New challenge: Put on 20 lbs of muscle, in six weeks, on a vegan diet, doing just one hour of exercise per week
For over a year now I’ve had this idea in the back of my mind, ever since I read how Tim Ferriss put on 32 lbs of muscle in 28 days. I wondered if I could do similar on a vegan diet. I’m about to find out.
Let me break down the plan:
20 lbs of muscle
This morning I weighed in at 185 lbs. My body fat was 8.21% (15.2 lbs) when I measured it last weekend. To gain 20 lbs of muscle, I need to get up to 205 lbs while lowering that body fat percentage slightly.
Six weeks
Why six weeks? Well, adding 20 lbs in four weeks seems just a little too ambitious given my inexperience with body hacking. Tim was no stranger to this kind of stuff when he started, plus he was eating animal products (easier to get ridiculous amounts of protein). He was also muscular a few years before, so he may have benefited from some kind of muscle-memory type thing.
I’m lowering the bar a little. Six weeks feels about right.
Vegan diet
I’ve been vegan for over a year now, and it works well for me. I didn’t want to go back eating animal products just for the sake of this experiment. I’m more curious to see if I can add muscle rapidly on a vegan diet.
Tim Ferriss ate lots of meat during his training, consuming 5000-6000 total calories per day. He also took supplements.
I’ve worked out a vegan meal plan that will see me consuming an average of 5000 calories per day, which is double my regular intake.
I want to stick to real food as much as possible, so I won’t be taking any supplements or protein shakes. My carb-fat-protein ratio will be approximately 3:1:1.
You can check out my spreadsheet on Google Docs for more detailed info.
One hour of exercise per week
This is the part where people usually start thinking I’m crazy 
To put on 20 lbs of muscle in six weeks, you’d think I’d have to be hitting the gym almost every day, but I’m only planning to do two half-hour sessions per week (Wednesday evening and Sunday morning). I’ll be working out my whole body each session, doing slow (10-15 seconds) reps with resistance both ways. The goal is to exhaust my muscles completely each workout, and then build them back up stronger with the protein-heavy diet.
I’ll have a trainer I’ll be working with. I did one test session with her a few weeks ago. She’s agreed to push me to my limits and beyond once we start for real next Wednesday. This type of slow training is intense and painful, but I believe it’s the most effective form of weight training out there. Quality, not quantity.
My current health
In preparation for this experiment, I’ve been doing all sorts of measuring and testing. I’ll be taking the same measurements and tests after the six weeks and comparing the results. I don’t just want to put on 20 lbs of muscle. I want to do it safely, without negatively impacting my blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.
Below are some results from tests my doctor ordered last week. Apparently I’m in fantastic health 
- Blood pressure: 124/80
- Cholesterol: 129
- Triglyceride level: 81
- White blood cell count: 5.47
- Red blood cell count: 5.12
- Fasting blood glucose: 92
- Calcium in blood: 9.3
- Protein in blood: 7.4
- Urine pH: 7.0
My body measurements, as taken last Saturday:
- Chest fat: 4 mm
- Abdominal fat: 14 mm
- Thigh fat: 10 mm
- Body fat %: 8.21
- Neck: 386 mm
- Chest: 953 mm
- Shoulders: 1145 mm
- Thigh: 590 mm
- Calf: 397 mm
- Upper Arm: 283 mm
- Forearm: 282 mm
- Waist: 832 mm
- Hips: 1013 mm
The why
For a while, when people asked why I wanted to put on 20 lbs of muscle in the first place, I’d respond that I just wanted to challenge myself, much like I did when I tried to finish in the top 200 of the Crescent City Classic. But the challenge isn’t the main reason I’m doing it. Mostly, I just want to look better naked
It would also be nice though to prove that this works and inspire other folks to give it a try.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Good Luck. Can we get pictures Before / After ? Will you be posting your workouts?
The most muscle you can gain in 6 weeks is about 1.2lbs. It’s fact. Unless you’re a teenager, on steroids, or freakishly gifted. Your experiment just propogates these ridiculous claims on the internet (always, ALWAYS made my people who are selling something, including Tim Ferriss). These unrealistic expectations are what make people quit fitness programs when they inevitably don’t see these results after a few months. So it does more harm than good. You are going to gain WEIGHT, that’s for sure. You will gain some muscle and a lot of FAT unless you do a lot of cardio.
