Most men can naturally gain 40 to 50 pounds of muscle in their lifetimes, and most women can naturally gain 20 to 25 pounds, but how much can you gain, exactly? Research shows that you can use the circumference of your wrists and ankles to predict how much muscle you can gain naturally in your lifetime. Enter your height, estimated body fat percentage, and wrist and ankle circumferences into the Legion Muscle Gain Potential Calculator to estimate how “jacked” you can get without taking steroids.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long will it take to reach my natural genetic potential for muscle gain?
It takes at least 4-to-5 years of proper dieting and training to approach your genetic potential for whole-body muscularity. After this point, further gains become vanishingly small.
How long it takes you to reach your genetic potential, though, depends on many factors.
First and foremost, the quality and consistency of your diet and training can accelerate or delay your progress. Many people spin their wheels with suboptimal training programs (or worse, just “exercise”) and make a number of mistakes in the kitchen (like not eating enough calories or protein), which prevent them from making progress as quickly as they should.
Thus, someone who’s been training and eating improperly for several years has the potential to make “year one” gains when he or she starts training and eating properly.
Furthermore, both age and starting condition reduce the potential for muscle gain. Older guys and gals will generally gain less than younger, and underweight people can gain a bit more than normal weight folks.
All in all, it’s fair to say that most people should be able to reach their genetic potential for muscle gain after about 4 to 5 years of proper dieting and training, although a more realistic target would be 5 to 10 years.
As a corollary to the last question, most people doing everything right in the gym and kitchen will keep gaining muscle for about 4 to 5 years, after which progress becomes painstakingly slow.
Now, there’s some debate among scientists as to whether muscle gain completely stops or becomes so miniscule that it’s almost impossible to measure, but the answer doesn’t really matter for our purposes. What’s important to understand is that no matter what anyone says, you can’t keep gaining a meaningful amount of muscle and strength indefinitely without taking steroids.
Remember this when people say their physique took “ten years of #dedication to build.” More like 4 to 5 years of proper dieting and training, followed by another half-decade of steroid use. This may sound harsh, but it’s true according to the scientific literature.
Also remember that most people—even the most knowledgeable and committed natural bodybuilders—aren’t doing everything “right” 24/7, 365 days per year. Instead, their diet and training plans get interrupted by holidays, trips, illnesses, personal and professional vagaries, waning motivation, and so forth. Thus, many people can continue gaining muscle and strength for a decade or more, albeit at a slower rate than they might achieve under perfect conditions.
What’s more, most people can continue making small gains in strength until age or injuries stymie their progress, mainly thanks to improvements in technique. For example, many veteran powerlifters can keep adding a few pounds to their one-rep maxes until their late thirties or forties.
You may also be able to keep gaining muscle up until this point, too, but we’re talking grams, not pounds.
How can you tell if someone is taking or has taken steroids?
In some cases, it’s easy to tell if someone’s on steroids.
If they’re an IFBB pro or look like one, for instance, they’re on the sauce.
It’s rarely that obvious, though. Most steroid users don’t look like professional bodybuilders or physique athletes. In fact, many look far more “normal” than you might think.
In these cases, the best way to determine whether or not someone is taking or has taken steroids is to calculate their fat-free mass index (FFMI), which is a measurement of how much muscle they have per unit of height.
It’s calculated by dividing your fat-free mass in kilograms by your height in meters squared, and you can calculate it by plugging your height, weight, and body fat percentage into the Legion FFMI Calculator.
I don’t like the results from this calculator. Is it possible that it’s wrong?
Maybe, but it’s more likely that you have unrealistic expectations of how much muscle you can build naturally.
You probably follow quite a few bodybuilders, fitness models, and “influencers” who put your potential for muscle gain to shame. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s good you’re coming to this realization now, before unrealistic hopes can sink their hooks in and set you up for major disappointment and failure later (or worse, drug use).
The good news, though, is no matter your genetic potential for muscle gain, you can build an outstanding physique. It doesn’t take stellar DNA to build a body you can be proud of.
If a guy new to weightlifting gains 30 to 40 pounds of muscle and stays around 10% body fat, he’ll look like a Greek god to most people. And if you’re a woman, you’ll likely love the way you look after adding just 10 to 15 pounds of muscle in the right places on your body and dieting your way down to about 20% body fat.
It may take longer than you’d like to get the body you really want, and you may never be as muscular or defined as your Instagram idols, but you absolutely can transform your physique into something special.
If you don’t like something of ours, guess what happens next?
No, we don’t request you deliver it to a PO box in the Gobi Desert by carrier pigeon. Nor do we ask you to fill a cursed inkwell with orc’s blood and demon saliva and then use it to complete reams of return forms written in ancient Cyrillic script.
We just . . . wait for it . . . give you your money back. Holy moo cows. And that means you can say "yes" now and decide later.
Free Worldwide Shipping & Returns
Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you live in the United States, your order ships free regardless of order size, and if you live elsewhere, your order ships free when it’s over $199.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We're also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
Also, if you don’t absolutely love our stuff for whatever reason, we don’t request you deliver it to a PO box in the Gobi Desert by carrier pigeon.
We just . . . wait for it . . . give you your money back. No returns. No forms. No nonsense. Holy moo cows.
That means you can say “yes” now and decide later. You really have nothing to lose.
Clinically Effective Doses
Many ingredients in supplements don’t have any scientifically validated benefits, and many ingredients that do are often underdosed to the point of irrelevance.
That’s why we only use the choice ingredients and precise doses shown to be effective in peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Clinically Effective Doses
You need more than great ingredients to make great products—you also need proper doses. That’s why we use the precise doses of ingredients shown to be effective in peer-reviewed scientific studies.
100% Natural Ingredients
“Natural” doesn’t always mean “better,” but in many cases, natural ingredients are superior to artificial ones for various reasons, including purity, safety, and efficacy.
That’s why all of our ingredients in all of our products come from plant and animal sources, including sweeteners, colors, and flavors.
Made in USA
If you want to ensure the supplements you’re swallowing every day are safe and effective, you want products produced in the USA.
That’s why all of our supplements are made in America in NSF-certified and FDA-inspected facilities that operate in accordance with the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations.
Lab Tested
Did you know that supplements can contain dangerously high levels of toxins like lead, arsenic, and cadmium?
That’s why we test every ingredient of every supplement we produce for heavy metals, microbes, allergens, and other contaminants and ensure they meet the strict purity standards set by the FDA.
Naturally Sweetened & Flavored
While artificial sweeteners may not be as dangerous as some people claim, studies suggest that regular consumption of these chemicals may indeed be harmful to our health.
That’s why all of our supplements are naturally sweetened and flavored and contain no artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk.
Science-Backed Ingredients
Many ingredients in supplements don’t have any scientifically validated benefits. That’s why we only use choice ingredients shown to be effective in peer-reviewed scientific studies.
No Chemical Junk
“Natural” doesn’t always mean “better,” but in many cases, natural ingredients are superior to artificial ones for various reasons, including purity, safety, and efficacy.
That’s why all of our ingredients in all of our products come from plant and animal sources, including sweeteners, colors, and flavors.
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Waiver and Release of Liability
In consideration of the services and/or products offered by Legion Athletics, Inc. (“Legion”) including, but not limited to, nutrition plans, exercise routines and coaching, and in addition to the payment of any fee or charge:
I knowingly and voluntarily enter into this waiver and release of liability and hereby waive any and all rights, claims or causes of action of any kind whatsoever arising out of my use of Legion’s services and/or products, and I hereby release and hold harmless Legion and its consultants, officers, contractors, agents, owners and employees from any and all responsibility, liability, cost and expenses, including for injuries, damages or disorders (physical, metabolic, or otherwise), resulting from my use of Legion’s services and/or products.
I understand that fitness activities including, but not limited to, strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular exercise, with or without the use of equipment, are potentially hazardous activities that involve a risk of injury and even death, and I am voluntarily participating in these activities and using equipment and machinery with knowledge of the risks involved. I hereby agree to assume and accept any and all risks of injury or death related to said fitness activities.
I understand Legion’s services and products are not meant to treat or manage any health conditions or circumstances, and I acknowledge that Legion has recommended I obtain a healthcare provider’s approval for my use of Legion’s services and/or products, through regular physical examination(s) and/or consultation. I acknowledge that I have obtained my healthcare provider’s approval or have decided to use Legion’s services and/or products without such approval and hereby assume all responsibility for my use of said services and/or products.
I understand that results from using Legion’s products and/or services are not guaranteed, and I agree to not hold Legion liable for any outcomes or lack thereof.
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Some popular pre-workouts are all-natural. Some contain the right mix of high-quality ingredients. Some provide clinically effective doses. But only Pulse checks each of these boxes.
Pulse doesn’t just “contain natural ingredients''—every ingredient is naturally sourced from plants and animals. Pulse contains no artificial or synthetic substances of any kind.
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While these types of chemicals may not be as dangerous as some people claim, studies suggest that regular consumption of them may indeed be harmful to our health. And that’s why we don’t put any of them into our products.
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Analyzed for purity and potency in a state-of-the-art ISO 17025 accredited lab by Labdoor™, the gold standard of third-party lab testing.
Analyzed for purity and potency in a state-of-the-art ISO 17025 accredited lab, the gold standard of third-party lab testing.
This product doesn’t just “contain natural ingredients’’—every ingredient is naturally sourced from plants and animals. This product contains no artificial or synthetic substances of any kind.
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Our scientific review board of nutritionists, dietitians, molecular biologists, doctors, and other accredited experts is responsible for reviewing every article, podcast, and video we produce to ensure they’re evidence based, accurate, trustworthy, and current.
Thanks to their connections, credentials, and academic experience, this team of MDs, PhDs, and other professionals has access to a wealth of research published in the largest and most prestigious journals in the world.
This allows them to not only review individual studies but also analyze the overall weight of the evidence on any and all topics related to diet, exercise, supplementation, and more.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, misleading, out-of-date, or anything less than factual, please let us know in the comments section of the article in question.
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We follow a detailed, rigorous, multi-step process to create content that meets the highest standards of clarity, practicality, and scientific integrity.
First, our research associates provide our editorial team with accurate, up-to-date, proven scientific evidence.
Then, our editorial team uses this research to draft articles and outlines for podcasts and videos.
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