Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTimeline to Gaining MuscleHow to Build MuscleWhen to Train and RestWhen Not Seeing Results
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Timeline to Gaining Muscle
How to Build Muscle
When to Train and Rest
When Not Seeing Results
This article discusses how long it takes to build muscle, the factors that influence it, and recommendations for training to build muscle.
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Can Fat Turn Into Muscle?Fat does not turn into muscle since the two tissues comprise different types of cells. Fat cells store energy (calories) and provide energy during exercise, while muscle cells use (burn) more energy throughout the day. As a result, fat loss and muscle building often occur simultaneously.
Can Fat Turn Into Muscle?
Fat does not turn into muscle since the two tissues comprise different types of cells. Fat cells store energy (calories) and provide energy during exercise, while muscle cells use (burn) more energy throughout the day. As a result, fat loss and muscle building often occur simultaneously.
How Fast Can You Gain Muscle?
Muscle building takes weeks or months to produce noticeable results. The amount of time it takes to build muscle is the same, regardless of the body part. For example, if you regularly train all muscle groups, your arm muscles don’t grow faster than your leg muscles, or vice versa.
Your training routine, the amount of weight you lift, your diet, and how much rest you get in between sessions impact how fast you gain muscle.
Muscle building is a physiological process that involves more than just lifting heavy objects.Working out has the following effects:
Target the main muscle groups in each body area to build muscle efficiently.
Muscle Building: Women vs. MenMen build muscle more quickly than women. There are a couple of reasons for these differences:Men tend to be taller than women and have longer bones, providing more leverage when lifting weights.Men have higher levels of testosterone (15 times higher than women after puberty), leading to greater muscle mass.
Muscle Building: Women vs. Men
Men build muscle more quickly than women. There are a couple of reasons for these differences:Men tend to be taller than women and have longer bones, providing more leverage when lifting weights.Men have higher levels of testosterone (15 times higher than women after puberty), leading to greater muscle mass.
Men build muscle more quickly than women. There are a couple of reasons for these differences:
Upper Body
Target the biceps, triceps, and deltoids, as follows, to build muscle in the arms:
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Lower Body
To build muscle in your legs, target your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glute muscles, as follows:
Core
The core muscles are located in the abdomen and lower back. Core strengthening exercises help build stability.
Many factors influence muscle growth, such as training methods, diet, hormones, and lifestyle behaviors.
Training for Muscle Growth
Weight lifting increases muscle growth. However, you need to lift a challenging amount of weight to experience muscle growth.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the following guidelines when lifting weight to build muscle:
Another way to structure training is to base the amount you lift on the one repetition maximum—the heaviest weight you can lift once. Use weights between 70% and 85% of your one repetition max for muscle growth.
Eat More Protein
Muscles are primarily made up of proteins that are continually being “turned over”—broken down (degraded) and produced (synthesized).For muscles to grow, the amount of protein produced must be higher than the amount broken down.
Proteins are made up of amino acids. While the body makes many amino acids required for building muscle, there are other amino acids—called essential amino acids—that the body can’t make.
Essential amino acids come from high-protein foods such as:
The specific amount of protein needed to build muscle depends on many factors, including age, sex, and activity level.Online calculating toolscan help you determine your minimum recommended daily protein intake based on these factors.
For specific recommendations, consult with aregistered dietitian.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep quality also matters. To improvesleep qualityat night, try these tips:
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When to Train and Rest Muscles
When building muscle, it’s important not to overtrain. Muscle growth occurs while the muscle is healing after training sessions.
If your goal is to build muscle, do muscle-building exercises two to three times per week, with a day of rest between workouts for the muscle group targeted.
Reasons for Delayed Muscle Building
If you’ve been lifting weights consistently but aren’t seeing any results, there are a few possible explanations. Consider the following questions:
Hormones also play a role in muscle growth, especially as you age.To maximize your results, consider hiring apersonal traineror speaking with a healthcare provider about muscle-related concerns.
Summary
Building muscle takes consistency and patience. In general, muscle growth takes weeks to months to produce noticeable changes. Many factors influence muscle growth, such as training methods, diet, hormones, and quality of sleep. Ideally, muscle building workouts should be performed two to three times per week, with a day of rest between each workout.
