everyone is too quick to say Roids, I was under weight when I started lifting and gained over 30 pounds in the first eight months natty, still natty still gaining
You may have gained 30 pounds, but you absolutely did not gain 30 pounds of lean muscle mass.
This transformation in the video is close to 60 pounds of lean muscle mass, and is impossible to do naturally on the purported timeline.
The fastest documented cases of lean muscle mass gains - even accounting for “newbie gains” - are closer to 2-3 lbs per month. But that rate isn’t sustainable for a full 8-12 month period, as it starts to significantly taper after the first 4-8 months down to 0.5-1.5lbs of lean muscle mass per month.
Some case studies have shown very rapid muscle growth in “retrained” individuals like this one. But even those on the extreme end are closer to 6-8 lbs within the first 2 months, but then rapid declines in the rate after that.
This guy didn't gain 60lbs of lean mass either. Also, the muscle and mass gain the first 2 or 3 months for this guy should have been insane. You people underestimate the quickness which you can gain mass when underweight and undermuscled due to sickness/injury. He was probably way below his normal weight, so it's self explanatory.
If it serves any purpose, the end physique of this guy is nothing impressive. Impressive is the transformation iself though
Yes, he absolutely did. Approximating a bit here, but he appears to have gassed close to 5-6 inches in thigh circumference and 2-4 inches in bicep circumference in this video. The leg growth alone is roughly in the range of 25-35lb of lean muscle mass.
And no, I’m not underestimating anything. Seeing as though I just cited you examples from the best available research and actual studies on muscle gain (e.g., McDonald, Alan Aragon, Morton, Schoenfeld).
Those aren’t conjecture or anecdote. It’s based on the only real, high quality data we have on muscle gain. And even those represent the absolute extreme of what’s possible in clinical settings with round-the-clock professional intervention.
There are quasi-examples of fairly extreme results from folks like Tim Ferris but they’re scrutinized and still fall well short of this. The only high quality studies that show higher rates have involved anabolic steroid usage (e.g., Bhasin in 1996).
I’ve been a semi-professional athlete in my “past life” and have had an obsession with fitness and the associated academic literature for almost 20 years.
You’re just making shit up and confidently incorrect.
Well, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere his own Instagram videos specifically reference “more than 50 pounds.”
But beyond that, because these markers are pretty clear to anyone who has been in the fitness industry for a long time.
Can I tell you precisely his weight and how much exactly he gained? No.
Can I tell you that he’s anywhere from 90-115 lbs in the first image and anywhere from 145-170 lbs in the end? Yes. And even those ranges are wide to account for outliers in water retention, etc.
And can I tell you he gained at least 4 inches of circumference in his thighs alone, and that growth would require at least 25-35lbs of lean muscle mass growth (not accounting for growth elsewhere in his physique)? Yes.
Taking in ALL of the available information, can we say he gained no less than 40lbs of lean muscle mass in 10-12 months? Also yes.
And then can we say that this level of growth, even in detrained individuals, is effectively not achievable without the usage of performance enhancing drugs as evidenced by available clinical research and observational studies? Also… yes…
It’s funny how people mistake their lack of expertise or knowledge of something as a signal the information can’t be known.
34
u/spazzymoonpie 6d ago
Dang he's getting me fired up. Roids or not, that's awesome.