Any time someone starts training with us, we begin with a 20-30 minute conversation where we get as clear as possible on their goals. Probably 80% of those goals involve losing body fat, gaining muscle mass, or both. And once we’re clear on how much body fat or muscle mass we’re talking about, a very common next question is: how long will it take to hit those numbers?
The answer is: it depends.
I know that’s a bummer of an answer! But there are a huge number of factors influencing rate of progress around body composition including, but not limited to: stress, sleep, genetics, diet, experience, frequency, intensity, and volume of training, sex and age. That’s a lot.
So, if we assume that you have a good nutrition plan and a good exercise plan that both support body composition changes, here are what we think of as some sustainable rates of change.
Body fat loss
By far, the most powerful variable when it comes to diet is consistency with a nutrition plan. On average, greater consistency will yield faster fat loss.
-Extreme Consistency (90%-100% on plan): loss of 1.0%-1.5% of total body weight per week. e.g. A 200lb person might expect to lose 2-3lbs of body fat per week.
-Reasonable Consistency (70%-85% on plan): loss of 0.5%-1.0% of total body weight per week. e.g. A 200lb person might expect to lose 1-2lbs of body fat per week.
-Comfortable Consistency (50%-65% on plan): loss of less than 0.5% of total body weight per week. e.g. A 200lb person might expect to lose 0-1lbs of body fat per week.
Muscle gain
The two biggest variables for muscle gain are sex and training experience. On average, men gain muscle faster than women. On average, newer athletes gain muscle faster than more experienced athletes.
-Novice Athlete: Men – gain of 1%-1.5% of total body weight per month, Women – gain of 0.5%-0.75% of total body weight per month. e.g. A 200lb main might expect to gain 2-3lbs of muscle in a month. A 200lb woman might expect to gain 1-1.5lbs of muscle in a month.
– Intermediate Athlete: Men – gain of 0.5%-0.75% of total body weight per month, Women – gain of 0.25%-0.375% of total body weight per month. e.g. A 200lb main might expect to gain 1-1.5lbs of muscle in a month. A 200lb woman might expect to gain 0.5-0.75lbs of muscle in a month.
– Advanced Athlete: Men – gain of 0.25%-0.375% of total body weight per month, Women – gain of 0.125%-0.1875% of total body weight per month. e.g. A 200lb main might expect to gain 0.5-0.75lbs of muscle in a month. A 200lb woman might expect to gain 0.25-0.375lbs of muscle in a month.
Again, there are nearly too many variables to list with this stuff. For exactly that reason, we rarely give timelines. So I cannot overstate that what’s written here is general information. We really are all unique snowflakes which is why we do so much with individualized coaching. But we’re also not robots, and we understand that timelines can be helpful.
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