Question About Building Muscle

mooz

I've read a few posts on here where people have said you can't/won't gain muscle if you're in a calorie deficit. Can someone explain that to me please.

Background to the question: I'd MUCH rather lift weights than do cardio. Hands down. I prefer it. I'm on a low carb/high protein/mid-fat eating plan. With the high protein diet I am eating A LOT less than usual but because I'm eating so much protein wouldn't that help with muscle development?

Am I wasting my time right now lifting weights? Will I see any results?

FabulousFifty

My 2 cents:
Not an expert..............but, believe you need a total body workout. My son is in the military (sorry, proud mom here! :blushing: ) and he eats alot like you do, but he balances his workout. He has cardio at least 5 times a week to burn fat and keep his heart healthy. Then he does upper and lower body workouts with weights varying each day. He says your muscles need to rest to recoup and rebuild. It makes you stronger. If you could see him, you would believe him! He is in amazing shape. He was a skinny 18 year old (150 lbs, 5' 10") 4 years ago. He is now at 172 (finally outweighs his mom) and has a very low BMI.....He believes in a total body workout.!
That's my 2 cents and hope it helps! Good luck on your journey and congrats on your progress! So far, just great! :happy: :drinker:

mm3898

As a certified personal trainer from the YMCA (not the BEST certification, but I learned some) I would say that FabFifty is right: Do a total body workout... I never believed in weight training when I was skinny (5'1'' and 100 lbs at 18) but now that I am heavier (5'1'' and 149 lbs at about 22) I believe in it totally... it makes me feel better and feel strong and energetic... BUT I would never be able to lose weight without cardio... or be able to be more calm and collected, because cardio for me makes me feel so much more calm and in control. Best of luck and feel free to friend me!

xoxo
Maggie

mooz

I gave the wrong impression...I AM doing cardio too. I do an hour a day.

My question really is ... I want to gain muscle - am I wasting time lifting now since I still have weight to lose??

lizzys

yes protein, builds muscle look at, bruce lee. but you really need both . you should do muscle one day and cardio the next or both together you will learn to love tham both but i do belive muscle is the best that is what make the cardio work so good

canstey

I gave the wrong impression...I AM doing cardio too. I do an hour a day.

My question really is ... I want to gain muscle - am I wasting time lifting now since I still have weight to lose??

From what I have read on the subject, you won't gain muscle but you are also not wasting your time. You don't need to gain muscle to become stronger. You make the muscle fibers you already have more efficient and effective. I am definitely stronger than I was and have probably actually lost a little muscle mass from losing weight. Also if you have not been working out for years, you will appear to gain muscle size as the muscles you already have fill with water from finally being pushed hard again from their previously mostly dormant state.

Strength training is very useful even if you don't actually gain muscle mass. There are many studies out there that indicate strength training reduces the impact of aging while aerobic exercise did not.

iplayoutside19

I gave the wrong impression...I AM doing cardio too. I do an hour a day.

My question really is ... I want to gain muscle - am I wasting time lifting now since I still have weight to lose??

From what I have read on the subject, you won't gain muscle but you are also not wasting your time. You don't need to gain muscle to become stronger. You make the muscle fibers you already have more efficient and effective. I am definitely stronger than I was and have probably actually lost a little muscle mass from losing weight. Also if you have not been working out for years, you will appear to gain muscle size as the muscles you already have fill with water from finally being pushed hard again from their previously mostly dormant state.

Strength training is very useful even if you don't actually gain muscle mass. There are many studies out there that indicate strength training reduces the impact of aging while aerobic exercise did not.

This is how I understand this concept too. To further answer your question, it's simple physics. The body cannot make something out of nothing. If you're already in a deficit the body has to make up those calories somewhere, so it uses it's own tissue. Even if you're eating mostly protien there is still not enough energy to build anything.

Our bodies do not like to build muscle. Think about back to Captain Caveman times. Since muscle is caloricly expensive to keep going the human body does not like to add more than it has. Captain Caveman didn't exactly know when or how large his next meal was, The body doesn't do anything to make itself need more calories. Readily availible food in this society has only been around for a short amount of time (short in evolutionary standards) Todays human body still doesn't like building muscle. Even though it can certainly be done in a calories surplus.

mooz

Thanks everyone for the replies. I did some reading on the subject last night on some bodybuilding sites and it gave me pretty much the same info. Not the info I was hoping for

But at least I don't feel like I'm wasting my time. It's something I really enjoy and I'll keep at it.