Female trying to gain muscle

arditarose

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

It's not necessary. Some people do but I don't know if there's much research supporting that it is needed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

auddii

arditarose wrote: »

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

It's not necessary. Some people do but I don't know if there's much research supporting that it is needed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

As far as I know the differences tend to be mostly due to people being able to stick to their goals. There may be some super perfect nutrient timing for each person for optimum muscle growth, but I doubt you'd be able to find it.

Op, if you are already training, just do what you currently do but up the calories to maintenence level. Your current method (whatever it is) seems to have worked for you.

ndj1979

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

stop trying to over complicate everything.

figure out maintenance calories and eat to that number every day.

psuLemon

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

If you are going to recomp, just be prepared for results to take quite a long time. Many recomps can take a year or more. If you want quicker results, then a bulk/cut is faster. But for some, recomps are better psychologically.


But if you do recomp, I would highly suggest you start setting your goals based on performance and let the bf%/weight a secondary goal

lthur714

Wow....I think you are working out more than you need to. 5 days a week is a lot. Where is your day to rest your muscles? Sometimes we think more is better but maybe not. Plus now you've added weight training. Strength training is the best for women, I think. Even if you didn't lose another pound you already are at a great weight and BF index, I think. Strength training will build muscle and muscle metabolizes fat. Muscle weigh more than fat. I have a daughter who is 130 lbs and practically no fat at all. Her body looks like she is 100 lbs tops and she is so toned and looks so good, so I am following her lead with the strength training. She never counts calories and she just does strength training and it seems to have worked a long time for her. You look wonderful in your picture and if I were you, do something that you can continue with the rest of your life cause as you get older you won't always feel like doing everything you are trying to do now.

LolBroScience

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

It doesn't matter.

mattyc772014

I do calorie cycle in my recomp. But I do it because for me it is more satisfying to eat like this. It works for me. But as said it does not matter. Really a personal choice so I suggest you do what you feel is best for you. Lots of luck.

ndj1979

lthur714 wrote: »

Wow....I think you are working out more than you need to. 5 days a week is a lot. Where is your day to rest your muscles? Sometimes we think more is better but maybe not. Plus now you've added weight training. Strength training is the best for women, I think. Even if you didn't lose another pound you already are at a great weight and BF index, I think. Strength training will build muscle and muscle metabolizes fat. Muscle weigh more than fat. I have a daughter who is 130 lbs and practically no fat at all. Her body looks like she is 100 lbs tops and she is so toned and looks so good, so I am following her lead with the strength training. She never counts calories and she just does strength training and it seems to have worked a long time for her. You look wonderful in your picture and if I were you, do something that you can continue with the rest of your life cause as you get older you won't always feel like doing everything you are trying to do now.

to clarify ..

two days rest a week is more than adequate
muscle does not weigh more than fat
calorie deficit leads to fat loss. If you strength train and eat in a surplus you will gain muscle and fat.

arditarose

auddii wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

It's not necessary. Some people do but I don't know if there's much research supporting that it is needed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

As far as I know the differences tend to be mostly due to people being able to stick to their goals. There may be some super perfect nutrient timing for each person for optimum muscle growth, but I doubt you'd be able to find it.

Op, if you are already training, just do what you currently do but up the calories to maintenence level. Your current method (whatever it is) seems to have worked for you.

That's what I thought as well.

OP I'm trying a recomp again. I don't cycle my calories but I don't eat the same every day either. I like high Saturdays and I leave some room for the day after I dead lift because hanger. It's just a personal choice though and has nothing to do with aesthetic/strength results.

brittrogers1

EnriqueLuviano wrote: »

But just let me know your height and your activity level outside of the gym and I can give you pretty accurate macros.

Would you be able to tell me what my macros should be? I'm female, 110 lbs 5'3. I workout 3 times a week at the gym. Just lifting with little cardio. I'm trying to put on some muscle but I don't know what my calorie intake should be for maintenance OR what it should be for gaining. Someone said you add about 200 calories to your maintenance intake if you want to gain muscle. Or slowly add more. I don't want to add too much too fast and gain a lot of fat, although some fat is inevitable. I also have no idea what my ratio of protein to carbs to fat should be.

freak4iron

gymrat04mf wrote: »

