Muscle gain without training?

[Jase]

My 22-year-old brother seems to have gained a substantial amount of muscle in recent months without any training. He knows a bit about training, and has flirted with it before, however his couple of training ventures only ever lasted a month or two lol!

Anyway, he has not done any form of weight training in years. Earlier this year he got me to take down and record his measurements for him but in the last few months he's been looking much bigger and thicker muscular wise which I thought was odd since he does no training at all ( I know - he lives at my place w/me and I'm positive he does nothing apart from walking a little when he's out as he doesn't have car ) so I took his measurements again a few nights back, compared them with the old ones, and to my suprise everything is up by a large amount.

His upper arms are up a full inch, relaxed chest is up almost 2 inches, thighs are up almost 2 inches. The only measurement that hadn't really shited, except for about 1/4 of an inch or less, was his waist. So he's put on next to no fat if any at all. They're very accurate measurements as I'm used to taking my own for years.

I just find this extremely odd. I have noticed though he also seems to have grown about half an inch in height since he turned 22, so he is obviously still developing. Anyone got any ideas what's up though? Seems like a very large amount of muscle he's gained even for someone who's still developing. I'm a little concerned it could be some kind of hormone imbalance but I don't think there's anything at all to worry about, it's probably just because he's still growing. Anyone else got any ideas?

 

[endpoint]

what does he do for a living?
what physical activities/sports is he involved with?

 

[Jase]

He works in a supermarket, but he's had the same position in the store since 2001 so it's not due to any heavy manual work.

As far as sports & physical activities, nothing at all.

 

[sk*]

You said he grew an inch in the last year, I would assume he hasn't fully developed yet and this is why his body grew too.

Example would be looking at a baby, within a year it grows ... and its arms too.

-sk

 

[revexrevex]

is he african american?

 

[SubjectiveIllusion]

This is only an idea. Please don't get upset: Roids?

Have you considered it? Why would your brother get you to take down measurements if he wasn't going to weight lift? Doesn't make sense to me.

Studies have said that many high school students and middle age men use roids just to bulk up and look good for the ladys. A large number do not excercise. They are just lazy and want the easy way out.

I say a size increase without excercise relative to what your brother has is not probable.

Remember, I'm merely suggesting.

 

[StRoNg_WoN]

Could just be his genetic makeup too... or the fact that he isn't done growing..

 

[Jase]

No ... we're White lol.

Yeah, I agree actually, at first glance it does look like a case of someone using anabolic steroids w/out training. You can in fact gain a small amount of muscle mass juicing just sitting on your ass. He's been getting noticeably bigger muscle wise at a steady pace for a while

I would have to say no though, he wouldn't know a thing about steroids apart from what he's seen on tv. He doesn't associate with anyone who uses them or even works out, his friends are mostly pot heads lol! I've asked him stuff like this and warned him about the grave dangers of abuse, I'm pretty cool with him, he wouldn't be shy about telling me if he was.

He's always been a bit weird in terms of development. He was 5'11'' tall and wore size 14 shoes when he was only 13 years old. For some reason he didn't grow again at all until he was 18 - 19 when he hit 6'0'' or so ... now at 22 he seems to be growing again and is 6'1'' or maybe a fraction over. He wears friggin' size 15 shoes now. He's always been relatively muscular too and has an unusually deep voice, he sounded 25 years old when he was only 15. Even now you wouldn't believe he was only 22 if you talked to him on the phone.

He has flirted with training in the past, when he was 18 ... then again when he was about 20. Nothing that lasted more than a month or two though. He hasn't trained a single day since 2001. He does have a very basic grasp of what some measurements mean, i.e Hulk Hogan has 24'' arms lol & from me bragging about mine for yonks trying to make him feel small & get his ass in the gym lmao. He doesn't seem to have much interest in working out, because he can beat his buddies in an arm wrestle he thinks he's big enough already ( whatever! )

He does have some very good measurements though relative for his height and weight considering he does nothing. He's 6'1'' 166lbs, chest is a bit over 41.5'' relaxed, waist a bit under 32'' relaxed, biceps 13.5'', forearms 12'', neck is 17'', quads are 23.5'', calves are 15.66''. I would estimate his bodyfat to be about 13% or so.

