespierd kan ik worden: genetische potentie
How much muscle you can build depends on two important factors:
- The size of your skeleton
- The amount of free testosterone
De grootte van je skelet
According to Holway, every kilogram of muscle has the ability to carry a maximum of 5 kilograms of muscle mass [1]. Holway measured people who were close to this 1:5 ratio and asked how long they had been at the same level of strength and muscle mass. They indicated that for the last 5 to 7 years they had been at the same level and it was not possible to surpass this level. More meat, fish, and protein shakes led to more body fat and not more muscle mass.
You can see this as a coat hanger effect. The bigger the coat hanger, the more clothes it can hold.
Male Olympic strength athletes have, according to Holway, a skeleton that is on average only 3 kg heavier than that of an average man. However, this extra 3 kg of bone mass results in the ability to build 15 kg more muscle mass. Which is a lot. For some people, that’s as much as they can build over their entire lifetime.
The research by Chumlea et al. 2002 confirms the statement that a large skeleton is related to more muscle mass [6]:
“Large frames at the shoulders, arms, and knees are related to carrying large amounts of muscle.”
Bone density doesn’t seem to make a difference. There is a greater correlation between skeleton size and fat-free mass than between bone density and fat-free mass. This is important because you can influence bone density through training. However, size is a fixed factor. So those extra 3 kg in male strength athletes should be seen primarily as an indication of the larger size of the skeleton.
Now that you know this, you can probably guess which of the two men below has the most potential for muscle building (in absolute terms).
If you want to determine whether you have a large or small frame for yourself, you can do so by measuring the circumference of your wrists and ankles and comparing them to male averages [2,3]:
Ankle (men):
- 23.5 +- 1.5cm
Wrist (men):
- Small = wrist size 13.97 cm to 16.51 cm
- Average = 16.51 cm to 19.05 cm
- Large = more than 19.05 cm
Keep in mind that taller people often have larger wrists and ankles than shorter people. Also, people with a high percentage of body fat have a larger ankle and wrist circumference. So if you are very tall and have a high percentage of body fat, but your circumference measurement falls within the average range, you probably have a small frame after rectification.
The amount of free testosterone
Testosterone is a hormone and falls under the group ‘androgenic anabolic steroids’ (AAS). Also simply called steroids. The name is not out of thin air:
- Androgenic substances are substances that cause masculinization.
- Anabolism is the building of molecules and tissue.
- Steroids are molecules with a certain chemical structure.
If there’s anything testosterone excels at, it’s anabolism; muscle building. People who use steroids inject or take testosterone or derivatives of it.
Testosterone also works androgenic, it ensures the development and maintenance of male characteristics. The more testosterone, the more masculinization. To get a very rough indication of how much testosterone someone has, you can look at secondary sexual characteristics:
- Facial hair
- Body hair
- Square face/broad jawline
- Deep voice due to an enlarged Adam’s apple
The more of the above characteristics are present, the more testosterone. To take this to an extreme. In women who administer a lot of testosterone, this is clearly visible and audible.
Below is an image showing the difference in jawlines. The squarer, the more testosterone you probably have.
“Ultimate masculinity”:
Before you classify yourself as someone with a lot or little testosterone, it’s important to know how likely you are to fall into one of these two groups. Between 1985 and 1987, there was a study where 1408 (white) men between the ages of 20 and 60 were examined for, among other things, testosterone levels. Below are the results [7]:
The first thing you notice is that the average testosterone levels decrease as age increases. Furthermore, each group has a standard deviation of about 2, which means that the majority of the participants had no level below the average minus the deviation, or above the average plus the standard deviation. Statistically, about 70% fall within this range.
Example
To make the above theory tangible, I want to share an example. Meet Jasper, an online client of mine. Jasper is a 48-year-old man, 186 cm tall, with a body fat percentage of +/- 12%. He has a wrist circumference of 19.5 cm and an ankle circumference of 24 cm. Above-average measurements of circumference. He also has body hair and facial hair, his face is slightly round. I estimate his overall potential as above average.
Hoe veel spiermassa kan je opbouwen?
Now there’s a difference between ‘looking muscular’ and ‘being muscular’. If muscles are lost under fairly large muscle mass, that, depending on the context, may be less impressive. For someone who wants to look impressive in his suit, a little more body fat will probably bother you less than a little less muscle mass. For a bodybuilder on stage, or just for someone who wants to look good on the beach, it’s all about the ratio between muscle mass and body fat percentage.
Another possibly important factor for your maximum muscle growth is your desired body fat percentage. After all, less fat means less eating while you actually want to eat more for muscle mass. The more effort you have to put into being lean, the more this will detract from your efforts to build more muscle mass. This also represents an important personal difference in predisposition. If you have more predisposition to storing body fat, the ratio between your so-called bulk and cut will be less favorable for muscle mass.
