How Long Will it Take?

The answer is a lot longer than you might hope for, but you won’t notice how long it takes.

The other day a newer member at The Movement Minneapolis approached me with a question. Now the following isn’t meant to pick on him, as he’s the latest in a long line of people who have asked me the same question, or some form of it. The question was basically:

“How long will it take me to get to x% body fat at y weight?”

In this case the numbers happened to be numbers that would reflect a sort of ideal or dream physique for a male of average height. Sometimes the numbers reflect a huge amount of fat loss. Notably, no one ever asks me how long it will take to lose 3 pounds of fat, or gain one pound of muscle. They’re always life-changing amounts. And before you think I am exaggerating I will tell you, make no mistake, losing 50+ pounds of fat or gaining 10+ pounds of muscle are life-altering events.

Physiologically the answer is really pretty simple and easy to calculate. Fat loss happens safely and sustainably at a rate of around 1 pound per week (men and women), give or take a quarter pound. Muscle gain occurs at about 1-2 pounds per year for an experienced natural lifter (in women it may be a fraction of that.) A new lifter could see a large increase quickly, but that rate doesn’t last.

If it were as simple as doing the math you could lose 50 pounds per year, or put on 10 pounds of muscle mass in 5, let’s call it 4 years.

Except that it’s not.

The number of people who can move linearly and optimally towards body comp changes is so small that it’s not even worth considering. These people are the outliers, the exceptions. If you are one of those people all you need to do is pick a plan and follow it. You could use Off The Floor if you wanted to get freaky strong, Get Stronger Faster to build a solid foundation of athletic strength, LGN365 from my buddy JC Deen if you want to build muscle while losing fat, or jump into Weight Loss Made Simple if your primarily goal is fat loss.

For the other 99% you need to acknowledge a reality. It’s going to take at least that long and probably longer. You may not have the skills or information you need to progress consistently. If you do have the skills, you may not always have the will to do what is needed.

Having a timeline of how long it is “supposed” to take imposes the belief in a false reality upon you. Now when you’re not one-quarter to your target in the allotted time you feel the impending failure and you become discouraged. The timeline itself becomes the thing that negates your progress.

This is depressing.  What can you actually do?

Move towards better one step, one decision, and one day at a time.

Keep showing up to train. Consistently.

Learn new skills that make pursuing your goals easier.

Good things happen to those who show up.

— David Dellanave (@ddn) June 24, 2014

These are the actions that, over time, give rise to mold-breaking and life-changing body composition changes. Show up to the gym three times per week, add a little protein to most of your meals, and skip a snack you don’t really need once in a while and in a year people will be asking you what you’ve been doing after they finally recognize you.

It will take a while, but when you get there you won’t even care how long it took.