Generally speaking, every 1kg of weight gain needs about 7000 additional calories [or 29 300 kilojoules]. So to gain 1kg in a week, you would need to eat your Daily Energy Expenditure (DEE) (calculated on the How Much Should I Be Eating Handout) plus a further 1000 calories [or 4 190 kilojoules] every day.
The goal of the lean bulk is to build lean muscle and minimise body fat gain. A lean bulk requires you to gain no more than 0.1-0.35kg of body mass per week. This requires close attention to be paid to both your training and nutrition protocols.
A minimum of 7000 calories are required to increase your body weight by 1 kg. If you want to gain weight, you need to eat at least 500 to 1000 calories more than you normally would eat in a day. At this rate, you would have gained 1 kg by the end of 1 or 2 weeks, depending on your intake.
Your ability to mainline protein plays a role (more on that later). But, yes, the general rule is that you can gain about a pound of muscle mass each week safely.
1 kg of muscle may appear to be the size of baseball whilst 1kg of fat will be three times the size and look like a wobbly bowl of Jelly. Muscle is a denser tissue that takes up less room in our bodies than an equal weight of fat.
For general guidance, the average person should add about half a pound of bodyweight a week. So, 2-3 months is often recommended as a reasonable amount of time. Also, bear in mind that you can't control exactly which parts of your body you're going to increase muscle mass at the fastest.
Generally speaking, every 1kg of weight gain needs about 7000 additional calories [or 29 300 kilojoules]. So to gain 1kg in a week, you would need to eat your Daily Energy Expenditure (DEE) (calculated on the How Much Should I Be Eating Handout) plus a further 1000 calories [or 4 190 kilojoules] every day.
Chances are you'll be able to build between 0.3–1 kg of muscle in a month, assuming you lift weights diligently 4–5 times per week and consume a protein-rich diet with enough calories.
It depends on how much you weigh to start with, how active you are, and how much muscle you have. Generally speaking, if someone who is fairly lean and active gains 5-10 pounds of weight, it will be noticeable. If someone who is overweight or obese gains 10-20 pounds of weight, it will also be very noticeable.
Closing statements on a lean bulk
A weight range I would recommend to aim for through personal experience is 0.8kg-1kg per month gained. Having carbohydrates at the highest amount will make it a lot easier when the time comes to lose weight.
As opposed to lean or “clean” bulking, which focuses on healthy foods and aims to build muscle without adding fat to the body, dirty bulking is a no-stops approach to getting yourself into a fast calorie surplus to get you bigger faster. The idea is to pack on weight, hopefully, muscle, by eating calorie-dense foods.
First, the most effective bulking cycles are generally at least 3-4 months, if not longer. Where this can be difficult for some people is that even if you are incredibly on top of your macronutrients, you will likely also gain some fat while gaining muscle in a bulking cycle.
If you are looking to gain weight through muscle gain, then 4000 calories a day bulking meal plan combined with working out could lead to you gaining about 2.5 pounds of muscle per month.
The sweet spot for a lean bulk is to gain no more than 0.5-1 pound of body weight each week. For most people this will be split 50/50 between muscle and fat gain. So, basically you will gain 1 pound of fat for each pound of muscle – which is a good ratio.
Starting Strength
This equates to a maximum of just over 1.8kg of muscle – enough for skinny men to start seeing serious definition. Some genetic variation should be accounted for, but according to Laidler, at least two pounds should be achievable to any first timer.
Some people will gain substantially more, and some will gain less muscle over the course of a month. But in general, the average is about 1 kg for males and 0.5 kg for females.
Does muscle weighs more than fat? In simple terms 1kg of Muscle weighs the same as 1kg of Fat. The difference is that muscle is much more dense than body fat. Therefore a kilo of muscle will take up much less room in the body than a kilo of fat.
Losing 1 kg per week is considered to be safe for most people. It will help your overall health and reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases or other chronic health problems. As a rule of thumb, it is easier to drop weight in the first couple of weeks due to the loss of excessive fluids.
Since most of us can't eat so much in a day or two that we actually gain a couple of kilos a day, a dramatic increase in weight could be due to water retention. Eating, drinking, urinating, bowel movements, exercise—everything can affect your body's water composition and, therefore, weight.
Sleeping for 7-9 hours per night is crucial, especially if you are looking to change body composition, increase muscle mass and/or if you want to be ready for your personal training session the next day. Sleep enhances muscle recovery through protein synthesis and human growth hormone release.
Most people can have highly effective cutting cycles in 8-12 weeks, but an effective bulking cycle should be 16-26 weeks on the low end and upwards of an entire year on the longer end. You can see some progress after 6-8 weeks, but it will be marginal, and extending your bulk beyond that is highly recommended.
It likely wouldn't have any long-term effect on your health, assuming you go back to eating healthy. However, if you dirty bulk for 2 or 3 months, it's still likely won't have any long-term effect that can't be reversible, but still, you could start to feel some of the effects.