Am I actually "building muscle"?

JulieAnn72

So I've read a lot of threads on here about the idea of building muscle. It seems that you can only do that if eating at a surplus and lifting heavy, right? So am I correct in saying that I am not building muscle even though I do some strength training and am clearly getting stronger? Here's what I'm doing:

1. Eating at a deficit
2. Running 2-3 times a week (about 2-2.5 miles each)
3. Doing strength training workouts twice a week (body weight and dumbbell exercises - mostly 10lb dumbbells)

I've lost a lot of weight and can see my muscles now, but I'm thinking that's just because the fat has gone away, right? Am I actually building any muscle with the strength training? I'm definitely stronger than I was, so wouldn't that mean my muscles are stronger? What is the difference between increasing strength and building muscle? Why am I stronger if I'm not actually building muscles? I'm curious about this from a physiological point of view.

Just a little background: My overall goal is to be healthier. That's it. I want to be able to walk up 15 flights of stairs if an elevator breaks, and not feel winded at the top. I want to be able to help my husband carry furniture from one room to another if we ever need to. I want to look good in a bikini (but don't care about a 6 pack). So I'm not looking to build muscle, necessarily. I do want to be stronger though, and I feel like that's happening. But am I actually technically building muscle?

Patch_14

If you are eating a deficit you won`t put on any extra muscle. However the muscle you have will become stronger and more defined.

From wikipedia

"Muscle hypertrophy involves an increase in size of skeletal muscle through an increase in the size of its component cells. Hypertrophy can be broken down into two types of categories: myofibril and sarcoplasmic. Each of these specific types of muscle hypertrophy will result in increasing size of cells, but not of equal effect. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is focused on increasing the actual size of the muscle, and less on increasing strength. Myofibril hypertrophy will focus more on strength increase and less on an increase in the size of the skeletal muscle"

JulieAnn72

Awesome! So this is what I must be doing: "Myofibril hypertrophy will focus more on strength increase and less on an increase in the size of the skeletal muscle" which is fine with me. Thank you!

bokodasu

Probably not. Maybe a teensy bit.

Usually when you get "stronger" - especially when you first start working out - it's because of neural adaptations, not muscle changes. Instead of a couple of muscle fibers twitching around randomly, they all start working together - you're using more of the muscle you have, not growing new stuff.

Then you can also get stronger by changing the type of muscle you have, so you have the same total amount, but it works better for what you want it to do, so you can run farther or lift more weight. (Ok, it's more complicated than that but that's the long story short version.)

And when people talk about growing muscle, they really mean two things:
You can make the muscle fibers you have bigger
or
You can actually add new muscle fibers

The second one being significantly harder than the first. And that's what people mean when they say you can't add muscle in a deficit - assuming you're not completely muscle-less, there is no way your body will do something as resource-intensive as making brand new muscle when there is any other option available to it. But yeah, you can totally get stronger, and you might even be able to make your muscles a little bigger (but mostly they'll just look that way because there's less padding over them).

dieselbyte

Great question. I just answered this in another post, so I'll just copy and paste my previous response about building muscle and strength in a caloric deficit. Hope this helps.

The study was already done... http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1310193169

Now, this was performed with highly trained athletes under strict controls, but it IS possible to lose weight and gain lean body mass and strength. The study is amazing though, because trained and elite athletes would have the hardest time to lose weight and gain muscle without the aid of exongenous drugs.

To speak to an earlier comment : an untrained, very overweight person, or even someone who is severly obese, will find that building muscle while losing weight in a caloric deficit is very likely and possible. With the right protein intake and focus on diet, this individual is recruiting muscle fibers that have been underused. Caloric restriction using diet, combined with further reduction of calories through weight training will simultaneously burn excessive fat and build muscle.

Halfway down the page, there is a link that will open up the pdf of the study...
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=141780961&page=1

I'll also include the link to the study from NCBI, but it only includes the abstract...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21558571

KarenJanine

If you are eating a deficit you won`t put on any extra muscle. However the muscle you have will become stronger and more defined.

From wikipedia

"Muscle hypertrophy involves an increase in size of skeletal muscle through an increase in the size of its component cells. Hypertrophy can be broken down into two types of categories: myofibril and sarcoplasmic. Each of these specific types of muscle hypertrophy will result in increasing size of cells, but not of equal effect. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is focused on increasing the actual size of the muscle, and less on increasing strength. Myofibril hypertrophy will focus more on strength increase and less on an increase in the size of the skeletal muscle"

This.

You are making the muscle you already have stronger. And also by working that muscle while eating in a deficit you will ensure that your body only uses fat to make up the deficit rather than muscle so you should maintain the amount of mass you currently have but your fat will be decreasing. End result = stronger and leaner. Win - win!!

JulieAnn72

If you are eating a deficit you won`t put on any extra muscle. However the muscle you have will become stronger and more defined.

From wikipedia

"Muscle hypertrophy involves an increase in size of skeletal muscle through an increase in the size of its component cells. Hypertrophy can be broken down into two types of categories: myofibril and sarcoplasmic. Each of these specific types of muscle hypertrophy will result in increasing size of cells, but not of equal effect. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is focused on increasing the actual size of the muscle, and less on increasing strength. Myofibril hypertrophy will focus more on strength increase and less on an increase in the size of the skeletal muscle"

This.

You are making the muscle you already have stronger. And also by working that muscle while eating in a deficit you will ensure that your body only uses fat to make up the deficit rather than muscle so you should maintain the amount of mass you currently have but your fat will be decreasing. End result = stronger and leaner. Win - win!!

That sounds good to me! Thanks! I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. :happy: