Making Goals

I believe it’s a very good idea to set yourself both long and short term targets in the pursuit of, well, anything. I’m currently looking to gain some quality mass and size, around 20-25 lbs, with as little fat gain as possible. Therefore I’m willing to spend longer doing it, however I’m wondering what is a reasonable timescale for this kind of gain?

I’m currently using Coach Staley’s EDT principles in a sort of A, B, A, B fashion. My workouts consist of 2 upper body and 2 lower body days, so for example 1 week I would do upper body 1 on monday, lower body 1 on wednesday, upper body 2 on friday, and then lower body 2 on monday and so forth, alternating between upper and lower.

The reason I have chosen both EDT and this order of workouts is because I’m a medical student with not a huge amount of free time, so I need to get as much from my workouts as possible. Also if I am unable to go to the gym on a certain day, I can pick up where I left off as soon as possible and just continue the order.

My actual workouts are as follows (15 min PR zone pairings):
Upper body 1: Weighted Chins + Dips
Lower Body 1: 1 Leg Squats + Snatch Grip Deadlifts
Upper Body 2: Incline DB Press + Chest Supported Row
Lower Body 2: Back Squats + 1 Leg Deadlifts

Thus each workout including warm-up + stretch down takes around 30 minutes. Sometimes I will include another PR zone for smaller muscles groups, such as arms, if I feel up to it. On off days I tend to do remedial work, such as Scap Pushups, External Rotations, Behind Neck Band Pulldowns etc.

So there’s some more detail on my workouts, critique and suggestions always welcomed. But my main question is what kind of time should I be looking at to put on a good 20-25 lbs (10kg)? I’m currently 5’11, 177 lbs (80kg).

Thanks for any help.

Jamie

Without any pharmaceutical assistance I think I remember reading that you can expect to gain approximately 2-3 lbs of muscle in a month. Ok here’s an article to back that statement up.

It posits that you can expect to gain 0.5lbs in a week. I would think that this number is dependent on your training age though ie you can put on more muscle at a faster rate if your training age is less.

I would say shooting for putting on that amount of LBM in a year is achievable if you eat and train perfectly. My hunch and this is based purely on my actual experiences is that it may take closer to two years to accomplish your goal. Building muscle takes time and dedication. It won’t happen overnight. Keep at it and don’t get discouraged. I wish you well in your endeavors.