Inconsistent newbie gains? Or lack thereof.

collectingblues

I'm confused.

After seeing undesirable growth in my quads/glutes (I liked my pancake *kitten* before, and don't want a round butt -- I get that I'm an anomaly, and that's fine), and being incredibly triggered by needing to buy larger shorts/pants/none of my size 4s fitting anymore -- because having a size increase while learning to trust calories is the absolute *last* thing that I need -- I switched to upper body work for lifting, with the exception of still doing lunges and step-ups. I simply swapped in bench pressing and barbell raises for the deadlifts and squats. (I still run, swim, do barre, spin, etc. Cardio has remained a constant.)

Since then, my arms have lost 1/2 an inch in circumference.

WTF?

Now, I know newbie gains were to be expected, and that was the driver for the quad/glute increase -- so I know in theory, that backing off from lower body training should see that size go down over time.

And I know that lifting in a deficit will drop the fat (and I hate that spot reduction isn't a thing, because my arms didn't have it to lose, but my waist certainly does).

But why, if I saw newbie gains in my quads/glutes, why aren't those happening in my arms?

sardelsa

It could be a variety of factors at play... different muscles will respond differently and some may grow at faster rate than others, type of training you are doing (especially if you are doing more lower body stuff like spin), the size of the muscle and how much water it holds (so lower body will hold on to water way more than upper body, which can account for some size increases) also muscle memory, genetics, etc.

Just keep in mind, if you back off from lower body, there is a good chance you will lose muscle there and lose some shape in your glutes as you continue in a deficit.

sardelsa

Also to add.. over time you should see size decreases in your lower body.. the amount of muscle gained in a deficit as new lifter will be minimal and not likely to make a huge difference in size once the fat is lost. Even from one bulk/cut cycle to the next, I don't put on enough muscle to completely outgrow all my clothing.

collectingblues

sardelsa wrote: »

It could be a variety of factors at play... different muscles will respond differently and some may grow at faster rate than others, type of training you are doing (especially if you are doing more lower body stuff like spin), the size of the muscle and how much water it holds (so lower body will hold on to water way more than upper body, which can account for some size increases) also muscle memory, genetics, etc.

Just keep in mind, if you back off from lower body, there is a good chance you will lose muscle there and lose some shape in your glutes as you continue in a deficit.

Would that muscle loss still continue if I keep doing spin/barre/running? I'm still doing those activities, but I really can't handle the mindfucks that come even from a "temporary" gain... (Also at 20% BF, so since spot reducing isn't a thing, I don't know how to get rid of any remaining fat on my glutes to offset any gains.)

Losing shape is OK. I just can't handle them getting bigger.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

yeah it could be genetics. I have been maintaining for about 3-4 months and notice that the bottom half of me is seeing improvement where the upper half is not seeing as much. my arms have always been the smallest part of me,still are. 5 years later and Im spinning my wheels when it comes to my arms. seems like nothing is happening. .so dont feel bad you arent alone.

sardelsa

collectingblues wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

It could be a variety of factors at play... different muscles will respond differently and some may grow at faster rate than others, type of training you are doing (especially if you are doing more lower body stuff like spin), the size of the muscle and how much water it holds (so lower body will hold on to water way more than upper body, which can account for some size increases) also muscle memory, genetics, etc.

Just keep in mind, if you back off from lower body, there is a good chance you will lose muscle there and lose some shape in your glutes as you continue in a deficit.

Would that muscle loss still continue if I keep doing spin/barre/running? I'm still doing those activities, but I really can't handle the mindfucks that come even from a "temporary" gain... (Also at 20% BF, so since spot reducing isn't a thing, I don't know how to get rid of any remaining fat on my glutes to offset any gains.)

You may lose less muscle by stimulating them, but you won't retain as much if you were doing progressive lifting.

You will have temporary gain from anything... lifting, extra exercise, stress, sodium, extra food, extra water, TOM. If you can't handle it then maybe staying off the scale is best.

If you are at 20%, you really don't have much fat to lose unless you are thinking about competing or something, so loss will be slow, and if you don't have the muscle base to support being under 20% you may actually not look much different than you do now. Is recomp an option for you?

collectingblues

I've gotten better about accepting scale fluctuations, but it's really the actual tape measurements that are more of an issue.

I'm up about 1.5-3 inches from my previous low point, and unfortunately, while it's not a visual that would be obvious to other people, it's *right* at that point where clothing sizes change. I went from 33.2-27-33.5 to my current 34.75-29.5-35.5. Before starting to lift, that hip measurement was sitting around 34.5/35ish.

I'm not at a comfortable place to recomp yet. I gained some significant fluid weight and measurements from being undermedicated for my hypothyroid for a year (I've maintained a calorie deficit during that time -- lab-tested RMR, meticulous logging, and confirmation from my endo and dietitian that yup, it's fluid). I'd like to shove about 10-15 pounds of this back off before considering recomp. (Went from 118/119 to 135, and had my lowest measurements at 124.) I'd be wiling to consider it at 124/125ish, since that's where my previous measurements were, but I need to see those scale losses first before settling in at maintenance calories. My endocrinologist said I should see the fluid start to dissipate 3-4 weeks after the dose fully stabilizes -- so looking at early to mid-July for that...

My dietitian had suggested strength training to see if it would help redistribute those gains while we wait for the new meds to get in place, but it was pretty disheartening to see all the gains in my thighs/lower hips, and thus making the clothing issue worse.

sardelsa

Sounds like it could be fluid retention which is made more significant with lifting. Maybe back off from the lifting if that helps, but just know that you may lose more muscle that way. Again if your goal is to fit into your clothes again, that may be more important to you, especially mentally.

How tall are you?

collectingblues

I'm 5'4.4".

Yeah -- the goal really is to keep the clothes fitting, while I'm accepting that eating "normal" amounts won't make things worse. That's why I'd switched primarily to upper body -- figuring that OK, we're coming into summer, so if my arms grew, then cool, I could live with that.

But then they didn't -- and, to the contrary, they're now *right* above the cutoff that WHO uses to determine under/malnutrition in adults, and going down anymore will take me below that cutoff -- which was what led to the "OK, this is weird, what gives?" thing...