How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle

For skinny guys and hardgainers, gaining weight and building muscle mass can be tough, especially if you're following what 90% of most bodybuilding magazines recommend.
Thus, a common question among hardgainers, particularly beginners, is "how long does it take to build muscle?" While this question may be common, the answer is not exactly straight-forward, since it depends on a number of different factors.

It is possible for skinny hardgainers to build muscle fairly rapidly (within weeks), but in order to do so, you'll need to ask yourself the following questions, and then incorporate them into a solid workout and diet plan to build muscle quickly.

How Many Calories Do You Consume Per Day?

Finding out how long does it take to build muscle comes down largely to how many calories you are consuming on a daily basis. For skinny guys, this is crucially important, since we have a naturally high metabolism which burns off energy like a furnace.
Increase your calorie intake and split your meals into 6 per day, to ensure that your muscles are well fed and able to repair themselves. To find your daily calorie requirement, multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 24 - so if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be getting around 3,600 per day (150 x 24).

Taking a knowledgeable and disciplined approach to your diet will have a huge effect on how long it takes you to build muscle mass. How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle

Do You Already Exercise Regularly?

Are you a complete beginner or have you spent some time down the gym before? This is actually really important in determining how long does it take to build muscle, since a complete beginner will often see faster initial gains than a person who already has some experience.

This completely normal, and is simply your body's reaction to unfamiliar stimulus. The good thing about this is that this principle can be applied even to the more experienced hardgainer - by making sure you regularly change up your workouts, weights, rep numbers, rest times, etc. you ensure that your body is always forced to adapt, and it is this that can really shorten how long it takes to build muscle. How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle

How Often Do You Workout?

This is a big key in determining how long it takes to build muscle since working out too much causes your muscles to fatigue and not have sufficient rest time to repair and recuperate; yet too few workouts will not stimulate your muscles enough to see sustained and impressive growth.

What is the right amount of time to spend down the gym?

Many people get this wrong and think that, as with most things in life, the more the better.
However, I'm a little more old-school and think that life is better in moderation. For this reason I advocate that you should be working out 3 times a week, with each workout lasting no more than an hour. This more than enough to work your body hard and see great muscle growth. How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle