Your size potential is based on surprisingly few conditions: genetics, muscle shape and insertion and lastly, your work out routine. As far as I'm aware there are no other conditions that impact how big you can get bar steroids. I know nothing about steroids. Whether you like it or not, it's your parents who are the key factor to your size potential: their combined DNA has produced you thus you are at the mercy of said union.
YOUR GENETIC POTENTIAL
You may be tall and lanky. You may be short and solid. You may be broad-shouldered with an athletic build. You may have powerful legs with an average upper-body or a lean build yet with big traps and a thick neck. The point is you are how you are. Period. The first thing to accept then is that you can't physically redesign yourself from the inside out, only from the outside in and even then, there will be limits to how much.
For example, if you wanted to be taller with broader shoulders, you can't. Why? Because you can't make yourself grow taller or grow broader. That's physically impossible once you've matured into an adult. All you can do is create an illusion of being taller and broader. Working from the outside in however is different: if you're fat you can slim down considerably. If you're skinny you can bulk-up considerably. See the difference here?
You have to accept reality.
You have to be prepared to put in a lot of time, work and effort too.
MUSCLE BELLY INSERTION
The second part of your genetic potential is the actual muscle itself. When it comes to muscle size i.e. the amount of muscle available, you can only build on the existing muscle you already have. Have you seen, say, a bodybuilder with small calves? Do you honestly think they don't know they have small calves? Of course they know they have small calves. They do everything they can to increase their calf-size but if there's not enough actual muscle to develop, they will always be limited by that inescapable reality.
"Muscle belly" aka the length and fullness of your muscles is another component. If you look at the image to the left you'll see exactly what I mean: one bicep is longer which means there is more muscle to develop and work with whilst the other is shorter, meaning there is less. Clearly the latter will not be as impressive as the former simply due to the size of the muscle belly insertion. This is genetics at play cannot be reversed.
Muscle insertion is part and parcel of this: remember my earlier comment about small calves? The calf-muscle may be small simply because it inserts higher up the lower leg, providing less "working material". Now look at the bicep image for further confirmation of this: one inserts much closer to the elbow joint whilst the other inserts further from it. Which looks bigger to you? Remember, there's nothing you can do about this. It is what it is, thank your parents.
Some people have phenomenal pre existing musculature with great insertions and muscle bellies. Often these individuals don't need to strength-train but if they did, they'll achieve in 3months what you or I achieved -- and that's if we stuck at it week after week -- in 3yrs. That's how the cookie crumbles. I saw a gymnast whose lats literally inserted mere inches above his hips. He looked like he had bat wings whilst I have lats that insert far closer to the armpit area. There's nothing I can do about that. All we can do is increase the size of the muscles we're born with and not everyone is born with the complete package which is an important point, so I'll tongue wag a bit here and explain further.
THE ALLURE OF THE "COMPLETE PACKAGE"
For most men working out -- especially younger males -- it's common to develop an interest in bodybuilding as bodybuilders are seen as the "experts" at hypertrophy (fitness speak for increasing muscle size), which colletively is true. The internet offers site after site giving advice on everything from programming to diet, equipment to supplements, exercises to growth and size standards, all of which are supported by superb physical specimen after superb physical specimen.
It doesn't matter that said superb physical specimen may not follow the advice being given or use the products advertised. It doesn't matter that said superb physical specimen may have built their physique prior to their new role. But. For the impressionable amongst us the advice is clear: do all they do to achieve similar results. However, there are several things to take into consideration before you start down that path, some of which are as follows:
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Most of these men started in their late teens/early 20s. You're not. You're starting in your 40s, 50s, 60s or beyond. Your body is not the same as theirs. Your metabolism is not the same as theirs. Your endurance, recovery and basic physical strength is not the same as theirs. Remember that.
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Most of these men have years of experience behind them and know exactly what works for their own bodies and ongoing maintenance. You don't. Yet. In case you missed it, they know exactly what works for their own bodies. Not yours but theirs. See the difference?
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Most of these men have access to top of the line equipment, gyms and technologies -- not to mention coaching. You don't and probably don't need to. For every youtube "star" or Adonis gracing the cover of whatever fitness magazine behind the counter, there are literally hundreds of thousands of others who'll never make it and will never be known. How sad.
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Most of these men have dialed in their diets to the inth degree. They know every macro, micro, mini and man-hoe they've ever had and ever will. They have their protein intakes, branch-chain amino acids you-bloody-name-it prepackaged, lined up and read to go. You haven't and probably won't ever need to -- unless you're a numpty who falls for their advertising. Then you're a "donor".
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Most of these men use a range of supplements. You don't and probably won't either in fact, some of these men are sponsored by the supplement firm they promote if they don't own said product outright -- or at least have a financial stake in it (looking good doesn't pay the bills: money does).
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Most of these men use body-part splits i.e. spend a minimum hour in the gym some 6-days per week isolating and hammering away at specific body parts like biceps, calves, that sort of thing. Can you afford that sort of time? Do you even want to? Besides, chances are high this may not be the best system for you but if that's what your hero does, well then...
- Some of these men (primarily top-level bodybuilders) are on gear. You're not. If you choose to go onto steroids be wise and learn how to use properly. They are everywhere and easily accessible. I've had whanaunga rushed to hospital on more than one occasion because they didn't know what they were using or how much to use in the first place. Personally I hate the stuff.
So.
Have I just described you in the above bullet points?
I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say no, no I have not because you're not some young-gun with all of that invested time and experience behind you and more importantly, you're not obsessed with your body to the inth degree these people are (and probably must be if it's their main income source). So why would you follow the advice of these meatheads as they casually recommend you do 8-sets of ten on leg day and that's after you're pre stretching, foam-rolling, nut-fondling, warm-up sets and shampoo routine?
WORK-OUT ROUTINES
The last aspect of you size potential is programming. With the right program -- and I define this as what works best for you -- you'll get good results. But programming is also a wide field that encompasses not just your weight-training protocols but your nutrition (what you eat and when), your recovery periods (are you over or under-training?), your sleep patterns (are you getting enough rest?) and your mental space (are you, say, overly stressed? This may cause chemical reactions in the body that inhibit muscle synthesis and growth).
...oh, and whatever else comes to mind.
As you can see, this can and does get very confusing very fast.
Which is why I stick to basic, simple programs I've personally used (visit Routine basics to see what I mean).
Common sense tells us that we can only reach a certain size as individuals -- sizes that can and do differ between us as individuals because we're, ah, individuals. If this wasn't the case, if we could grow endlessly, then competitive bodybuilders wouldn't be on the juice, would they? No they wouldn't. Through all my personal research it pretty much appears that for the average Joe (including myself) the most muscle you can hope to gain naturally/without steroids is roundabout 20kg tops. For some of us it will be less, maybe half that whilst for others it will be more, maybe half again.
Note that's 20kg over your entire training career and nope, I have found no definitive numbers for what a "training career" looks like in regards to duration. I'm damn sure it's more than a month though (yes, that's a joke). Keep in mind too that 10kg of extra muscle on short individuals with compact builds looks a hell of a lot more impressive than 10kg on taller, lankier individuals like myself with our ape arms where it's spread out further and less apparent.
Something else to keep in mind is that some men weighing in between 75-85kg at about 5"10 in height look fucking phenomenal -- quite a few natural physique dudes match these stats. The point we get from this is that size isn't everything. Unless it is your thing. Regardless, you can look amazing at a body-weight that most people would consider "light" and to be honest, you're average natural bodybuilder could walk right past you on the street and you'd have no idea they were a professional bodybuilder.
This shows us how indoctrinated we've become with today's 250+ pound behemoths who are dominating bodybuilding. These mass monsters, apart from having no life bar the gym and being every cannibal's wet-dream, are not "normal" (see here and here). I recommend you focus on strength over size; on keeping healthy inside and out; and on extended longevity. I'd like to think those in my age bracket are aware of this but it really is easy, even at our age, to allow ego and dreaming to side-track common sense.
:: CONCLUSION
I really wouldn't worry about how much muscle you can gain to be honest. What's it going to do for you? Nothing but make you compare and comparison is your enemy. There will always be tens of thousands of people better than you. Get over it. I have. Worry about yourself. Don't be a shallow prick consumed solely with appearance and spend more time on your soul. Be a man passionate about his health, strength, overall fitness and vitality. Choose a good basic program, eat well, sleep well and the rest will take care of itself.
Kia ora whanau (read How big can I get (Part II) for more info).
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