How long does it REALLY take to get big?

S

Spyke

New Member
I think it would be cool to start a thread so that guys have a realistic idea on how long it takes to get really big. So for the average guy in his 20's or 30's who is 6' tall, maybe 10 pounds overweight and average genetics......

if he starts lifting using HST properly and no steroids

How long until he is even close to "blade" and other guys like that on the board? Of course he will see some gains as early as the 1st cycle but these are not what I am talking about. What I wanna know is how long till he packs on some serious muscle and starts to really turn heads??? A year, 3 years or more?:confused:

I know some guys are hard gainers and everyone is different but if you are one of the types of guys I am talking about (you know who you are), share your story and give us rookies an idea of what we are in for!

Thanks
 
I lift since 1994 and are still skinny.
It like a nigthmare that nevers end.
So, when I try to do a HST cycle, I read so many critics to this, that I dont know what to do.
Sometimes I want to kit training

Giovanni
 
I hate to be the one who bears the bad news...

But the majority of us on here will not look like blade in our lifetime. I am and mesomorph so I gain muscle easier than most and still after 11 years of training 8 of those serious and 5 die hard, I am above average and you can tell I definatly have a lot of muscle mass. Do I look better than 95 % of population as far as fitness goes???...you bet...but I am a long way from being and muscle and fitness model.

The truth is unless you are extremely genetically gifted you can only do so much naturally. That being said you can still look fantastic being natural. Most guys who are truely lean and in shape are not half as big as you prob think they are.
Lean appearance is everything.

Also I will never be so big b/c like most people i just don do what it takes. I can hang with the best of them in the workout dept...but do I always day in and day out get 1 gram of protein, do I get 8 hours sleep everyday...no.

I say this not to be negative, but to be honest. You just cant look like the guys on Flex magazine and prob for most part muscle and fitness unless you are that dedicated an on roids.

However the good news is you can without a shadow of doubt put on at least 25 to 30 pounds of solid muscle no matter who you are and it takes time...but if you if do it and stay lean you will look awesome!!!

So long story short...hit the weights hard and learn how to diet...will you be ARnold...prob not! but hell you will look better than 95% of the population.

I would say this took take as little as 1 year to as long as 4 years.

Good luck and just be patient guys....remember Rome wasn't built in a day!

In fitness and friendship.

Joe :D
 
Giovanni, if you are still skinny from 12 years of training I think there is a problem there. I dont know exactly what you mean by skinny however.

In addition to what Joe Muscle said about not trying to look like the guys in Flex magazine, you dont want to try to look like "Blade" either if you dont plan on taking any AAS. Blade looks great, not only because of AAS but that certainly does help.

Joe G
 
7 years, 5 months, 16 days, 13 hours, 41 minutes and 22 sec. Exactly to the second.

See

Dreaming, K.O.
Assessing the perfect Resistance, Nutrition and OTC Supplement plan for the average gentically gifted enthusiastic wannabe BodyBuilder who wants to have maximal muscle mass in the shortest duration but refuses to use known exogenous hormones.
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Oct;15(5):414-33. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
 
I stand corrected it is 7 years, 5 months, 11 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes and 27 sec. Exactly to the second.

See

Outayomind, U.R.
Longtidtudal study to determine the maximum time needed to get HYOOOOOGE.
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Nov;16(4):122-127. [Pub Med way ahead of print]

Comment on;

Assessing the perfect Resistance, Nutrition and OTC Supplement plan for the average gentically gifted enthusiastic wannabe BodyBuilder who wants to have maximal muscle mass in the shortest duration but refuses to use known exogenous hormones.  
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Oct;15(5):414-33. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
 
I didn't mean to drag blade into this. I just saw his pics on the site and figured that would be an example of the kind of build most of us aspire to. It sounds like the answer to my question is NEVER, unless you happen to be a genetic freak or use AAS.

I was kinda afraid of that.

I don't want this to become a steroid thread but I was just thinking how they have kinda become the male "breast implant". You know how a girl with perfectly fine B cups looks at a chick with massive implants and feels like she doesn't measure up? I guess maybe the natural guys may be doing the same kinda thing with the guys in the muscle mags.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (dkm1987 @ Nov. 29 2005,5:33)]I stand corrected it is 7 years, 5 months, 11 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes and 27 sec. Exactly to the second.
See
Outayomind, U.R.
Longtidtudal study to determine the maximum time needed to get HYOOOOOGE.
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Nov;16(4):122-127. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
Comment on;
Assessing the perfect Resistance, Nutrition and OTC Supplement plan for the average gentically gifted enthusiastic wannabe BodyBuilder who wants to have maximal muscle mass in the shortest duration but refuses to use known exogenous hormones.  
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Oct;15(5):414-33. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
Click to expand...
Man DKM...what Have I been doing for 11 years..hehe.
tounge.gif


Spyke dont sweat it.

If being huge or freaky is your goal then good luck and I think you already know the answer.

However if having an admirable, athletic look is your goal and I am guessing it prob is. Then you are in luck.

