How much muscle mass can I build without steroids or other aids?

29. August, 2024(letzte Änderung)

Autor: Marc Sonderegger

I too have often wondered at what weight I have exhausted my genetic potential when it comes to building muscle. The recently published articles from “Stronger by Science” were the trigger for this blog post on the topic of “maximum possible muscle growth”, naturally, without anabolic steroids.

Factors that influence maximum muscle growth

As mentioned above, a lot has to go right in order to maximize your genetic potential for muscle growth. In addition to a basic physique, this includes things like:

Optimal training conditions
Optimal nutrition
Optimal recovery

But what does this mean? Ideally, it means that bodybuilding is your job and you have nothing else to do but optimize these factors. Train, eat, sleep & repeat. But who has this chance and can make a living out of it? Especially if you do it “naturally”!

The following information should therefore be taken with caution and hardly anyone will manage to reach 100% of their potential.

Formulas for calculating maximum possible muscle mass

First of all, there are other formulas out there. However, in order to keep this article as short and practical as possible, I will limit myself to two formulas for which there are actual facts.

The Fat Free Mass Index (FFMI) is a formula similar to the Body Mass Index (BMI). However, in addition to height and weight, it also takes into account a person’s fat free mass in relation to their height. This is very important and a major shortcoming of the BMI.

Studies suggest that a maximum FFMI of 25 is possible without steroids. However, Greg Nuckols of Stronger by Science questions this value (he believes that 28 has already been reached “drug-free”). On the other hand, many bodybuilders who use steroids do not reach a value of 25.

Conclusion: there are very large individual differences.

The formula below can be used to calculate your current FFMI, assuming you know your fat-free mass or body fat percentage (body weight – fat-free mass), or, assuming you have an FFMI, your fat-free mass. For a hypothetical value of 25, this would be the value for you:

or assuming an FFMI – the fat-free mass index. With a hypothetical value of 25, it would be for you:

or an assumed body fat percentage of 10%, divide the value by 0.9 to get your body weight in kilograms.

Casey Butt’s Maximum Muscular Body Weight

Based on studies of bodybuilders, Dr. Casey Butt developed a formula that also takes into account the physique of the skeleton. You must measure your wrist and ankle circumferences to determine your maximum muscular potential. You can easily do this at the following link!

Conclusion, YPSI skinfold measurement and how much muscle mass you can gain per month

In my case, the two formulas give practically the same result for my maximum possible lean mass, which is 76 kilograms. This shows that they are probably not a bad estimate.

My last YPSI skinfold measurement gave me an FFM of 65kg. This means that I can still gain about 11kg of muscle mass without steroids and weigh about 84kg at 10% body fat.

Skinfold measurements to determine your current body fat percentage as well as your lean body mass are standard at Personalworkout and can be performed at any time upon request.

There is still the question of how much muscle mass can be gained per month or year.

Alan Aragon has created a table that I think gives a good overview:

Beginners: 1-1.5% of body weight per month
Advanced: 0.5-1% of body weight per month
Experienced: 0.25-0.5% of bodyweight per month

For more valuable tips on training for results, check out our free fitness guide (GERMAN).

Do you want professional and, above all, practical support for muscle building and body shaping? Then you’ve come to the right place. The personal trainers at Personalworkout will help you finally achieve your goal, with a success guarantee.

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