15 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Minnesota.How do muscles grow?Gemmink A, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MKC.Exercising your fat (Metabolism) into shape: a muscle-centred view.Diabetologia. 2020;63(8):1453-1463. doi:10.1007%2Fs00125-020-05170-zUniversity of Portsmouth.7 stages of muscle growth.Nuzzo JL.Narrative review of sex differences in muscle strength, endurance, activation, size, fiber type, and strength training participation rates, preferences, motivations, injuries, and neuromuscular adaptations.The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2023;37(2):494. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004329NASM.The 9 best arm exercises for muscle definition & strength.NASM.Six squat exercise variations that bring great results.NASM.Core objectives: making a case for progressive core training.The American College of Sports Medicine.ACSM guidelines for strength training.Lacio M, Vieira JG, Trybulski R, et al.Effects of resistance training performed with different loads in untrained and trained male adult individuals on maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11237. doi:10.3390%2Fijerph182111237Tipton KD, Hamilton DL, Gallagher IJ.Assessing the role of muscle protein breakdown in response to nutrition and exercise in humans.Sports Med. 2018;48(Suppl 1):53-64. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-017-0845-5National Library of Medicine.Protein and amino acids.Harvard Health Publishing.High-protein foods: The best protein sources to include in a healthy diet.Chen Y, Cui Y, Chen S, Wu Z.Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study.J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2017;17(4):327-333.NASM.Muscular hypertrophy: back to the basics.Zouhal H, Jayavel A, Parasuraman K, et al.Effects of exercise training on anabolic and catabolic hormones with advanced age: a systematic review.Sports Med. 2022;52(6):1353-1368. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-021-01612-9
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Minnesota.How do muscles grow?Gemmink A, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MKC.Exercising your fat (Metabolism) into shape: a muscle-centred view.Diabetologia. 2020;63(8):1453-1463. doi:10.1007%2Fs00125-020-05170-zUniversity of Portsmouth.7 stages of muscle growth.Nuzzo JL.Narrative review of sex differences in muscle strength, endurance, activation, size, fiber type, and strength training participation rates, preferences, motivations, injuries, and neuromuscular adaptations.The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2023;37(2):494. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004329NASM.The 9 best arm exercises for muscle definition & strength.NASM.Six squat exercise variations that bring great results.NASM.Core objectives: making a case for progressive core training.The American College of Sports Medicine.ACSM guidelines for strength training.Lacio M, Vieira JG, Trybulski R, et al.Effects of resistance training performed with different loads in untrained and trained male adult individuals on maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11237. doi:10.3390%2Fijerph182111237Tipton KD, Hamilton DL, Gallagher IJ.Assessing the role of muscle protein breakdown in response to nutrition and exercise in humans.Sports Med. 2018;48(Suppl 1):53-64. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-017-0845-5National Library of Medicine.Protein and amino acids.Harvard Health Publishing.High-protein foods: The best protein sources to include in a healthy diet.Chen Y, Cui Y, Chen S, Wu Z.Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study.J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2017;17(4):327-333.NASM.Muscular hypertrophy: back to the basics.Zouhal H, Jayavel A, Parasuraman K, et al.Effects of exercise training on anabolic and catabolic hormones with advanced age: a systematic review.Sports Med. 2022;52(6):1353-1368. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-021-01612-9
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
University of Minnesota.How do muscles grow?Gemmink A, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MKC.Exercising your fat (Metabolism) into shape: a muscle-centred view.Diabetologia. 2020;63(8):1453-1463. doi:10.1007%2Fs00125-020-05170-zUniversity of Portsmouth.7 stages of muscle growth.Nuzzo JL.Narrative review of sex differences in muscle strength, endurance, activation, size, fiber type, and strength training participation rates, preferences, motivations, injuries, and neuromuscular adaptations.The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2023;37(2):494. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004329NASM.The 9 best arm exercises for muscle definition & strength.NASM.Six squat exercise variations that bring great results.NASM.Core objectives: making a case for progressive core training.The American College of Sports Medicine.ACSM guidelines for strength training.Lacio M, Vieira JG, Trybulski R, et al.Effects of resistance training performed with different loads in untrained and trained male adult individuals on maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11237. doi:10.3390%2Fijerph182111237Tipton KD, Hamilton DL, Gallagher IJ.Assessing the role of muscle protein breakdown in response to nutrition and exercise in humans.Sports Med. 2018;48(Suppl 1):53-64. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-017-0845-5National Library of Medicine.Protein and amino acids.Harvard Health Publishing.High-protein foods: The best protein sources to include in a healthy diet.Chen Y, Cui Y, Chen S, Wu Z.Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study.J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2017;17(4):327-333.NASM.Muscular hypertrophy: back to the basics.Zouhal H, Jayavel A, Parasuraman K, et al.Effects of exercise training on anabolic and catabolic hormones with advanced age: a systematic review.Sports Med. 2022;52(6):1353-1368. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-021-01612-9
University of Minnesota.How do muscles grow?
Gemmink A, Schrauwen P, Hesselink MKC.Exercising your fat (Metabolism) into shape: a muscle-centred view.Diabetologia. 2020;63(8):1453-1463. doi:10.1007%2Fs00125-020-05170-z
University of Portsmouth.7 stages of muscle growth.
Nuzzo JL.Narrative review of sex differences in muscle strength, endurance, activation, size, fiber type, and strength training participation rates, preferences, motivations, injuries, and neuromuscular adaptations.The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2023;37(2):494. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004329
NASM.The 9 best arm exercises for muscle definition & strength.
NASM.Six squat exercise variations that bring great results.
NASM.Core objectives: making a case for progressive core training.
The American College of Sports Medicine.ACSM guidelines for strength training.
Lacio M, Vieira JG, Trybulski R, et al.Effects of resistance training performed with different loads in untrained and trained male adult individuals on maximal strength and muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11237. doi:10.3390%2Fijerph182111237
Tipton KD, Hamilton DL, Gallagher IJ.Assessing the role of muscle protein breakdown in response to nutrition and exercise in humans.Sports Med. 2018;48(Suppl 1):53-64. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-017-0845-5
National Library of Medicine.Protein and amino acids.
Harvard Health Publishing.High-protein foods: The best protein sources to include in a healthy diet.
Chen Y, Cui Y, Chen S, Wu Z.Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study.J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2017;17(4):327-333.
NASM.Muscular hypertrophy: back to the basics.
Zouhal H, Jayavel A, Parasuraman K, et al.Effects of exercise training on anabolic and catabolic hormones with advanced age: a systematic review.Sports Med. 2022;52(6):1353-1368. doi:10.1007%2Fs40279-021-01612-9
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