Veteran Gains?

teebirderv8

So I notice the topic of newb gains come up pretty often, with people who are new to working out making pretty significant gains early on.

Does this apply to someone coming back after a significant (2 years) break? I've been lifting for the better part of a decade, although a few years in it became very inconsistent due to lack of time while I was in the military. Even so, I noticed when I'd stop, then come back to it I'd gain weight and strength very quickly. When I shipped off to bootcamp I was an athletic 195lbs. Finished bootcamp at a very skinny 180lbs. I had all the time in the world to train during military school, and I ballooned up to 210 and noticed my strength increasing quickly. When I finally hit my final duty station, I ended up training very inconsistently and hovered around 215 until I separated from the military.

Probably from a combination from stress and divorce trauma, it's been about two years and at my heaviest I ballooned up to over 280lbs. When I started training again consistently I weighed 275, and with about 2 months of training I'm back down to 263. The first 15lbs came off quickly, but now I'm noticing some stagnation on the scale lately. I look significantly better than I did at 275, and I notice sharp increases in performance and strength every week. In the last week I added 20lbs to my military press and 40lbs to my squat. I'm also able to do more reps with calisthenics. My face is getting more gaunt and less chubby, and my clothes feel looser around my waist but tight around my chest. I put on a shirt that I haven't worn in awhile the other day, and I noticed that it fit very loosely, but wasn't long enough anymore.

Does all this point to muscle gain? I'm trying to weigh in all these factors, because on paper it doesn't make sense. I've been maintaining averaging over a 1000 calorie deficit a day. I should be losing weight, not building muscle if that's the case. While I am certainly okay with gaining muscle, 260lbs is much heavier than I want to be. Do I simply have good genetics for gaining muscle?

jseams1234

Possibly. Muscle memory is a very real thing. I deflated because of an illness and lost close to 100 pounds. I was able to put most if back a LOT quicker than if I had never had it before. However, initially in the first couple of months a lot of those gains you are seeing are just CNS adaptations and not really muscle growth... although I'm sure there is some of that too. You will notice when you tap out those CNS adaptations (at least I did) because your strength gains become a lot less linear and you will hit real plateaus.

teebirderv8

It seems like I am getting back muscle!! The is only like 4lbs difference in like 3 weeks!

Keto_Vampire

Yeah, good thing, persistence pays off for when **** hits the fan in life. I took off a solid 6 months or so last year; took me around 2-3 months or so to get back around par. Good luck Bro