Gaining on belly

solskin78

I've been underweight most my life, unintentional.
When my weight increase by 1/2kg it's always on my belly. I once heard that eventually it spreads to the rest of the body. Is this true? I do t want to gain if I'm going to look 9 months pregnant with skinny arms and legs. Does anyone have experience of this?

trigden1991

1)You can't choose where fat gain occurs.
2)If you lift weights and eat in a caloric surplus you will probably gain muscle on other body part.
3) Initial weight gain is normally water and glycogen and not fat

HamsterManV2

You are currently 'skinny fat' which is skinny and not muscular, hence having a 'belly'. If you choose to gain weight, it will be spread evenly on your body, with a focus depending on genetics.

If you lift while eating at a surplus (i.e. gaining weight), most nutrition will go to building muscle, and some will go to fat (just part of the process, don't shy away from it). i.e. TDEE + 500 calories is a bulk where you gain 1lb per week. Any more than that will create too much fat. Some people prefer slow bulk which is TDEE+250 calories, where you gain muscle and fat at a slower rate.

AliceDark

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

You are currently 'skinny fat' which is skinny and not muscular, hence having a 'belly'. If you choose to gain weight, it will be spread evenly on your body, with a focus depending on genetics.

If you lift while eating at a surplus (i.e. gaining weight), most nutrition will go to building muscle, and some will go to fat (just part of the process, don't shy away from it). i.e. TDEE + 500 calories is a bulk where you gain 1lb per week. Any more than that will create too much fat. Some people prefer slow bulk which is TDEE+250 calories, where you gain muscle and fat at a slower rate.

OP is a woman, so a more reasonable rate of gain is .25 to .5 pound per week (TDEE + 125 to 250 calories). For us, 1 pound per week is going to be mostly fat, no matter how much lifting we do.

ndj1979

trigden1991 wrote: »

1)You can't choose where fat gain occurs.
2)If you lift weights and eat in a caloric surplus you will probably gain muscle on other body part.
3) Initial weight gain is normally water and glycogen and not fat

this

solskin78

@AliceDark is that true for women, all weight gain will be fat? Regardless of weight lifting? How sad!

AliceDark

solskin78 wrote: »

@AliceDark is that true for women, all weight gain will be fat? Regardless of weight lifting? How sad!

No, that's not what I said. Before I clarify, here are two things to remember:

1. Everyone has the potential to gain only a certain amount of muscle per week; nobody is putting on pounds of muscle per week unless other substances are involved
2. Under the best circumstances, we're going to gain 50/50 muscle to fat, no matter what we do (unless, again, we're taking illegal substances)

(These are broad generalizations only, and everyone varies).

Women are able to gain a smaller amount of muscle per week than men. So, for example, let's say a man has the potential to gain 0.5 pounds of muscle per week under the best circumstances. That man can choose to gain a total of 1 pound a week or 4 pounds a month, but he's still only going to gain that 0.5 pound of muscle and the rest will be fat.

For women, it's a good generalization to say that we can gain 0.25 pounds of muscle per week. So, under the best circumstances, you set your goal to gain 0.5 pounds per week and it's 50/50 muscle to fat. More than that, and you're going to gain more fat per week than you need to.

psuLemon

AliceDark wrote: »

solskin78 wrote: »

@AliceDark is that true for women, all weight gain will be fat? Regardless of weight lifting? How sad!

No, that's not what I said. Before I clarify, here are two things to remember:

1. Everyone has the potential to gain only a certain amount of muscle per week; nobody is putting on pounds of muscle per week unless other substances are involved
2. Under the best circumstances, we're going to gain 50/50 muscle to fat, no matter what we do (unless, again, we're taking illegal substances)

(These are broad generalizations only, and everyone varies).

Women are able to gain a smaller amount of muscle per week than men. So, for example, let's say a man has the potential to gain 0.5 pounds of muscle per week under the best circumstances. That man can choose to gain a total of 1 pound a week or 4 pounds a month, but he's still only going to gain that 0.5 pound of muscle and the rest will be fat.

For women, it's a good generalization to say that we can gain 0.25 pounds of muscle per week. So, under the best circumstances, you set your goal to gain 0.5 pounds per week and it's 50/50 muscle to fat. More than that, and you're going to gain more fat per week than you need to.

True. And to add, mileage my vary based on genetics, training/nutrition, how new to lift they are and how well they respond to training stimuli.

rebel_26

Good stuff Alice . Well said and detailed. Psulemon follow on good info to consider as well.