Since you are interested in personal development and charismatic purveyors of such, check out this website:
http://scoobysworkshop.com
This guy lays it all out, no bull, and most imporantly, HE’S NOT SELLING ANYTHING. Unlike Tim Ferriss.
I wish you luck, of course. Keep up the great writing also. Prove me wrong, although I know from years of experience you can’t. I really wish people would focus on realistic goals when it comes to fitness, we’d have a lot less fat people if that were true.
Miles: Yes and yes. Taking my before pics tomorrow. I’ll post the before/after comparison at the end of 6 weeks. My trainer will be keeping track of the exercises I do and the weights I lift, so I’ll be able to post all that at the end, too.
Corey: I appreciate the comments, but I’d rather find out for myself if this works. Whether it does or not, I’ll learn something for definite, instead of taking someone else’s word for it or always wondering what if. And I don’t expect it to be easy. The workouts will be killer and the diet will be a strain. No pain, no gain.
Also, Scooby dude might have good advice and good intentions, but he also has ads at the top of his website. He might not be selling his own product, but he is making money from that site.
I love challenges like this!
I have a decade-long history of self-taught fitness experience (my biggest breakthrough was going from 233lbs of fat down to 163lbs of muscle; check out the cool animated before/after photos here) and if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s that nobody’s body works the same way. You have to find out what works for you through trial and error. Period.
Genetics does in fact play a big part in determining things like how quickly we build muscle and how fast our body metabolizes fat — there’s actually a “fat gene” that determines how likely you are to gain fat and how difficult it will be to keep the fat off. The muscle memory you mentioned also plays a HUGE part in how quickly you can regain muscle — that was without doubt a huge factor in Tim’s progress.
I know from experience that 20lbs of muscle in 6 weeks is possible, but I’d argue that it would require a lot more than an hour of exercise per week. (Besides, 20lbs of muscle in 6 weeks could be detrimental to your health afterwards unless you’re careful.)
I’ve also discovered that the universal ingredient for building muscle is surprisingly simple: Lift very heavy. Eat a lot. Sleep a lot.
The types of calories you eat will definitely determine how quickly your body repairs and builds muscle (and getting all the right calories and nutrients through a vegan diet is probably going to be the most difficult part of this challenge).
I love the inspiration and I’m really looking forward to seeing the results!
Thanks, Raam. I saw that post of yours before. Great results!
I didn’t mean to sound negative. I’m a fan of your website and experiments. This one struck a nerve though, as I’m quite passionate about fitness and weightlifting and utterly disgusted at he information one finds when researching it. Young people read this stuff, and then get frustrated when they can only add 5 lbs of muscle a year, which is the average. Then they quit.
I do wish you luck, I really do! If you prove me wrong, or even half wrong, I will give up everything I k.ow and embark on a similar experiment.
And your point about Scooby isn’t valid. Those ads were only recently put up in order to defray the coat of hosting his website, which is a really high traffic site and expensive to run. The ads cover about 10% of his costs.
Good luck, and I say that with sincerity. I echo the comments above, is love to see posts with photos and stats as you go along.
Are you doing any cardio? Because that many cals a day will only make you fat without it.
Again, good luck! Looking forward to seeing how your journey plays out.
Corey – quit hating. I put on 16 pounds in 16 weeks and my body fat percentage stayed nearly identical using HIT. I know for damn sure if you do the basic math that I gained a lot more than 12 pounds in 16 weeks. GSP (UFC fighter) put on 6 pounds of lean mass in a few months which proves your claim wrong of 1.2 pounds in 6 weeks (where did you get that number anyway? … and those UFC fighters barely have the recovery time we do.
I’ve been lifting for over 20 years and have seen much larger mass gains that a measly 1.2 pounds. Did you try eating more than carrot sticks?
Thanks, Corey. Point taken about Scooby. The only cardio I’ll be doing is dog-walking 3 or 4 times a week.
I’m going into this believing that it will work, because I have to if I want to succeed. I’ll end up proving it works or proving it doesn’t. Either way, I hope my findings will help some people. And the worst case scenario for me isn’t that bad, just six weeks out of a lifetime and maybe a little bit of flab to lose at the end (although if I start adding more fat than muscle, I’ll simply bail out midway).
Looking forward to seeing your progress and what happens. I could be wrong! Although I admit, if I am I’m going to be a little depressed about it.
And you’re right, you’ll help people either way. I have to say, I found your site randomly, and the first thing I read was about meditation, since then I’ve been doing it 10min a day and it has been a positive thing for me. So thanks for that.