A guru in this field is Casey Butt. He spent 6 years researching top-level natural bodybuilders [4]. Casey Butt has created an online calculator that allows you to make an approximate estimate of your genetic potential. In this calculator, you enter four things: the circumference of your wrist and ankle, your height, and your body fat percentage. Then you get an interesting figure that gives you an estimate of how heavy you can be at your current body fat percentage and in competition shape.
As an example, I enter Jasper’s data into the calculator:
- Height: 73 inches
- Wrist: 7.7 inches
- Ankle: 9.4 inches
- Body fat percentage: 12%
This comes out:
His maximum weight at the same body fat percentage will lie between 226 and 235 lbs, let’s take 226 lbs for convenience. This amounts to 102 kg. His weight in the photo is 84 kg. This would mean that he could build +/- 18 kg of muscle mass. How much exactly this is, depends on the accuracy of the body fat percentage as estimated now and the body fat percentage when Jasper has reached his maximum potential!
A rough estimate but still quite a lot!
Hoe ziet 10 kg spiermassa eruit in de praktijk?
I would prefer to show you an image of someone who is at the same body fat percentage and has built up 10 kg of lean mass, but I couldn’t find it. The images online are anything but reliable, unfortunately.
The best comparison I can make is with steak. The mega steak next to it weighs 1 kg. 10 kg of muscle mass is like spreading 10 of these steaks over your body.
Hoe snel bouw je spiermassa op?
I will mention figures here, but please keep in mind that they are averages. For one person, it’s more and for another person, it’s less. The larger your frame, the more you build in the same period. For example, someone with bones as large as steel cables will build 20 kg in the first year, while someone with skewers will only build 5 kg [5]. So it’s not the case that the larger your frame, the longer it takes to reach your maximum potential.
In short, according to Lyle McDonald’s model, the speed of muscle building proceeds as follows:
- 1 year of training: 9 to 11 kg per year
- 2 years of training: 4.5 to 5.5 kg per year
- 3 years of training: 2.5 kg per year
- 4+ years of training: 1 kg per year
Alan Aragon has a similar model:
| Category | Rate of Muscle Gain |
| Beginner | 1-1.5% total body weight per month |
| Intermediate | 0.5-1% total body weight per month |
| Advanced | 0.25-0.5% total body weight per month |
These models are based on practical observations and experience. What you clearly see is that the speed of muscle building halves approximately every year. The graph looks like this:
You have to do more and more (and leave), and it yields less. This is also called the law of diminishing returns. With some nuance, you can conclude that after +/- 8 years of perfect nutrition and training, you have reached your potential. I want to emphasize once again that we are talking about perfect nutrition and training, 8 years with perfect time for recovery. There are plenty of people who train for 5 years but are not yet past the beginner stage.
Succesformule: wees realistisch, werk hard, en heb geduld.
You now know what to expect and what not. Realistic expectations will lead to fewer disappointments more quickly, see it positively. Make an estimate of your own potential. Make an estimate of how big you can approximately become. And make an estimate of how long this will take. You will probably quickly realize that there is still plenty of work to be done.
But how do you achieve this? There are a number of important pillars for success…
Train hard, and smart.
Training is good, but training well is better.
Training well is different from going to the gym and doing so many exercises until you almost collapse and every time you die from muscle pain. Wrecking yourself is not the art. Walking through the gym whistling while you’ve liked every photo on Instagram is also not the intention.
You want to have a challenging plan where you notice that you are getting stronger every week without physically and mentally wrecking yourself.
Keep track of what’s happening
Keep track of what you eat, keep track of what your weight is doing, keep track of your performance in the gym. Only then can you adjust.
You train because you want to achieve something. If you want to achieve something, you need to know whether you are getting closer or further away from your goal. If you don’t even know that, you don’t know when to adjust to keep making progress. Let alone knowing what to change.
Consistency
Building muscle mass is not for the impatient.
“So a student goes to the dojo and asks the master how long it will take him to become a master himself. The master says “First, you must learn patience.” And the student asks “Yeah, yeah, how long is THAT going to take?”
References
- David Epstein – 2013 – The sports gene: inside the science of extraordinary athletic performance
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17182.htm
- http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00266-006-0132-6#/page-1
- http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html
- http://www.weightrainer.net/rate_of_gain.html
- Chumlea WC, Wisemandle W, Guo SS, Siervogel RM. Relations between frame size and body composition and bone mineral status. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;75(6):1012-6.
- Dominique Simon, Paul Preziosi, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, Marc Roger, Michel Saint-Paul, Khalil Nahoul, Laure Papoz; The Influence of Aging on Plasma Sex Hormones in Men: The Telecom Study.Am J Epidemiol 1992; 135 (7): 783-791. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116365
