How Much Weight Do I Want To Gain?
A beginning natural bodybuilder who is training hard and eating right should gain at least 10 to 16 pounds of muscle during his first year of hardcore training. An intermediate to advanced lifter will gain fewer pounds as the years progress. According to Casey Butt, this is the muscle progression that an average natural bodybuilder can expect:
Year 1 - 16 pounds of muscle.
Year 2 - 8 pounds of muscle.
Year 3 - 4 pounds of muscle.
Year 4 - 2 pounds of muscle.
Year 5 - 1 pound of muscle.
When bulking, you will also gain some fat. Some fat. Keep in mind that this bulking protocol will not turn you into a sumo wrestler, but you may add 5 to 10 pounds of fat during a given year. Some will gain slightly more, and some will gain slightly less fat. If you have fat fear and undereat, you will be limiting your gains. Bodybuilding requires building, or eating more. You simply can't maximize muscle mass by trying to eat less. There will be plenty of time to see your abs once you are a muscular beast!
Here are some general guidelines on how much weight gain you should aim for based on your training and muscle growth experience:
Beginners.
Beginning lifters who have gained no prior muscle mass should set a goal to gain about 2 pounds a month over the course of their first training year. In a perfect world this would equate to 16 pounds of muscle and 8 pounds of fat.
Beginner to Intermediates.
Second year lifters (or someone who has gained about 16 pounds of muscle mass) should set a goal to gain one pound per month over the course of the next year. In a perfect world this would equate to 8 pounds of muscle and 4 pounds of fat.
Intermediates.
Third year lifters (or someone who has gained about 24 pounds of muscle mass) should set a goal to gain two pounds every 3 months over the course of the next year. In a perfect world this would equate to 4 pounds of muscle and 4 pounds of fat.
Intermediate to Advanced. Fourth year lifters (or someone who has gained about 28 pounds of muscle mass) should set a goal to gain one pound every 2 months over the course of the next year. In a perfect world this would equate to 2 pounds of muscle and 4 pounds of fat.
Advanced.
Fifth year (plus) lifters (or someone who has gained about 30 pounds of muscle mass) should set a goal to gain one pound every 2 months over the course of the next year. In a perfect world this would equate to 1 pound of muscle and 5 pounds of fat.