Gain 0.125% to 0.5% of your body weight a week, for 8 to 16 weeks. The newer you are to lifting, the faster you can gain.
Who it's for
Choose muscle gain if you're fairly lean and ready to gain weight slowly to build as much muscle as possible. You will gain some fat along the way. The right pace keeps that to a minimum. See Choose your goal.
Set it up
On step 4 of setup, the Muscle gain goal screen has no preset plans. You set it yourself:
- Diet duration: your start date and end date. Before you pick a target, the app shows the allowed length as 2 to 16 weeks.
- Target weight: drag to set it. Switch between kg and lbs if needed. The app shows your Change and your Expected rate, which should stay between 0.125% and 0.5% of body weight a week.
- Tap Next.
Tip: set your target weight first. The app then narrows the allowed length to keep your rate within range. For example, an 11 lb gain allows 7 to 16 weeks, and an 18 lb gain allows 11 to 16.
If your plan works out to more than 0.5% a week, the app shows a warning. You can still continue, but you'll likely gain more fat than you need to.
Rate by experience
| Experience | Weekly gain | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | About 0.5% of body weight | 150 lb: about 0.75 lb a week, or 3 lb a month |
| Intermediate | About 0.25 to 0.3% | 170 lb: about 0.5 lb a week, or 2 lb a month |
| Advanced | About 0.125% | 180 lb: about 0.25 lb a week, just under 1 lb a month |
Length
| Recommended | App limit | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 8 to 16 weeks | 16 weeks |
The longer you can spend gaining, the more muscle you can build. But staying in a surplus all the time has health costs and gets stale, so break them up with maintenance or a mini-cut, and eventually a full fat loss phase.
Tip: plan around upcoming events. If you want to be lean for a wedding in 20 weeks, a 16-week muscle gain phase leaves only 4 weeks to lean out, which isn't enough.
Setting your target weight
- Pick a length of 8 to 16 weeks.
- Find your weekly gain in the rate table above.
- Multiply: weekly gain × number of weeks = how much to gain. Add that to your current weight to get your target weight.
| Example | Weekly gain | 12-week target |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner, 150 lb | About 0.75 lb | About 159 lb |
| Intermediate, 170 lb | About 0.5 lb | About 176 lb |
| Advanced, 180 lb | About 0.25 lb | About 183 lb |
If you're unsure where you fit, pick the slower rate. Gaining too slowly costs a little time. Gaining too fast adds fat you'll have to lose later.
Changing it mid-diet
In your weekly review, tap Show options on the Review goal step. From there you can update your end date or target weight, or end your diet. See Weekly review, step by step.
When it ends
Before your next muscle gain phase, run either a maintenance phase or a mini-cut (a short fat loss phase). Both help you keep the muscle you've built and prepare you for another muscle gain phase later.