How Much Muscle Can You Build? (CALCULATE THIS!) – ATHLEAN-X™

by YouTube Team

People say that how much muscle you can build is entirely determined by your genes.
Could that be true? While the shape of your muscles, and overall skeletal frame are heavily influenced by your parents and the genetic code they’ve passed on that doesn’t mean that you’re destined to a life of baggy shirt sleeves.

In this video, I look at a few different formulas that just MIGHT give you a glimpse into your genetic potential for building muscle. One particular test is centered around your wrist circumference.

Why the wrist?

The wrist is a pretty good objective measurement of your overall skeletal structure. What’s more, the wrist doesn’t store a lot of body fat so even if you go up and down in weight your wrist circumference is likely to remain relatively unchanged.

So what’s the test?

You start by taking an accurate measurement of your wrist then add 10 to that number. That should give you the genetic potential for you upper arm. These formulas go even deeper into ‘predicting’ your maximum body weight. That’s right, there’s a formula that supposedly can predict your overall size potential. To get that you would simply take your height in centimeters and subtract 100. That gives you your max potential body weight at a 6% body fat. For those in the US, convert to pounds by simply multiply the number by 2.2

What if you’re not at 6% body fat?

There’s a formula for that too, just add 10lbs, or 4.5 kg, to that final number for every additional 2% of body fat that you’re storing.

Tests like this are a lot of fun to do, especially when they prove to be accurate, but does that make scientific? At ATHLEAN-X we put the science back in strength, with that said, these type of formulas are fun but I wouldn’t put TOO much stock in the answer. Either way it shouldn’t make you feel deflated about your own potential.

No matter what your genetic make up is, I’ve never met an athlete, soccer mom or average joe who wasn’t able to make their body look, feel and move a whole lot better with the proper training and nutrition. Does that mean anyone can be the next Arnold, Dwayne The Rock Johnson or Antonio Brown? Unfortunately no.

If you’re 5’9 with tiny bone structure there’s no amount of training that’s going to turn you into one these iconic monsters, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make significant improvements to how you look. Growing up I knew I didn’t have the genetics to be the next Arnold, so although I admired his physique and work ethic I looked to others. Guys like Sylvester Stallone, Frank Zane, Jean Claude Van Damme and others all built iconic physiques on frames much more similar to my own.

If you take away anything from this video I hope it is that anyone can improve their body, movement, and the way they feel. If you have a good work ethic, a good training program and a clear goal, anyone can make that change. I say it all the time, if you change your body, you’ll change your life!

When you are ready to make that change and take your body to the next level, be sure to head to check out the ATHLEAN-X Training System. You can start building a ripped, athletic body regardless of what you feel is lacking right now.

For more videos on how to look, feel and move like an athlete be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at the link below…

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35 comments

ATHLEAN-X™ June 6, 2019 - 7:06 pm

NOTIFICATION SQUAD GIVEAWAY – Alright guys, I’m giving away a complete 30 Day Workout program to 100 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! ATTENTION GUYS THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ 🙂 IT'S NOT THE FIRST 100, but those randomly selected WITHIN the first hour the video is published. So don't b*tch if you're not one of them 🙂 Just try next time. Click the link to see if you’ve won. Good luck! 
https://giveaway.athleanx.com/ytg/muscle-capacity-test

If you don’t win, no worries. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…

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Abdulrahman Almutiri May 20, 2021 - 6:04 am

I will never be like the rock hardgainer I am doomed 😂

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emily wilson May 26, 2021 - 6:17 am

Yeah but Ive worked out since I was basically 2 years old. I’m never happy with how I look and I’m told I have a vet athletic build. I’ve never had any results coming out of the gym and if I did they seemed to go backwards… I’m lost and over it:( I just wanna feel beautiful

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Rip Stan Lee May 29, 2021 - 7:41 am

Measuring your wrist COULD BE HURTING YOUR GAINS

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E MAN May 31, 2021 - 11:37 pm

Finna take bone supplements

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Mr. Sledge June 1, 2021 - 1:05 am

As Jordan B Peterson said in 12 Rules for Life "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today". Focus on being a better YOU, not becoming someone else.

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Isaac June 1, 2021 - 4:55 pm

Very helpful but dang it I was hoping it was true so I could find the point of laziness lol 😂

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omalley16 June 2, 2021 - 9:55 pm

Sandow

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David A Walker June 4, 2021 - 12:36 am

BEST QUOTE " You need to learn how to optimize….whats on yiur frame….."

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Shadz June 7, 2021 - 2:36 am

Im 19 and my wrists are only 6 inches I don’t even understand how Im 5’8 when my bones are so small

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Alexis Bernadac June 9, 2021 - 4:12 am

I can go to the Mall and walmart my shoulders are so wide no matter what any body says, I agree with what you say by the way thank you I'll keep this mindset (:

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ToonZy June 11, 2021 - 2:10 am

POV: body builders rn👀

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PC H June 17, 2021 - 5:00 am

It’s not about looks tho

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Garry Smith June 17, 2021 - 8:57 pm

I been trying to gain and keep loosing 😩wtf I need help

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Ben Keitz June 22, 2021 - 7:47 pm

Can I watch this without fear of discouragment? I'm serious, I'm a skinny guy, but have seen already quite nice muscle gains, but am worried I'll hear sth here that will discourage me from training, like I won't get any bigger, etc.

