Since this blog's inception in November 2023, everyone and their mother has requested that I write a guide on building muscle in the gym. I’ve delayed doing so for various reasons, but, by popular demand, I’ve decided to craft one of the most comprehensive documents pertaining to the subject in existence. 

I’ve been lifting weights consistently since December 2017, and it is my intention to document everything I’ve learned up until this point to prevent you all from making the same mistakes I did when starting out.

This guide was initially going to be one all inclusive document, but, upon writing, I quickly realized that that would require far too much text for one blog post. So, I will instead be breaking this up into a multi part series that discusses the various aspects of building muscle in the gym, with this one pertaining to the fundamentals of weight gain. 

Completion of this guide will equip you with a comprehensive understanding of the following:

• Building muscle
• Bulking (gaining weight)
• Properly performing exercises
• Meal plans  
• Training plans
• Building Strength 
• Gym terminology, etiquette, and equipment 

Before we dive in, I want to make it abundantly clear that this guide isn’t going to be some substitute for the work that is required. If it wasn’t obvious already, please understand that building muscle mass takes a considerable amount of time, effort, and consistency, and that every jacked guy you see had to earn his body.

Finding Your Maintenance Calories  

Your ability to gain weight solely depends on the amount of calories you consume with respect to your maintenance calories. If you eat above your maintenance calories, you will gain weight. If you eat below your maintenance calories, you will lose weight, and if you eat at maintenance you will maintain weight. 

Image Demonstrating How Maintenance Calories Work

TDEE Calculator

In order to determine your maintenance calories, I highly recommend using a TDEE calculator (anyone from Google works) and answering the required criteria shown in the image below. It’s a relatively straightforward process; but, accurately selecting your activity level requires some thought due to the various factors that must be taken into consideration. 

Estimated maintenance calories based on height, bodyweight, bodyfat percentage, age, and activity level.

Finding Maintenance Calories Requires Trial and Error 

In spite of this, I’ve found that relating everything back to total steps walked in a day yielded me with the most consistent results when determining my activity level. I recommend downloading a pedometer app on your smartphone to automatically track your steps daily. 

Table demonstrating activity level that corresponds to the amount of steps taken in a day.

Pro-tip: Running one mile is equivalent to walking 3,000 steps

Other physical activities (lifting, running, etc.) should also be factored in, but ultimately, you’re just going to have to take your best guess at your activity level, observe your weight fluctuations (if any) for two weeks, and modify if needed. 

Assuming I’m not running, I average approximately 12,000 steps per day, which puts me in the active activity level category. In addition to this, I lift heavy weights 4-6 days per week for anywhere from 60-90 minutes. So, when determining my maintenance calories, I assumed my activity level was highly active, and I undoubtedly know that my assessment was correct because eating the corresponding amount of maintenance calories has resulted in me maintaining weight.

How Much Muscle You Can Develop As a Natural

Assuming your genetics are average, you train perfectly, and follow your diet to a T, you can gain up to 2 lbs of muscle per month as an unenhanced (steroid free) lifter during your first year of training. Realistically, most people starting out don’t learn how to properly train until about one year in, so  I’d expect a beginner to gain no more than 1 lb of muscle mass per month during their first year of lifting (or, at-least, until they develop a proper understanding of how to train). 

After your 1-2  years of training, the amount of muscle you build increases asymptotically. For our non stem readers, this means the amount of muscle you build after your first two years of proper training decreases drastically over time, and then eventually flatlines once you’ve developed all of the muscle your body is capable of producing. 

Amount of muscle expected to be gained over a 5 years of proper training

Eating In a Caloric Surplus 

In order to develop any muscle mass at all, you must be in a caloric surplus. You can train more than a Navy Seal during hell week, but if you don’t eat a surplus of calories you will remain scrawny. 

I recommend that beginners eat in a surplus of 250 calories per day so they can gain two pounds per month. You can eat more if desired, but just remember that as an unenhanced lifter the most muscle you can gain in one month is two lbs, and any excess weight will be water or fat. Furthermore, you will most likely want to lose any excess weight that is put on from bulking at some point, which is arguably substantially more difficult than putting it on. 

Eat Your Protein

The macronutrient that is most important for building muscle mass is protein. Assuming you aren’t doing a considerable amount of cardiovascular exercise, you only need to consume .8-1.0 grams of protein/lb of bodyweight. I weigh 170 lbs, so I eat a minimum of 136 grams of protein per day and try not to exceed 170 grams, because anything over 1.0 grams of protein / lb of bodyweight comes out of the body as excess waste. 

What Foods To Eat

Technically, you can eat anything you want as long as you hit your macronutrient (protein) goal and don’t exceed your daily calorie limit. With that being said, it’s unequivocally better to consume the majority of your protein from actual meat as opposed to shakes, bars, and smoothies because they allow your muscles to recover faster. 

Here’s a list of proteins you can choose from the next time you are in the grocery store: 

• Chicken Breasts, Chicken Thighs
• Ground Beef
• Beef Patties
• Eggs
• Ground Turkey, Turkey Patties
• Canned Tuna, Pouched Tuna
• Beef Jerky
• Greek Yogurt
• Beef Liver 
• Peanut Butter 

Protein I eat when bulking to gain mass

This list is by no means exhaustive, but you should now have a rudimentary understanding of what foods to purchase in order to build muscle. 

Problems People Have When Bulking

When people attempt to gain weight for the first time, they invariably encounter two issues: Not eating enough food, or eating inadequate amounts of protein. Foods that contain large amounts of protein, such as lean meats, typically have considerably fewer calories than most due to the absence of fats and carbs, thus, it’s entirely possible to consume enough protein and still be considerably beneath your maintenance calories. 

Table that demonstrates what I eat when cutting weight. 254 grams of protein total.

As shown in the image above, I consumed 1,690 calories per day while eating 254 grams of protein, which is well above the amount I am required to eat at 170 lbs.  However, despite eating considerable amounts of protein, I still would not grow because I am well beneath my maintenance calories. 

Calorie Dense Foods

If you find yourself eating adequate amounts of protein but struggling to consume enough calories, here’s a list of affordable and calorie dense foods: 

• Peanut butter
• Bagels 
• Peanuts 
• Pop-tarts
• Muffins

If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) 

While none of these foods are particularly healthy, they will succeed in making you gain weight. Again, what you eat after consuming your protein goal doesn’t really matter as long as you achieve your daily calorie goal in order to grow. 

So, yes – I am saying that you could Technically consume ice cream after hitting your protein goal for the day without becoming fat as long as the amount you eat does not exceed your maximum daily caloric intake. 

Now Get To Work

If you’ve made it this far,  congratulations – you now possess an understanding of how to build muscle, and the types of food you need to eat in order to grow. If you only take away one thing from this article, let it be the importance of eating enough food and protein. Almost everyone who spends a considerable amount of time lifting weights in the gym but has nothing to show for it isn’t eating enough. Period. Don’t let that be you. 

The upcoming article in this series will discuss the specific muscles to train, gym equipment, and corresponding exercises for each muscle group.