A lot of guy’s ask me this question:
“Jason, how jacked can I get naturally?”.
Listen.
This article is for guys who want to get as big as possible – “naturally”.
I’ve put the word “naturally” in quotation marks because everyone has their own definition of “natural”.
It’s kind of like “clean eating”.
Some people think creatine isn’t natural. Some people think protein powder isn’t natural. Almost everyone thinks that steroids aren’t natural.
That’s why I will need to define “natural” before I can tell you how jacked you can get.
What the Hell Is Natural?
My definition of natural is probably the same as yours. That’s why you’re reading this.
In order to be natural, you need to have the following criteria (in my opinion):
- You are not currently taking any muscle or strength building steroids, prohormones, hormones, or any other performances enhancing drugs (PEDS).
- You are allowed to eat any foods.
- You are allowed to take any supplements not containing any PEDs.
In fact, we should take this one step further. In order to be truly natural (my definition at least), you need to have been practicing numbers 1-3 your entire life.
Obviously, some people are going to come out and say “some asthma medications are steroids”. You’re right. We’re obviously not going to count these. Let’s be logical here.
The New Way to Determine Your Maximum Muscular Genetic Potential
To recap, your maximum muscular genetic potential is the largest amount of muscle you can gain, naturally.
I’ve written about this in the past, but I overlooked one key formula to figuring out your maximum muscular genetic potential.
And it’s your Fat Free Mass Index (FFMI).
In a nutshell, you FFMI is a number corresponding to your height, weight, and body fat percentage. Research has found that in order to be natural, the upper limit is a FFMI corresponding to approximately 25.
This means to be truly natural, you need to have a FFMI of 25 or under.
In the bottom of this article, I’ll post a link to a FFMI calculator, but first I want to tell you about the variances in this formula.
Essentially, many guys will use this formula and find that their FFMI is above 25. Thus meaning that they are not natural, even though they know that they are actually, in fact, natural. The variable here is the body fat percentage. Everyone measures their body fat percentages differently, so this would explain why some guys are above 25 in their FFMI. That’s why I recommend for you to have your body fat percentage measured by water or DEXA in order for the FFMI to be completely accurate.
Although, I do love the BodyMetrix Ultrasound Wand.
Now, if you want to figure out your maximum genetic potential, you will need to flip the FFMI formula upside down, and use the number “25”. Here’s where my knowledge of Rocket Science comes in handy for you.
Use this calculator to find your current FFMI.
But if you want to find your maximum genetic potential (essentially the maximum lean mass you can have naturally), then you will use this formula:
Maximum Lean Mass = 25*(HEIGHT^2)
In this case, your HEIGHT is in meters, and your Maximum Lean Mass (MLM) is in kilograms.
So, let’s say you are 6ft tall. This is how you would figure out your maximum lean mass:
MLM = 25*(1.83 meters)^2 = 25/3.35 = 83.7 kg of lean mass
So if you are 10% bodyfat, you would weigh 93kg. This translates into 205lbs at 10% bodyfat. That’s lean and jacked – natural.
That is your true maximum genetic potential. Obviously there will still be some variance, but it gives you a good starting point. Only you know if you are actually natural or not, so who the hell cares what anyone else says? Aim for the maximum genetic potential using this formula, and if you surpass it naturally, then that is awesome, but at least you had a clear quantitative goal in mind.
“Only you know if you are actually natural or not” – Tweet This
If you want to get started on gaining your first 10lbs of muscle, make sure you check out my latest free ebook here: How to Gain 10lbs of Muscle
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