Depends on your natural frame. If you have small bone structure, you're going to struggle to put on size. If you have a larger bone structure, you should put on muscle a lot easier. I wasted 2 1/2 years working out natural and gained about 15lbs of muscle. I was working out 3x a week, lifting heavy and doing legs too. My legs grew some, my back grew a lot. My shoulders, chest, and arms barely changed at all. I added like 1 1/2" to my arms in 2 1/2 years. And at 6' tall and 2 1/2 years training, I still have 13.4" arms. Yes, I can squat 230lbs for 5 reps, but arm genetics are literal trash. My traps are actually pretty solid. They grew well along with my back.
I was probably bottom 1% of strength when I started, I know. Most of the women in my gym were stronger than I was. But training for over 2 years to still be below average? No, I should have jumped on PEDs after the first year when it was clear that my training had produced almost no results. I just kept believing people who said stuff like "Get your body fat lower first!" "You really need 1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to grow!" "You just need to lift till failure every set!" "You just need to do splits" "You should only do compounds!". None of that stuff made an appreciable difference. Meanwhile, I saw fat guys stumble into the gym for the first time, eat like trash, lift twice a week, and grow more in a few months than I did in two and half years.
I hopped on PEDs last month, and I've literally grown more in the last 4 weeks than I did in the first 1 1/2 years. Natural bodybuilding is a huge waste of time for a lot of people. My diet is identical to what it was before, so is my training. Results aren't even comparable.
My advice, go lift natural, eat enough protein. See what results you get working out 3+x a week. If you're happy with the progress, proceed. If you didn't add much size, decide if you're going to jump on gear or quit. No point spending 10 years busting your ass to get what you'd achieve on six months of test.