I'm a 19 year old girl trying to build about 7-10 lbs of muscle and also lose just a couple lbs of fat at most. Currently I'm 115 lbs, 18% BF. My goal is to be about 120 lbs with a slightly lower BF percentage (14-16%). Since May I've been working out 5 days a week. I do a lot of weight training and also work a lot on my abs. Recently I've also implemented cardio into my workout routine at 3x a week, after my weight training on those days. I use weights every time I work out. This app tells me I should eat about 2200 calories and 114 grams of protein a day to gain weight (0.5 lbs/week, although I think that's pretty fast), but I have a lot of trouble getting to that amount. I can't even ever make it past 1700 calories in a day, and the most protein I've gotten in one day is around 110 grams but usually it's more like 75. I know I should probably start eating more than 3 meals in a day like I usually do, but it's very difficult with my schedule. I also don't want to gain fat if I can help it. I know it's pretty much an inevitable consequence of gaining muscle, but I'd like to keep my fat gain as low as possible. I want to be more toned and strong, and have it show.

What can I do to reach my goals?

First off you have got a really impressive body and I'm also happy to see you want to take the muscle further! Most girls are all " I wanna be so thin you can see my bones" awesome work girl! It can be tough for me to gain weight, seems like I gotta eat more and train harder then the guy next to me at the same weight.

Its tough for me to get the calories in completely through solid foods so whey has been a life saver for me. I kinda cheat and make high calorie protein shakes a couple times a day. I blend coffee, whey, eggs, peanut butter, coconut oil, and milk. It's easy to get 1000 calories into one shake and they are SO easy to get down. Sometimes I wish it were realistic to just live off them, but mixing it up is important.

Nuts are also awesome for getting protein and healthy fats in ya. I eat 1-3 ounces a day, three hand fully and you probably ate close to 750 calories, at least with my hand.


As far as training goes I wouldn't do more then 20-30 mins of cardio a day, and lift heavy! I underestimated how important lifting heavy really was. I was lifting weight in the 10-12rep range and it took me FOREVER to get stronger. I think I was just doing plates for like 6 months straight before I said something's gotta give. Don't get me wrong it was helping me to look shredded but strength and mass went going up. Then I started lifting in the 3-5 rep range using a spotter and really putting the umph for those last one or two reps....and what do you window in a week I was able to push that same weight for one or two more reps. Once I hit 8 I'd up the weight again.....this helped me gain mass and my weight was going up fast!

I'm sending you a friend request cause I'm honestly really interested seeing you gain those 5-7 pounds, I think you will look fantastic

Btw how did you get your reading 18% b/f? I got mine taking recently by my wrestling coach and he put me at 14% and I think you have more definition then me.

freak4iron

gymrat04mf wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm going to stick with my recomp plan. But my only question about doing recomp is calorie cycling. For my goals, should I be eating at a slight surplus on training days and at maintenance on rest days? Or maintenance on all days, or what?

If it were me I would eat at a slight surplus all together and do some cardio a few times a week to help combat gaining fat at the same time....that's just me though, you can always cut afterwards too or adjust along way if you're seeing too much fat gain.

gymrat04mf

freak4iron wrote: »

gymrat04mf wrote: »

I'm a 19 year old girl trying to build about 7-10 lbs of muscle and also lose just a couple lbs of fat at most. Currently I'm 115 lbs, 18% BF. My goal is to be about 120 lbs with a slightly lower BF percentage (14-16%). Since May I've been working out 5 days a week. I do a lot of weight training and also work a lot on my abs. Recently I've also implemented cardio into my workout routine at 3x a week, after my weight training on those days. I use weights every time I work out. This app tells me I should eat about 2200 calories and 114 grams of protein a day to gain weight (0.5 lbs/week, although I think that's pretty fast), but I have a lot of trouble getting to that amount. I can't even ever make it past 1700 calories in a day, and the most protein I've gotten in one day is around 110 grams but usually it's more like 75. I know I should probably start eating more than 3 meals in a day like I usually do, but it's very difficult with my schedule. I also don't want to gain fat if I can help it. I know it's pretty much an inevitable consequence of gaining muscle, but I'd like to keep my fat gain as low as possible. I want to be more toned and strong, and have it show.

What can I do to reach my goals?

First off you have got a really impressive body and I'm also happy to see you want to take the muscle further! Most girls are all " I wanna be so thin you can see my bones" awesome work girl! It can be tough for me to gain weight, seems like I gotta eat more and train harder then the guy next to me at the same weight.

Its tough for me to get the calories in completely through solid foods so whey has been a life saver for me. I kinda cheat and make high calorie protein shakes a couple times a day. I blend coffee, whey, eggs, peanut butter, coconut oil, and milk. It's easy to get 1000 calories into one shake and they are SO easy to get down. Sometimes I wish it were realistic to just live off them, but mixing it up is important.