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Christopher Santiago June 23, 2021 - 1:50 pm

This dude sucks

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Danny FIRE June 29, 2021 - 1:23 pm

Moral of this story, STOP WORKING OUT TO LOOK LIKE SOMEONE ELSE, WORKOUT TO BE YOUR TRUE SELF💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥

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Shadab Kouser July 6, 2021 - 5:03 am

The guy at left did too much of cardio

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Naved Ahmed July 13, 2021 - 4:24 pm

My wrists are very thin 🙁

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victor washington July 14, 2021 - 3:27 pm

Calf quad. I want my dads mom calfs but i have my moms legs. How do i develop a low calf large soleus plus i have short tibfib

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bump uglies? July 23, 2021 - 1:16 am

so there’s no way to make wrists bigger?

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Parth Sarathi July 25, 2021 - 7:48 am

I have 5.5 inches wrists. Its over

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B_Rabbit August 10, 2021 - 4:14 pm

Actually your wrist size can grow slightly. Not the bone but the tendons/ligaments do grow with muscle. Ever since i started doing grip training, mine have gone from 6.8 inches to 7.2 inches.

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Umbra Nensei August 19, 2021 - 8:16 pm

8.5 inches +10 = 18.5inches (45.5cm). If that were the case, then I'm already there (without a thick layer of fat). And I haven't been in gym or worked out in 10 years… Just a hunch, but it's probably not a good way to measure anything. At all.

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Tajemnej September 3, 2021 - 2:10 pm

My bicep is now like 14 inches and base on the wrist measuerments i have potential to go to 21 lol

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Lakshay Tewatia September 12, 2021 - 6:06 pm

Man that's a much needed motivation to me, I listen to this specific video everyday just before gym 💪🏼

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Internaut5A3 frominternet September 14, 2021 - 6:06 pm

Very true Mr Jeff! Here is my uplifting story:

I was a very 5.6 skinny guy and my big brother is a giant 6.2 with more than 100kg…

Sometimes I hate to stand next him (you won't believe that we are related)

Well… after years of dedication to the gym (mostly home gym) today with my 85kg i have bigger arms , larger shoulders and larger back and I'm able to exchange T-shirts with him! 😀

I still can't believe that I'm wearing XL now… And I came from S

Own your body !

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Speed Racer September 21, 2021 - 6:36 am

Lol my wrist is 7 inches and idk what that means but I definitely don't feel like a genetic god yet, only been hitting the gym for 5 months though, I'll keep ya posted 🤣

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Leo October 14, 2021 - 11:35 pm

I have a 6.5 inch wrist snd my arms are so skinny at 11inches

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Hasibul Haque October 15, 2021 - 10:44 am

Thanks.

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Stefan Op October 27, 2021 - 5:28 pm

And I thought my 17.3 inch wrists are small.

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Strength and Sport Physical Therapy November 9, 2021 - 10:44 pm

Awesome video. What do you think about Butt’s formula for peak potential muscle mass?

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KUGELBLITZ November 19, 2021 - 7:24 am

Hey Jeff, pls put me out of my misery, my friend's big brother is a gym trainer and he told us that we can in clavicle length in our teens is it true. Because if it is true then I can trust him in future and if not can't trust him. 😅😅😅😆😆😌😌

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jonathan wilson January 5, 2022 - 3:04 am

The internet is just a mess, ive been gone from bodybuilding 25+ years and I WISH you had said those formulas on that chart have ZERO basis, that all these internet fools are try hard idiots providing misinformation as fast as they can because they're idiots looking for views. You have 12 million subs. tell it toem straight dont be wishy washy. They can take it. Why zero basis? and I mean ZERO. Those formulas are trash. EXAMPLE A. me. im feet 6 feet tall and my wrist only measures 7 inches which is TINY and I love it..all my joints are tiny. LOVE IT. I just went from 160 lbs to 200 lbs in 5 months..10% bodyfat and im gonna go to 240 haha..how how?? MUSCLE BELLIES and INSERTION LENGTH people. Theres no standard or " typically " or anything..every single person is unique..and needs to understand the relation between their bones and their muscle insertions ( ex: raise your hand up to your face now feel the gap between your forearm and your bicep..that gap defines the INSERTION length…then after that you have the muscle belly itself to account for. for every muscle in your BODY haha….fkn formulas..haha

Between youtube and tik tok i dont know which one is more of a public health hazard

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Bala Saravanan January 5, 2022 - 10:19 am

Thank you very very very much Sir. Motivation of the year 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💪💪

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