Muscle gains???

kanerz14

Hello,

First time poster with a likely noob question. If I were to exercise the exact same way as I done previously whilst maintaining weight, would I necessarily gain muscle?
To put some context into it, I'm aware of the various arguments around gaining muscle during weight maintenance or a calorie deficit. For around 8 months I've been doing various calisthenics and some weight training (around 30 mins daily) was originally on a calorie deficit, but now maintaining, I have seen good improvement in definition, but little in actual gains whilst keeping an eye on my protein intake. So if I were to add in a slight calorie surplus, doing the exact same routine, am I likely to gain muscle?

Thanks in advance for advice/guidance.

Lofteren

If you eat in a slight deficit you will slowly gain a couple of pounds. I don't know what your training looks like but if you really want to gain some mass then you will want to lift really heavy weights for moderately high volume 3-4 days a week with a focus on squat, bench, ohp, deadlift, barbell rows and pull ups. Depending on your body type, you may or may not be able to gain muscle on a slight calorie surplus. Some people gain muscle easily and some don't so start small and increase your calorie intake as needed.

kanerz14

Thanks Loft. I do tend to lift heavy even whilst on maintenance and previously on a deficit, my question however was, would I gain muscle doing exactly the same routine, apologies if that wasn't entirely clear.

auddii

You will likely gain doing the same routine. For optimal gains, you need an optimal routine, which you may or may not be doing (you've given very little description of your routine). But you would likely see some progress on your current routine if it consists of lifting heavy and calisthenics.

ndj1979

If you are eating at maintenance then you can do what is called a recomp...

if you want to increase calories so that you gain faster, then I would suggest aiming for .5 pound per week gain.

what is your current lifting regimen like? Is it a structured program, or a homemade one?

kanerz14

Thanks for the replies. I tend to do homemade excercises. Dumbell work, calisthenics ab/core work. Weighted crunches etc and a little cardio.

prattiger65

There are several good progressive loading programs out there, Stronglifts, Wendlers, Starting Strength and more. I would suggest picking one and get on a consistent program and eat at a slight surplus. Like ndj said, shoot for .5 pound gain per week.

kanerz14

Thanks. Will have a look.