How to know if weight gain is muscle?

MrBiggiesworth

If I am lifting heavy on my lifting days and giving adequate recovery time is it logical to think that my weight gain during this time is largely muscle mass? I've gained about 5 lbs since early June.

Fithealthyforlife

That's right in line with ~0.5 lbs per week, which is supposed to amount to almost totally muscle gain. But you'll have to take a body fat percentage to get a better estimate.

rgrange

Get calipers and keep track of your body fat percentage

LJCannon

:drinker: bump

AlongCame_Molly

By taking measurements

laurynwithawhy

Calorie Surplus + lifting heavy, probably mostly muscle, or water and muscle. But as other said, if your bodyfat has not increased, then your weight gain was not fat.

FP4HSharon

Scale that does body fat percentage, but to make as accurate as possible...

1. Do before bed so you're well hydrated.
2. Don't work out 12 hours before getting on the scale.
3. Don't eat/drink anything, not even water 4 hours before getting on the scale.
BUT
4. Hydrate like crazy before the 4 hr cut off.
5. Don't shower before weighing, as even a little moisture can affect the reading.

When I was at my lowest body fat (14%), I actually weighed 6 lbs MORE than when it was a little higher, because of muscle.

grantdumas7

Calipers would be your best bet. I know calipers are not as accurate in reading true bf as hydrostatic weighing or dexa, but calipers are cheap and you can track your progress easy. Here is a good video on why calipers are useful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAcvqDld2h0

SideSteel

I'm going to go against the grain here.

With the inaccuracies associated with body fat assessment I would instead just make sure you are doing things intelligently with your training and diet and trust that you are gaining muscle along with some fat.

Are your lifts going up?
Are you eating a reasonable amount of calories with a reasonable protein intake for your goals?
Are you training with reasonable volume for hypertrophy while getting stronger?


Then you're probably gaining muscle. You're probably gaining some fat too.

ninerbuff

Just lifting heavy doesn't build muscle. Reps and sets matter. And practically no surplus won't involve fat gain to an extent.
Building muscle isn't as easy as some try to make it sound. Nurtrition, rest, exercise and hormones have to be in sync for maximizing.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

etoiles_argentees

Just lifting heavy doesn't build muscle. Reps and sets matter. And practically no surplus won't involve fat gain to an extent.
Building muscle isn't as easy as some try to make it sound. Nurtrition, rest, exercise and hormones have to be in sync for maximizing.

This, and a mirror.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Warchortle

Obviously if you're a bro it's 100% muscle gainnzzz

If you're not... no one can answer that for you because it really depends on so many things.

Sarauk2sf

It's highly unlikely that it is all muscle. It could be a combination of fluid retention, muscle and fat, depending on a number of factors, including, your age, how long you have been lifting for, the size of the surplus you are eating at etc.

How long have you been lifting for?

Unknown

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the_dude00

IDK.. your age, but once you're 'grown up' - which I'd call past age 22 to 24, it is nearly impossible to gain more than 15 pounds of Lean Muscle in a year (and 15 would be a lot & w./o the use of Steroids / GH). I would imagine you're gains are a combination of mostly Fluid, Muscle, then fat.

If you are adding weight consistently to your lifts that's about all you can do, and it should work out for you.

torjunk12

It's all about the eye test, if you're looking more muscular, isn't that what matters? If you don't think you're looking bigger, and that's what you're going for, you may want to investigate eating habits (are you hitting your macros?) or the varying strength training techniques (building mass is not the same as building strength, etc.) to help you gain that mass you're looking for!

As far as just wanting an accurate gauge, I'd suggest myotape measurements & body caliper (cheap on Amazon.com, about 6 bucks) multiple site measurements every 3-4 weeks. Good luck!

reegordon

**bump**

takumaku

I would suggest calling and asking your primary care physican if they have a body fat machine. My primary tracks mine because I'm on replacement therapy ...

Sarauk2sf

I've been lifting regularly for almost two years now, but only heavy lifting for the last 2-3 months.
I do about 3 sets of 6-10 reps(to failure) per exercise, and I do 3 to 4 exercises for each targeted muscle, so around 9 to 12 sets for each targeted muscle in all.
I have been getting progressively stronger through the summer but only a little bit.
My measurements haven't changed much.
Before this summer I was not lifting as heavy on a regular basis and would do as many as 20 reps before failure. I have also limited cardio from everytime I exercise down to my in between days.

Are you trying to lose body fat or are you trying to bulk? Have you changed your caloric intake over the period?

Unknown

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Sarauk2sf

I've been lifting regularly for almost two years now, but only heavy lifting for the last 2-3 months.
I do about 3 sets of 6-10 reps(to failure) per exercise, and I do 3 to 4 exercises for each targeted muscle, so around 9 to 12 sets for each targeted muscle in all.
I have been getting progressively stronger through the summer but only a little bit.
My measurements haven't changed much.
Before this summer I was not lifting as heavy on a regular basis and would do as many as 20 reps before failure. I have also limited cardio from everytime I exercise down to my in between days.

Are you trying to lose body fat or are you trying to bulk? Have you changed your caloric intake over the period?

I have been trying to bulk up this summer while before I was going for weight loss. I have not really changed calorie intake but I have lowered the amount of cardio I do by quite a bit so I always am eating more than I burn off.

As you do not have 'newbie' gains (or at least I would not expect much as you did lift before albeit in a higher rep range), a small amount may be muscle but the rest will probably be a combination of fat and water/glycogen.

Chadomaniac

Fat + muscle