Newbie Gains, the Cheat Code to Massive Growth

There’s nothing quite like newbie gains in your training journey. Veteran lifters envy the ability to pack on muscle mass so quickly.

Let’s discuss what newbie gains are, how you can take advantage of it, and address common questions about it.

What are newbie gains?

“Newbie gains” is a common term in the lifting community to refer to the very rapid development that beginner lifters experience when they start training seriously for the first time. People who are early in their lifting careers will experience very disproportionate growth.

This is actually a really cool thing, because early wins help a person see success and gain motivation to keep going.

Inexperienced lifters experience this period of rapid muscle growth because their bodies are quickly adapting to the new stresses from training. An experienced lifter has had time to develop and learn to respond to the stress of training.

Hypertrophy and all changes resulting from training are just your body figuring out how to adapt to the conditions it is surrounded by. When you lack previous training, and therefore probably have a body that is far from its potential, your body knows it must rapidly change to survive.

This happens in two specific ways, if you want to geek out on the science behind it all:

• Elevated muscle protein synthesis that lasts longer. This is how your body builds new muscle. Newbies experience this process at an elevated rate for a longer period of time. This means your body is doing much more rapid building of muscle in a short period of time.
• Increased testosterone and HGH levels. This encourages your body to grow. Beginners benefit from the body’s response to the sudden increase in lifting with raised levels of these hormones.

How long will newbie gains last?

This question is a common one that might have a couple of different meanings. Maybe you want to know when the newbie gain train will come to a sudden stop. You might also be curious if the newbie gains you already have are actually sustainable and will stick around.

To the first question, there’s been a bunch of studies and anecdotal evidence thrown around for the newbie gains period. You’ll often see 6 months to 1 year quoted as the time frame to cash in on this rapid muscle growth. It really depends on several factors and there is no hard cutoff. For example, a person in their second year of lifting might still see quicker gains than someone who has been training for 20 years.

Newbie gains will not suddenly stop. They will, however, taper off over time as your body adapts to training.

The second question cuts to whether the muscle built quickly during this period will actually last. Are newbie gains real? Yes, they are.

The hypertrophy you experience will not suddenly go away. There might be fat and water weight that you want to get rid of, but you still have new lean muscle mass that’s here to stay, as long as you stick to working out.

How much muscle can a beginner gain?

This really varies by person, training intensity, and a variety of other factors. The figures I’ve seen most often to answer this question are about 25 pounds for men over the course of a year, and about half of that for women.

I personally gained over 50 pounds of mass in about 8 months.

There are a ton of stories of people gaining 20-30 pounds within their first 4 to 5 months of training.

Don’t limit yourself to a figure from a website. Also, don’t expect to just pack on the muscle without trying. My suggestion is to follow the principles that I stay committed to in order to gain mass quickly.

How long will newbie gains take to show?

The results are fairly fast. Newbie gains are expected to hit really hard in the first two to three months of training. However, results will vary by person. Also, it’s worth noting that men usually will see faster progress than women.

This can be a little frustrating, especially for skinny women trying to gain mass. However, it’s not a sign that you’re doing anything wrong, or that you are not making progress.

Men and women just react differently to lifting weights, but there’s progress and gains to be had for everyone!

How do you maximize newbie gains?

Of course you want to squeeze every possible bit of muscle out of this limited time offer!

A lot of beginners are afraid they will waste their potential if they don’t hit their initial training just right.

It can sound kind of daunting to hear that newbie gains only last for a short period of time, and then they are gone. Your gains from that point will be a lot harder to come by.

However, there’s a lot of great news here.

One positive note is that you’re kind of destined to build muscle quickly no matter what. As long as you train with intensity, your muscles are going to grow, even if you don’t have the perfect routine nailed down. Of course I’m partial to my way of training for massive gains to optimize newbie gains, but hard work will pay off.

That link will also answer how I recommend you work out to optimize newbie gains.

Another key component of your progress in the beginner period is how you eat. Make sure to check out my tips on eating to build muscle. You want to focus on getting the protein intake and extra calories that will let your body build bigger.

How can you ensure you don’t waste them?

The irony with newbie gains is that it’s a period of fantastic growth, and what most lifters crave. However, most of us don’t even know about this concept until our window has already closed.

Training is something that takes years to get right, and you’re always learning something new or correcting a mistake.

My goal with this site is to help you shortcut that path by learning from what I had to learn through trial and error.

However, the reality is most people will have been active in the weight room for years before they really know what they are doing. I had a friend admit to me today that he just figured out how to squat properly after almost two decades of putting up really impressive weights.

The most important thing you can do for your gains and fitness journey is to get started! Take action!

Don’t wait for perfect. Lifting requires actual practice with real weights. You can’t just read about it forever. Sure, it’s great to learn and study, which is why I think this site adds value. However, you have to actually put these tips to use.

If you’re frozen by trying to get it all perfect before you waste your one year window for rapid muscle growth, just keep this in mind. I had a newbie growth period where I barely knew what I was doing. I saw results, and let them fade.

However, I still came back and figured out a way to pack on 30+ pounds in less than 5 months.

I’m a big believer if you get training, fuel and recovery right, rapid results are possible for you.

Thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments!