Putting on your first 10lbs of lean mass as a beginner can be a breeze if you know what to do. But it can also be a downright nightmare without knowledge and planning. This post explains how to gain 10 pounds of muscle in 6 months.
Most beginners can realistically gain 10lbs of quality lean weight in half a year. The maximum rate of muscle gain is generally accepted to be around 2lbs per month. Success requires an individual to go on a bulk, lift heavy weights, and apply progressive overload.
Keep reading to find out how I got bulkier and more muscular as a skinny newbie!
9 Tips To Gain 10 Pounds Of Muscle In 6 Months
Gaining 10lbs of muscle in just half a year is 100% possible if you train and eat effectively.
Here are 9 cherry-picked tips that helped me succeed in my own 6-month muscle transformation:
1) Set Realistic Expectations
Setting realistic expectations is the best way to prevent yourself from attempting impossible goals, getting demoralized when you fail to reach those goals, and giving up altogether.
So can you really gain 10lbs of muscle in just 6 months?
The simple answer is yes.
According to these Quora and Reddit threads, 43% of ex-skinny took 6-12 months to put on their first 10lbs of lean mass.
You can go to my other guide to find out how to put on 10lbs of muscle even faster.
You can increase the chances of being on the lower end of that spectrum (i.e. gaining 10 pounds of muscle gain in 6 rather than 12 months) by optimizing your training and nutrition and avoiding the common beginner mistakes detailed further down this list.
Aim to put on a realistic 2lbs of bodyweight per month and you’ll have gained over 10lbs by month 6.
You don’t even need a gym membership to achieve this- home workout plans are more than sufficient for a beginner to gain their first 10lbs of lean muscle.
2) Go On A 10% Caloric Surplus To Ensure Healthy Weight Gain
A 10% calorie surplus is considered to be a lean bulk.
Lean bulking ensures that you gain maximum muscle mass and minimum fat (assuming a heavy resistance training program is also followed) and it’s a great way to stay bulking for the entire 6-month duration.
It’s easy to determine your 10% surplus calories:
- Go on a TDEE calculator to find your maintenance calories.
- Add 10% to your maintenance.
- This is how many calories you should be eating every day to build muscle.
For example: if you burn through 2200 daily maintenance calories then you should aim to consume 2420 calories per day to go on a lean bulk (2200 x 1.10).
Eating in a 10% daily calorie surplus means you’re getting ~200 extra daily calories. That’s ~6000 extra calories per month.
And since ~3000 surplus calories are required to build a pound of muscle, you can expect to gain ~2lbs of lean mass per month.
That’s more than 10lbs of muscle in 6 months!
3) Eat 1g Protein Per lb Body Weight To Ensure Muscle Gain
A building needs bricks and labor to be constructed. Likewise, muscle needs protein (bricks) and calories (labor) to be built.
Eating at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight every day supplies your body with enough amino acids for hypertrophy (muscle growth).
Most bodybuilders recommend eating ~1.2-1.6 grams of protein per lb of body weight per day.
But speaking from personal experience, this is unnecessary (and expensive) if you’re a skinny beginner. Eating just 1g per lb of body weight per day is sufficient to gain your first 10 pounds of muscle in 6 months.
Protein intake should also be spread evenly throughout the day for maximum absorption.
4) Consume A Balanced Macronutrient Profile
If you want to fully optimize your diet for muscle growth, then you should also pay attention to your other macronutrients; carbs and fats.
Eating a balanced macronutrient profile not only gives your body the energy for muscle-building but also minimizes fat gains.
Result?
A ripped and muscular physique in 6 months!
Here’s what a balanced macronutrient profile looks like:
| Macronutrient | Approx. Grams Intake Per lb Body Weight | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 1g | Amino acids supply protein synthesis, muscle repair, and hypertrophy processes. |
| Carbohydrate | 2.5g | Energy for workouts, glycogen replenishment, and muscle recovery. |
| Fats | 0.4g | Energy for workouts, muscle-building hormone synthesis (e.g. testosterone and growth hormone). |
Here’s how you can adjust your macronutrients if you find yourself gaining too much or too little weight during your 6-month transformation:
- Gaining too much weight (excess fat)- reduce total calorie intake by increasing protein intake and decreasing carb/fat intake.
- Not gaining enough weight (slow muscle growth)- increase total calorie intake by increasing carb/fat intake whilst keeping a high protein intake.
5) Do Not Waste Time On Isolation-Type Exercises
Isolation-type lifts are small movements like bicep curls, chest flyes, lateral raises, leg extensions, etc.
These exercises are very useful for defining and targeting specific muscles.
But if you’re looking to maximize the chance of getting as muscular as possible in 6 months, then you should focus on the big compound movements. These exercises engage multiple muscle groups at once.
Compound lift examples include:
- Bench press.
- Press-ups
- Dips.
- Shoulder press.
- Rows.
- Pull-ups and pull-downs.
- Squats.
- Deadlifts.
You don’t have to completely remove isolation lifts from your program. You can use them as accessory lifts at most.
But focusing on the compound lifts will be more beneficial for skinny guys looking to build muscle fast.
6) Optimize Your Training Volume
Training volume refers to the total amount of sets, reps, weight, and frequency lifted per week.
Here’s an effective training volume for beginners to gain their first 10lbs of muscle in 6 months:
- 10 total sets per muscle group per week.
- 8-12 reps per set.
- Choose a weight that is challenging for 8-12 reps (see next point).
- 3 workouts per week.
- 24-48 hours rest between workouts.
Without going too in-depth, this is a great training volume for newbies to start on.
It gives your muscles enough stimulation for growth. But not so much that you risk overtraining.
For more details, you can check out my other post on the ideal weight training frequency to see results.
7) Lift Weights In The 70-80% 1RM Range
The last thing you want is to see no muscle growth by the end of your half-year slog.
And lifting heavy weights is one of the best things you can do to maximize the chances that you actually gain 10 pounds of muscle in 6 months.
Aim to lift a weight that is 70-80% of your 1-rep max (1RM). Your 1RM is the maximum amount of weight liftable for a single reception in any given exercise.
For example: if your barbell squat 1RM is 100lbs, then aim to squat 70-80lbs (100 x 0.7 or 0.8).
If you don’t know your 1RM (or can’t be bothered to find out), you can use the simpler trial-and-error method to identify a weight that you find challenging for 8-12 reps. This gets you close to the 70-80% 1RM range.
Be careful with the trial-and-error method though. You need to be honest with yourself and actually use a weight that challenges you for the allotted 8-12 reps.
8) Apply The 5-10% Rule Progressive Overload Rule
Lifting heavy is good. But lifting the same weight week in and out alone is not sufficient.
You also need to progressive overload to ensure that you build 10lbs of muscle by month 6.
Overloading refers to the act of lifting heavier weights as your muscles make adaptations and become stronger.
I always found the 5-10% rule to be effective. This involves adding 5% weight to all lifts and 10% to the deadlift (if you’re deadlifting).
Here’s an example of a 5% overloading program for a bench press:
| Week | Total Weight (lbs) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 80lbs (starting weight) |
| 2 | 85lbs |
| 3 | 90lbs |
| 4 | 95lbs |
| 5 | 100lbs |
| 6 | 105lbs |
You should add weight whenever your current exercises begin to feel easier to complete.
I aim to increase weight at least 1-2 times per week. It’s also ok to overload less frequently, say 1-2 times every two weeks. But muscle gains generally come faster the more you overload.
It’s also essential to ensure you’re able to lift the overloaded weight with good form.
By combining overload with good lifting form and a lean bulking diet, skinny guys can expect to get a ripped muscular look in 6 months!
9) Have A Clear Idea For What 10lbs Of Muscle Looks Like
Having a clear vision of what your final goal actually looks like serves two purposes:
- Gives you a visible and tangible goal to work towards and this helps with motivation.
- Allows you to track progress and troubleshoot on a monthly basis.
The aesthetic improvements from successfully gaining 10lbs of lean muscle:
Now you know what to expect from your 6-month transformation, you can take monthly progress photos (use the same lighting and angles for reliable pics).
You should see your physique improving slowly but surely month by month.
Common problems and solutions if you aren’t seeing monthly physique improvements:
| Problem | Solutions |
|---|---|
| Not gaining muscle definition or mass | Optimize training volume, ensure a calorie surplus is eaten, and ensure sufficient protein intake. |
| Putting on too much fat | Reduce calorie intake, check your daily calorie targets for a lean bulk are correct. |
| Body weight is not increasing | Increase calorie intake, check your daily calorie targets for a lean bulk are correct. |
If this is your first body transformation attempt, you might want to check my other post which details how to tell your muscles are growing.
Conclusion
It’s completely possible for a beginner to gain 10 pounds of muscle in 6 months.
But it’s essential that you follow good muscle-building practices:
- Go on a bulk (calorie surplus).
- Eat at least 1g of protein per lb of body weight per day.
- Lift heavy on the compound exercises.
- Optimize training volume (aim for 10 sets per muscle group per week in the 8-12 rep range).
- Progressive overload by increasing weight.
- Track progress to troubleshoot problems.
You may also be interested in the downloadable Kalibre Blueprint PDF which details exactly how I gained 40lbs of lean muscle (it’s 100% free!). It details the exact exercises and nutrition (with printables) I used to go from skinny to ripped!
