Belly getting fat

lzcos

I am trying to gain muscle but instead I find my belly getting bigger. Have maintained base calories. Any advise?

lisakatz2

Have you figured out your maintenance calories, and adjusted accordingly? You don't need a huge surplus to gain muscle.

lzcos

Yes, I know my maintenance calories and did not add too much to it. Belly is getting bigger and faster , as for muscle not much growth

ContraryMaryMary

When doing ab exercises you need to ensure you stomach muscles are not pushing out - you want your belly to be flat when you’re exercising, otherwise you can train them to be in that distended shape. Check your form.

Retroguy2000

It sounds like you are gaining more fat than muscle. Lower your calorie surplus back to maintenance for a few weeks and reassess, then use a smaller surplus next time. You only need a surplus of 100-200 to build. Check your training program, are you doing sufficient volume and going close enough to failure to adapt, and doing progressive overload? Are you getting enough protein to build muscle, at least 0.7g per pound bodyweight?

If you have been tracking your weight that informs your calorie surplus, e.g. if you've gained an average 1 pound per week recently then you're in a daily surplus of nearly 500.

Retroguy2000

To clarify, you can potentially build muscle in a deficit too, but if you're lean and in a surplus, you don't need as many extra calories as the myths promote.