Setting Realistic Objectives For Growth

What are realistic objectives for growth? 

There is a fine line between success and failure, setting realistic goals allows you to make small triumphs on a regular basis which will result in a happier outlook and enhance your chances of reaching your end goal.

I would use the following as a guideline:

1. Get your diet in order before attempting a growth phase.
2. Set up a meal plan of 6-7 meals each day and focus on Protein. Don’t scrimp on Fats or Carbs.
3. Know your food groups; know what to eat and when to eat it. E.g. Carbs pre, intra and post workout.
4. Count calories and know you need to consistently eat more calories than your body requires for growth.
5. Know that as your body grows you will need to up your calorie intake to keep up the calorie surplus environment.
6. Know that you need to eat 300-500 more calories than your body requires each day to grow.
7. A realistic target for a natural body builder would be 1-2lb of lean muscle each week.
8. Eating too much even clean foods will result in fat gains (see points 1,2,3 above).
9. Set yourself target in the gym. If in week 1 you benched 60kg then in week 3 I would expect 65kg if you're eating right. More weight pushed correctly, under full control and using a full Range of Movement (ROM), the more pressure you put on your muscles to grow.
10. Know your exercise for mass – big compound moves.
11. Know your rep ranges – 8-12 for muscle growth.
12. Know that you grow outside the gym whilst eating and resting.
13. Rome was not built in a day. Consistency is key with your training, diet and rest phases.
14. You will not turn in to Mr Olympia in a month or even a year, however you can put on at least 10kg of Lean Body Mass (LBM) each year if you stick to your goals and targets.