This one seems to be a redundant question but everywhere I read I saw everyone has been stating that for natural lifters 22 lbs = 10 kg approx in the first year of working out is perfectly decent. Having said that I gained a substantial amount of muscle mass during the first 4 months. 

Although I wasn't as methodical initially but I went from 80 kg to 89 kg in mid march 2018 (some of it was fat as I learnt after I went on a cut for 3 weeks soon after) . This is given that I began roughly 4 months from that day i.e 13 October 2018.

So currently I stand at 85 kg but gains have been suddenly very slow (after the first 4 months) and I can't understand whether I'm doing something wrong or is it something which happens to all natural lifters after the initial few months of training?

(Also : Arms size went from 12 inches to 15.5 inches in first 4 months till mid-march and then stagnated there itself)

Also it would be great if somebody could give me a yardstick of how much I can gain naturally in the first 1 year (till this october if I continue hitting my workouts as hard as possible)

Thanks in advance guys! Cheers! ðŸ˜Ž 

Hey @Arjun17! Sounds like you have made some awesome gains so far man, good job!

I'd say the reason things have stalled is probably due to your diet. You're probably not eating enough. If you're not eating enough, your weight won't increase, and therefore you won't see increases in muscle mass.

It's probably partly due to that cut you did - you probably just haven't been able to get back into a consistent surplus since then. What are your current macros? Have you used the calculator on the @mealplan page to figure out what kind of calories and macros your should be aiming for in terms on lean gains? That will help you out.

As for how much size you will gain on your arms.. that depends on a few things. Obviously it depends on how much mass you gain overall, but also training and genetics. If you aren't maximizing your biceps training then they won't grow to their potential, but if you are training optimally, that potential is partly dictated by genetics.

Gaining 3.5 inches in 4 months is REALLY good. By the sounds of that, once you get your diet back on track so that you are gaining weight again, I'm sure the biceps will continue to grow. You've still got a good 6 months until your first year is up, so the sooner you get the @mealplan sorted, the better! 💪