New to strength trainging

alexistexas33

So, I hit a plateau back in June, and I was desperate to break out of it.
It took me a month until my boyfriend finally convinced me to do strength training with him
I broke out of my plateau in July, and during that month and the first 2 weeks of August I lost about ~13 pounds (since January I have lost 58). I only do strength 3 days a week, Tuesday being back and chest, Wednesday being legs, and Thursday being arms.

I have been weighting myself and I have gained 4 pounds since the middle of August until now? Dumb question, I know you can gain muscle from this but my goal was to loose weight not gain it.
Also, I haven't gone over my calorie goal at all, and yes I kept adjusting it as my weight went down.
How come I was loosing weight and now I am gaining it? Is this bad?

PinkPixiexox

So you're still eating at a deficit yet gaining weight?

I'm no expert on this sort of thing so if I go wrong anywhere, I welcome people to correct me. I believe when you are weight training you can store water weight, so this isn't you gaining FAT. You can't build muscle whilst on a deficit, that I do know - so It won't be that.

I'd say if you are doing as you always were, don't worry - it could be a water retention issue. Keep an eye on the logging anyway - it never hurts to stay on top of it

Merkavar

New exercise regime can cause water weight as your body repairs muscles. Give it time and it should go away on its own.

It's unlikely muscle or fat if your in a deficit.

Did you give up doing cardio in preference for strength. Could you be burning less and not in a deficit any more?

sijomial

That's a pretty dreadful routine for a beginer - you aren't working each body part enough times a week. Would suggest full body workout three times a week concentrating on big compound moves and not isolation work.

Did you add your strength training to your existing routine or swap something else out? If you swapped cardio (high calorie burn) for strength training (low calorie burn) you may have tipped your calorie balance.

You might have some soreness/water retention from a new routine but really unless the trend reverses after a month of your new routine I think it's calories that's the problem.

alexistexas33

I am doing strength until I can go back down to one job. Right now I work 60~ hours a week, so until mid October I won't be going back to cardio. This is all I could fit in during the week.

revolutiontruth

I'm new to strength training myself. I'm in my second week but I did read today that if you are new to strength training and have a fairly high BMI you can be in a calorie deficit and still gain muscle mass. From what I read it won't last long and you will stop building muscle mass if you stay in a calorie deficit. The article I read called it newbie gains