Most men can naturally gain 40 to 50 pounds of muscle in their lifetimes, and most women can naturally gain 20 to 25 pounds. Research shows that you can use the circumference of your wrists and ankles to predict how much muscle you can gain naturally.
(Your Height in Inches -70) x 5 + 160 = Maximum LBM
That's the maximum LBM you can gain naturally assuming you are in the average span of the genetic bell curve. Pretty simple. In order to figure out your total weight, just figure out how much fat you want to have on your body given your maximum LBM.
Studies reveal that a person cannot achieve an FFMI greater than 25 to 26 without using steroids. Not only is there a limit to overall muscle mass, but there is also a limit as to how quickly a person can add muscle.
The Reality of Genetic Limitations
We all have a genetic limit as to how much muscle we can naturally carry. It's not pleasant to hear, but it's true. Sure, there are genetic outliers whose natural limitations will be a lot higher than ours. They can build more muscle mass and strength than the average person.
Before we being, I want to assure my natty brethren that a natural bodybuilder can make very good progress. You can gain a lot of size, strength, and look great as a natural trainer. Obviously, that requires the right training routine and diet, and hell of a lot of work.
Whether you're a skinny kid just starting to lift weights, or a seasoned veteran who has yet to see the fruits of his or her hard work, you CAN build significant amounts of muscle, and if you want to compete and are willing to do the work, it is entirely possible, and to do so without the use of anabolic steroids.
Basically, a 5'10" lifter has the potential to pack on 178 to 180 pounds of lean body mass. This is the weight if you had absolutely zero body fat.
Scientists estimate that about 80 percent of an individual's height is determined by the DNA sequence variations they have inherited, but which genes these changes are in and what they do to affect height are only partially understood.
The largest known gene is the human dystrophin gene, which has 79 exons spanning at least 2,300 kilobases (kb).
"Some people are predisposed to have more fast-twitch muscle fibers, and others have more slow-twitch muscle fibers." Fast-twitch fibers power explosive, high-intensity movements like sprinting, they're physically larger to begin with, and they also have a greater potential for growth compared to slow-twitch fibers.
Height plays no significant factor in a person's ability to grow muscle. Whilst shorter people may appear to have gained more muscle in less time, it's simply because they need less muscle to fill out proportionally.
For example, in this study, reasonably well-trained men (90-110kg/200-240lb bench and 100-125kg/220-275lb squat on average) went on 600mg of testosterone per week for 10 weeks. The people who used test while also lifting gained about 6.1kg (about 13.5lbs) of lean mass, on average. That's a ton of muscle!
Typically, muscle mass and strength increase steadily from birth and reach their peak at around 30 to 35 years of age. After that, muscle power and performance decline slowly and linearly at first, and then faster after age 65 for women and 70 for men.
Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks. Most individuals gain one to two pounds of lean muscle per month with the right strength training and nutrition plan.
Noticeable muscle growth takes a long time.
Expect it to take at least three months before you start looking bigger and more muscular.
Speaking of growth, if you're starting without muscle, you can grow it fast if you're diligent about eating, exercising, and sleeping. You can gain up to 12-15lbs (6.8kg) of muscle in 3-4 months when closely following a researched program.
We are now generally shorter, lighter and smaller boned than our ancestors were 100,000 years ago. The decrease has been gradual but has been most noticeable in the last 10,000 years. However, there has been some slight reversal to this trend in the last few centuries as the average height has started to increase.
The Australian lungfish has the largest genome of any animal so far sequenced.
Summary: Complexity ever in the eye of its beholders, the animal with the most genes -- about 31,000 -- is the near-microscopic freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex, or water flea. By comparison, humans have about 23,000 genes.
No. Both your parents may carry recessive "shortness" genes, and if the "shortness" genes from both parents are combined in you, you're going to be short because neither parent has contributed a dominant "tallness" gene.
Height is largely due to genetics. Once a person reaches adulthood and stops growing, eating certain foods will not make them any taller. During years of growth and development, however, good nutrition can help a person reach their full height and support their body in growing and developing healthily.
On the other hand, it could take you a year or more if you've been lifting for a while and need to gain more than an inch of arm size. But don't get discouraged because 16 inch arms are easily attainable for most people.
A purely muscular 20 inch arm (unpumped) as a natural bodybuilder? Probably not. A 16–17 inch arm as a natural bodybuilder is achievable - with the proper training protocol, exercises, nutrition and rest. An unpumped muscular 20 inch (drug free) is rare.