Nuts are also awesome for getting protein and healthy fats in ya. I eat 1-3 ounces a day, three hand fully and you probably ate close to 750 calories, at least with my hand.


As far as training goes I wouldn't do more then 20-30 mins of cardio a day, and lift heavy! I underestimated how important lifting heavy really was. I was lifting weight in the 10-12rep range and it took me FOREVER to get stronger. I think I was just doing plates for like 6 months straight before I said something's gotta give. Don't get me wrong it was helping me to look shredded but strength and mass went going up. Then I started lifting in the 3-5 rep range using a spotter and really putting the umph for those last one or two reps....and what do you window in a week I was able to push that same weight for one or two more reps. Once I hit 8 I'd up the weight again.....this helped me gain mass and my weight was going up fast!

I'm sending you a friend request cause I'm honestly really interested seeing you gain those 5-7 pounds, I think you will look fantastic

Btw how did you get your reading 18% b/f? I got mine taking recently by my wrestling coach and he put me at 14% and I think you have more definition then me.

Thank you! And to answer your question, I got my BF % from the weight watchers scale (so using an electrical current).

beatadr

freak4iron wrote: »

Btw how did you get your reading 18% b/f? I got mine taking recently by my wrestling coach and he put me at 14% and I think you have more definition then me.

Women have more essential fat than men. 18%BF in a female is actually rather lean, as it would be equivalent to 10-12% in a man.

psuLemon

gymrat04mf wrote: »

freak4iron wrote: »

gymrat04mf wrote: »

I'm a 19 year old girl trying to build about 7-10 lbs of muscle and also lose just a couple lbs of fat at most. Currently I'm 115 lbs, 18% BF. My goal is to be about 120 lbs with a slightly lower BF percentage (14-16%). Since May I've been working out 5 days a week. I do a lot of weight training and also work a lot on my abs. Recently I've also implemented cardio into my workout routine at 3x a week, after my weight training on those days. I use weights every time I work out. This app tells me I should eat about 2200 calories and 114 grams of protein a day to gain weight (0.5 lbs/week, although I think that's pretty fast), but I have a lot of trouble getting to that amount. I can't even ever make it past 1700 calories in a day, and the most protein I've gotten in one day is around 110 grams but usually it's more like 75. I know I should probably start eating more than 3 meals in a day like I usually do, but it's very difficult with my schedule. I also don't want to gain fat if I can help it. I know it's pretty much an inevitable consequence of gaining muscle, but I'd like to keep my fat gain as low as possible. I want to be more toned and strong, and have it show.

What can I do to reach my goals?

First off you have got a really impressive body and I'm also happy to see you want to take the muscle further! Most girls are all " I wanna be so thin you can see my bones" awesome work girl! It can be tough for me to gain weight, seems like I gotta eat more and train harder then the guy next to me at the same weight.

Its tough for me to get the calories in completely through solid foods so whey has been a life saver for me. I kinda cheat and make high calorie protein shakes a couple times a day. I blend coffee, whey, eggs, peanut butter, coconut oil, and milk. It's easy to get 1000 calories into one shake and they are SO easy to get down. Sometimes I wish it were realistic to just live off them, but mixing it up is important.

Nuts are also awesome for getting protein and healthy fats in ya. I eat 1-3 ounces a day, three hand fully and you probably ate close to 750 calories, at least with my hand.


As far as training goes I wouldn't do more then 20-30 mins of cardio a day, and lift heavy! I underestimated how important lifting heavy really was. I was lifting weight in the 10-12rep range and it took me FOREVER to get stronger. I think I was just doing plates for like 6 months straight before I said something's gotta give. Don't get me wrong it was helping me to look shredded but strength and mass went going up. Then I started lifting in the 3-5 rep range using a spotter and really putting the umph for those last one or two reps....and what do you window in a week I was able to push that same weight for one or two more reps. Once I hit 8 I'd up the weight again.....this helped me gain mass and my weight was going up fast!

I'm sending you a friend request cause I'm honestly really interested seeing you gain those 5-7 pounds, I think you will look fantastic

Btw how did you get your reading 18% b/f? I got mine taking recently by my wrestling coach and he put me at 14% and I think you have more definition then me.

Thank you! And to answer your question, I got my BF % from the weight watchers scale (so using an electrical current).

Don't put too much stock in those scales. Bioimpadence can be very inaccurate. Generally, to get a more accurate number, you want to get on one of those scales before you drink/eat anything and on it immediately in the morning.