BBG to maintain but tone up.

casparks13

Hi all,

I'm 5'7'' and 121 pounds and just started Kayla Itsines's BBG training. I started with the pre-training because I only do (tons of) cardio and have zero strength. Has anyone else done this?

After the first day of pre-training, my legs have been in tons of pain. Still, three days later, I walk like a grandpa.

I eat about 1200cal/ per day- mostly vegetables and protein, but I tend to get a lot of calories from chocolate

Anyway, I'm looking for support.

Finally, how do I deal with the water retention that comes with starting a weight training program? My arms bulk up with water. Also, I know that my subject line says "maintain" but I'm willing to gain muscular weight.

Thanks,
Courtney

hannonmak

Hey Courtney, no worries! I'm on week 6 of BBG and while I definitely still feel the burn I also feel a lot stronger!

I don't know much about water retention, but I do love listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast and I think she'd recommend increasing your caloric intake to maintain or build muscle. You can Google BMR calculator and it can help you determine your base caloric burn per day without working out. Once you add each day's without into the number you need to meet or exceed that number if you're planning to maintain or build muscle. If you read up on it it'll explains it in more detail, I'm not a trainer or anything but I love learning about this type of stuff.

TavistockToad

You need to be eating more than 1200 cals if you want to gain muscle.

Drink plenty of water to help with sore muscles

ninerbuff

Water retention is basically unavoidable in weight training. The body will constantly replenish water and glycogen in the cells (this is where you get your energy to exercise) and water is needed for muscle repair. As you CONDITION your body to resistance training, it will subside. However, gaining muscle requires a surplus and a 1200 calorie a day diet isn't going to do it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

rainbowbow

Correct me if i'm wrong... but... isn't the whole point of her BBG not to "gain muscle"?

From her site specifically->
"My journey began in 2008, when I started a personal training course at the Australian Institute of Fitness. After graduation, I took a job at a “women’s only” personal training centre in Adelaide, Australia. I soon realised, the methods I was instructed to use often fell short or did not provide the results the client was aspiring to achieve. From the new female clients, I was always hearing:

I hate my inner thighs
I want toned arms
I just want a flat-stomach and nice abs
The same issues kept reoccurring so I decided to do some of my own research, and began to develop my own set of exercises that targeted those areas specifically. Fortunately, I was left in charge of the facility in the absence of the manager and had a small amount of time to run things the way I wanted.

“Before I knew it, I had developed workouts and cardio techniques, mixed with nutrition planning that achieved a certain result: a bikini body confidence.”

The whole reason her guides have become successful is that it's training in a certain style to acheive a certain look. It's mostly HIIT training mixed with cardio and only body weight training coupled with low calories.

This is meant I assume to give you a lean, thin, look WITHOUT gaining significant muscle. It's mostly to help women acheive what i call the "waif" look. As far as the water retention is concerned, that's part of the process of healing. Over time (and since this program is not necessarily intended for muscle gain/hypertrophy) you will become more efficient and deal with less soreness and water retention.

best of luck!

romyhorse

If you follow the meal plan it will provide you with 1600 calories a day, so not super low calorie. The guide is meant to lower body fat and increase strength, most people use it as a stepping stone and move on to weight lifting.

casparks13

Thank you all! Responses are still appreciated, all of this is awesome

casparks13

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

TavistockToad

casparks13 wrote: »

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

Given your stats how much weight are you wanting to lose? 1200 cals is a deficit.

casparks13

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

Given your stats how much weight are you wanting to lose? 1200 cals is a deficit.

Not trying to lose. Trying to maintain. I have a slow metabolism though.

TavistockToad

casparks13 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

Given your stats how much weight are you wanting to lose? 1200 cals is a deficit.

Not trying to lose. Trying to maintain. I have a slow metabolism though.

What tests have you had that say you have a slow metabolism?

casparks13

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

Given your stats how much weight are you wanting to lose? 1200 cals is a deficit.

Not trying to lose. Trying to maintain. I have a slow metabolism though.

What tests have you had that say you have a slow metabolism?

Well, I damaged it by eating too little for a long time. I haven't had tests but my nutritionist tells me. However, I recently had a 30-minute test at University of Miami and my RMR was 1590 according to that.

TavistockToad

casparks13 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

casparks13 wrote: »

Okay, has anyone done BBG on 1200 cal/day and seen results?

Given your stats how much weight are you wanting to lose? 1200 cals is a deficit.

Not trying to lose. Trying to maintain. I have a slow metabolism though.

What tests have you had that say you have a slow metabolism?

Well, I damaged it by eating too little for a long time. I haven't had tests but my nutritionist tells me. However, I recently had a 30-minute test at University of Miami and my RMR was 1590 according to that.

So why are you eating 1200 cals if your RMR is 1590? If you don't want to lose weight?

casparks13

rainbowbow wrote: »

Correct me if i'm wrong... but... isn't the whole point of her BBG not to "gain muscle"?

From her site specifically->
"My journey began in 2008, when I started a personal training course at the Australian Institute of Fitness. After graduation, I took a job at a “women’s only” personal training centre in Adelaide, Australia. I soon realised, the methods I was instructed to use often fell short or did not provide the results the client was aspiring to achieve. From the new female clients, I was always hearing:

I hate my inner thighs
I want toned arms
I just want a flat-stomach and nice abs
The same issues kept reoccurring so I decided to do some of my own research, and began to develop my own set of exercises that targeted those areas specifically. Fortunately, I was left in charge of the facility in the absence of the manager and had a small amount of time to run things the way I wanted.

“Before I knew it, I had developed workouts and cardio techniques, mixed with nutrition planning that achieved a certain result: a bikini body confidence.”

The whole reason her guides have become successful is that it's training in a certain style to acheive a certain look. It's mostly HIIT training mixed with cardio and only body weight training coupled with low calories.

This is meant I assume to give you a lean, thin, look WITHOUT gaining significant muscle. It's mostly to help women acheive what i call the "waif" look. As far as the water retention is concerned, that's part of the process of healing. Over time (and since this program is not necessarily intended for muscle gain/hypertrophy) you will become more efficient and deal with less soreness and water retention.

best of luck!

super helpful, thank you