Its not as hard to look in shape as maybe I made it sound...just realize 90% of the stuff you read or hear on tv or mags in complete bull sh#t to begin with.

For example any baseball player, boxer or football player is most likely not the height or weight they say they are. Also when you read these menshealth cover mags and they tell you how Brad pitt go into shape, trust me that is very attainable.

I guess what I am getting at, is as far as society as a whole what most of people will call buff or inshape is very attainable...ie Look @ Body for life!

Now go hit the weight and put down that doughnut!!!...hehe.

Joe :D
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Joe.Muscle @ Nov. 29 2005,6:08)]Man DKM...what Have I been doing for 11 years..hehe.
tounge.gif
Click to expand...
Well obviously not the program designed in those studies huh?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Spyke @ Nov. 29 2005,10:12)]I think it would be cool to start a thread so that guys have a realistic idea on how long it takes to get really big. So for the average guy in his 20's or 30's who is 6' tall, maybe 10 pounds overweight and average genetics......
if he starts lifting using HST properly and no steroids ... <snip>
Click to expand...
Define "big".

Seriously, nobody can answer this question (which is quantitative, "how long" in months or years or whatever) without knowing what quantities you care about.

Of course, there are lots of effects from genetics and diet, too.

All that said, I don't even know if I count as "big" myself, and I've been doing weight lifting since about 1985 or so (early to mid 20s), except that I had over 10 years off in the middle (stopped hitting the gym regularly in 1991, started again in mid-2002). Have only been using HST for about a year now and it seems to be working pretty well.

photo
 
I've gained almost 30lbs of muscle since starting HST last June. I think it's reasonable for me to gain another 20lbs, putting me at 230lbs with BF<15%. That seems big to me. It may take another year to do it, but it is totally worth the effort.
 
chief, 30 lbs of muscle.. or 30 lbs?? I gained 19 lbs since June.. 19 of that lbm.. dropped from .14 to .127 bf%.. I blame 12 of that on muscle memory, so since HST started, I added 7lbs of muscle that I never had on my body ever :)

your goals are definitely attainable.. I always set short-term goals month by month.. my long term goal is to be 210 at sub10% bodyfat by this June. That's 15 pounds of lean mass in about 30 weeks while losing the fat - definitely attainable! :) I may actually have to try a cutting cycle before the summer comes instead of my normal diet.. maybe if I am close enough, I'll actually do that 912 cycle that I have been so interested in

-colby
 
Chief could get up to 250 or so, natural & around that 8-12% beach mark...he's 6'5 for crying out loud...and check out his early pics, v. low BF...so he's got a great base...think Michael Jordan circa 1996-8 style but slightly bigger all around...
 
My opinion.

Silaren judging from the small pic you would be considered built with great muscle were I come from.

ChiefHogg is definatly on the right track. and is looking built as well.


Again this is were I come from, and the people on these types of forum are way more critical than average person.

So If I think for example some one is built...then the average non lifter liable to think your a monster..hehe.
tounge.gif
 
Yeah, it totally depends on what you consider big... a lot of guys have unreasonable expectations these days due to looking at bodybuilders all their lives. You can't really expect to achieve that kind of thing naturally.
 
Yeah I agree that the muscle mags and even guys like Arnie and the WWE boys have given us an unrealistic ideal of the body.

What makes it worse is when guys claim to be "100% natural" when they are on AAS. Then the real natural guys look tiny by comparison.
 
Colby, I just realized that I stated that I gained 30lbs of muscle. That is obviously untrue. It has been 30 lbs total, but with acceptable fat gain. Thanks for pointing that out, I don't want to be dishonest!

My point is that with hard work and lots of food, you can look spectacular. I look at myself in the mirror and realize I dont have the genetics of a pro. I know that I have limitations. That being said, I can still have a head-turning physique. I think that most people can with smart, steady dedication to diet and training.
 
This doesn't answer Spyke's question but is just an observation on what it is to be big.

Saw a guy on TV tonight on the UK's strongest man. He's 28 stone (392 lbs)! But, because he is 6' 6", he doesn't really look that big compared to pretty much any pro bodybuilder (he certainly doesn't look small either! :) ).

I'm sure if the guy was leaner he would appear larger. So perhaps a person's degree of leanness is an important factor in how big they appear to be (assuming they are reasonably well muscled)?

He was darn strong though. He carried over 700 lbs hanging from a steel yoke across his shoulders for a couple of minutes before he was unable to walk any further and he lifted all five atlas stones (heaviest @ just over 350 lbs) onto their pedestals in double quick time. Awesome!  
thumbs-up.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]the people on these types of forum are way more critical than average person.

So If I think for example some one is built...then the average non lifter liable to think your a monster..hehe.
Click to expand...
True, true, true. How many times have you had this discussion?
- I'm small.
- You're big!
- I'm just your average guy.
- Are you kidding? Look around and see for yourself.
 
While no one can say how long it will take to reach a given point, I think we can all agree that there is a point at which your most dramatic gains will slow considerably.  I have been training for 5 1/2 years (nearly 3 1/2 with HST), and I would say that 75% of my gains occurred during the first 12 to 18 months.
 
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