Early muscle gains - real or water-based?

jtcedinburgh

I've been doing weight training now more seriously for around 6 weeks, going three or four times a week - SL5x5 these past four weeks, with additional 5x5 exercises on machines (laden to ~2-3x the corresponding SL5x5 weights I'm at at the time, e.g. mid row machine 5x5 @ 85Kg, bench press m/c 5x5 @ 50Kg, whereas I'm only at 37.5Kg/27.5Kg for the Bench and Row in SL5x5 so far, as I started this from empty bar).

Anyway, over the past two or three weeks, I've noticed a surprising amount of additional 'bulk' - I'm hesitating to call it muscle just yet - around the pecs, shoulders and lats. To be sure, I wasn't big there before, but it's all coming together nicely.

Is this genuine muscle growth or a temporary thing (bearing in mind what I've read about extra water weight in muscles)?

I'm eating at maintenance - roughly 2200KCal/day - and I've cut back on my running. I don't feel like I'm doing excessive training by any means, but I'm surprised by the result thus far.

thanks.

CarlKRobbo

"Newbie Gains" and a bit of water... Those first few months, as the Muscles adapt, changes appear quicker, but it's a combination of both. Stick with it though. The "Newbie Gains" last a few months, after that, it's the same as those of us who've trained long term (6+ Years), and it's slower progress.

DresdenSinn

I concur with the above poster, your experiencing some initial gains and water, it takes much longer (depending on genetics/training) to put on quality muscle mass. I've been training pretty consistently for almost 20 years and I've only added 20lbs of lean muscle, that's only an average of a pound a year.

jtcedinburgh

Other question: are these initial gains going to stay, or will these 'newbie gains' fade away as I progress?

LazSommer

It's a pump. You're doing extra on top of the program. Go do some curls and see how much bigger your arms look for a while.

6 weeks isn't very long for noticeable muscle gains. Newbie gains are more neurological than muscular.