Arash Rahbar weighs in on the human limit of lean muscle growth per year.
In our various conversations with athletes, there has been a growing debate about the human limit for lean muscle growth in a given year. In working with Tony Huge for Enhanced 2 The Max, he had claimed that his experiments prove a person can gain up to 15 or even 20 pounds of lean muscle in just one month – let alone a year. Former Olympia Classic Physique champion Breon Ansley thinks a bodybuilder can only build maximum nine pounds in a year. In our latest GI Exclusive, Arash Rahbar goes into detail about the reality of how much muscle a person can gain in one year.
After we describe to Arash Rahbar the two sides on this topic about muscle growth, he is put back and a little surprised. Why? Because Arash claims that you cannot put a limiting number on just how much lean muscle a person gains in one year. His reasoning is simple – it can vary depending on what stage of fitness you are entering.
Arash gives the example of a person just starting bodybuilding in their teens. According to Arash, it’s possible for a new bodybuilder to gain up to 30 pounds of lean muscle in one year. He compares it to a new born baby. If you’ve rarely ever indulged in fitness, the growth is brand new. That first year bodybuilding will showcase the most amount of growth than any other year afterwards.
But when it comes to pro caliber athletes, such as Arash Rahbar and his contemporaries, that number is much smaller. For seasoned bodybuilders, he agrees that the limit might be closer to 9 pounds as Breon had previously stated. Even if a bodybuilder goes the enhanced route – he thinks that the limit can’t be quite as fast as Tony Huge had stated – due to the fact that even with steroids or other PEDs, muscle tissue fibers have a limit on how fast they can build and grow.
While steroids are often considered a cheat and shortcut to gains and strength – the reality is that hard work and time are still required. Can steroids and other PEDs speed this up through decreased recovery and increased growth? Certainly. But there are limits and, in Arash Rahbar’s opinion, there will never be an easy fix to suddenly gain 20 pounds of muscle every single month. Not real lean muscle at least.
You can check out Arash Rahbar’s full comments in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