Gaining muscle without doing a thing sounds great and like a dream come true, but it's quite concerning when you think about it and don't know the cause. I did some research the other night of all kinds of different disorders that mess with the hormone system, such as Cushings Syndrome ect, and I couldn't find a thing that causes muscle gain. Disorders like that cause you to become weaker and to lose muscle mass, the weight you gain is fat, so it's nothing like that. I narrowed it down to having to be caused by increased growth hormome / testerosterone levels. That makes sense taking into account he's still growing in height so I guess things are normal and there's nothing to be concerned about, but I'll definitely be keeping my eye on him. I hope to eventually get his lazy ass into the gym with me!

 

[endpoint]

No ... we're White lol.

what colour is the milkman?

 

[Aussie Juga naught]

He does have some very good measurements though relative for his height and weight considering he does nothing. He's 6'1'' 166lbs, chest is a bit over 41.5'' relaxed, waist a bit under 32'' relaxed, biceps 13.5'', forearms 12'', neck is 17'', quads are 23.5'', calves are 15.66''. I would estimate his bodyfat to be about 13% or so.

 

[Jase]

Err ... I said relative to his height and weight ( slim no? ) and considerng he doesn't do any kind of training at all

endpoint - I'm positive it wasn't the milkman heh

 

[endpoint]

judging by those measurements he is just growing.

if it were over 15 or so inchs i would start looking for answers

 

[Jase]

judging by those measurements he is just growing.

if it were over 15 or so inchs i would start looking for answers

Yup, I agree.

 

[Mike_Rojas]

Don't worry dude - 6'1'' 166lbs at 13% bodyfat is normal for someone that doesn't work out.

 

[Jase]

Yeah I know he's normal there, that's not what I'm concerned about.

Just he was only 153 or so and much smaller size wise a matter of months ago at what I would say was the same bodyfat percentage. I would say most of the increase was in the last couple of months too, so it's just the rate at which it happened that made me wonder.

Also, I've been tank tested ( which is accurate to within about one percent ) before so I tend to guess people's bodyfat higher. Most people would probably guess him at around 10%. A true 13% is actually reasonably cut, he's got some abs & some decent cuts in his shoulders. So many people online or anywhere for that matter tend to underestimate bodyfat percentages, no doubt due to the influence of calipers, bodyfat scales ect which are *very* inaccurate.

 

[Mike_Rojas]

When I was 22 my metabolism started slowing down and I started gaining weight. My brother was a 6'4" bone rack until he hit his twenties, then he jumped up to way over 200.

I guess your brother could have some kind of physical problem, but I doubt it.

 

[Jase]

Naw, like endpoint said, I doubt he has a physical problem.

I'll be concerned when he's walking around w/ 16'' guns lmao ... I'm pretty damn sure that won't happen unless he gets REALLY tall or something.

He's actually not naturally skinny, he's only slim because he watches what he eats carefully and has a pretty good diet which is a good point at least, he used to be slightly overweight when he was younger.

Yeah, lotsa guys do fill out though when their metabolisms, hormones ect calm down.

 

[Jase]

One not so good thing though is he was recently diagnosed with having benign essential tremor.

For those who don't know, it's a neurological disorder which causes a tremor in the hands and can eventually move to include other parts of the body. It's not as bad as it sounds though as it doesn't lead to anything else and the worst effect it ever has is the tremor, so it's nothing like Parkinson's.

I mean with my brother it's so slight you can't even see it, you wouldn't even know shaking hands with him ect, about the only symptom is if he gripped your hand you'll often feel a slight shake. Doctor told him it probably will just stay like it is now for the rest of his life and never worsen.

This was only a regular practioner who diagnosed it though, you'd probably need a neurologist to confirm it. It's possible he may not have it after all as I read that symtpoms similar to those found in essential tremor are often found in youngsters still developing due to hormones & eventually subside.