Debunking the Myth

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  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    wow this is amazing.

    all this time, I figured the only way a carbon based life form can grow into a larger, more complex carbon based life form is by acquiring more carbon.

    you have renewed my hope for a perpetual motion machine in our lifetime

    I think we're getting enough total molecules to account for far more gains than can be demonstrated on either side of this argument. It's the utilization that is in question.

    yes, because as anyone can tell you, matter and energy have nothing to do with each other.

    What does that have to do with anything? Is this where we just respond with random arguments with no relevance to the previous statement?

    i hit reply before i was done writing. i edited but you replied before I was done.

    Changes in the gravitational pull as your body goes through recompostion can have an effect on how fat is distributed giving different BF% readings depending on moon phase also.

    one might expect that, if one lacked a fundamental understanding of how the moon's gravity interacts with very large bodies of water to create tides.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    wow this is amazing.

    all this time, I figured the only way a carbon based life form can grow into a larger, more complex carbon based life form is by acquiring more carbon.

    you have renewed my hope for a perpetual motion machine in our lifetime

    I think we're getting enough total molecules to account for far more gains than can be demonstrated on either side of this argument. It's the utilization that is in question.

    yes, because as anyone can tell you, matter and energy have nothing to do with each other.


    has it occured to you that if you change "utilization", the person in question will exhale more carbon dioxide? carbon goes in as part of a more complex molecule (fat, protein, or carb), carbon goes out as CO2. The energy released by the change powers critters. That's what a lot of us heterotrophs are up to here on planet earth.

    LOL

    *sigh*

    Best of luck in your search for that forest. You might want to stop staring at those individual trees so intently and walk out into a nearby field.

    TL;DR - you are missing the point. Alternatively, you're so smart that I can't understand what you're trying to say (or how it is relevant to the current topic).

    I am actually at this point unsure of who is saying what.

    All I'm doing is laying down the similarity between a human and an amoeba. Maybe you are so used to living in a world with unlimited food to notice, but life on this planet is basically a struggle to collect carbon and try to hold it all together in a pile.

    If anything, you should be accusing me of missing the trees for the forest.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    wow this is amazing.

    all this time, I figured the only way a carbon based life form can grow into a larger, more complex carbon based life form is by acquiring more carbon.

    you have renewed my hope for a perpetual motion machine in our lifetime

    I think we're getting enough total molecules to account for far more gains than can be demonstrated on either side of this argument. It's the utilization that is in question.

    yes, because as anyone can tell you, matter and energy have nothing to do with each other.


    has it occured to you that if you change "utilization", the person in question will exhale more carbon dioxide? carbon goes in as part of a more complex molecule (fat, protein, or carb), carbon goes out as CO2. The energy released by the change powers critters. That's what a lot of us heterotrophs are up to here on planet earth.

    LOL

    *sigh*

    Best of luck in your search for that forest. You might want to stop staring at those individual trees so intently and walk out into a nearby field.

    TL;DR - you are missing the point. Alternatively, you're so smart that I can't understand what you're trying to say (or how it is relevant to the current topic).

    I am actually at this point unsure of who is saying what.

    This is one of the most legit statements in this thread.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I am 155 pounds with a BF% somewhere between 7-9%. I work construction, have a 3 year old and an infant, don't sit down for about 14 straight hours every day and workout hard 4 times a week. I average a net intake of around 2200 calories. You guys tell me whether it should be possible to gain muscle mass with these specs based on your conventional wisdom. I bench 225, squat 285, curl 45's, and OHP 185. I have clear definition and well developed musculature. I am far from a noob. I cant explain why it is that this works for me, all I am saying is it does.

    Sure a 140 lb of LBM for sedentary TDEE (you state net intake of 2200 calories above) is possible.

    But really depends on what you are figuring for calorie burn on your exercise to come to NET figures.

    If say you are calculating your calorie burn for weight lifting using a HRM, then you are getting inflated burn values.

    That means your NET is actually higher than you think.

    Depending on logging ability and weighing food rather than less accurate measuring - you might easily be eating more than you think, and than measuring vs weighing will inflate values even more when you eat more.

    Also depends on how you handle that active work day in your calcs or logging.
    Mifflin BMR around 1650 and sedentary as base is right at 2100 non-exercise TDEE. Now, that would be low for active workday included.
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    ok, i admit it. i've lost track of who is talking to who. i'm outta here...

    post-18511-i-m-outta-here-mlkshk-91ab.gif
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Does anybody have cliffs and can anyone tell me what OPs weight has done and in what time frame?
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Inaccurate calorie logging and overestimation of calorie burns. I've been there myself. Unless (of course) there are hormonal issues at play.
    I disagree. Hormonal issues merely change the 'calories out' side :).
    CI vs CO isn't even biology, it's basics physics.
    (I will accept water weight, however :) ).

    Here is some 'evidence' of fat loss and strength gain together:
    http://rippedbody.jp/english/results-english/

    From my own experience, it certainly feels that with 'noob gains' (coming back from having lifting before, even recently with a 6 month gap - now hitting new 1RM highs), it's not that hard to do both, at least initially.

    I am using the 'lean gains' approach that Andy Morgan of the above site follows.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Does anybody have cliffs and can anyone tell me what OPs weight has done and in what time frame?

    The OP posted this if it helps:
    I am 155 pounds with a BF% somewhere between 7-9%. I work construction, have a 3 year old and an infant, don't sit down for about 14 straight hours every day and workout hard 4 times a week. I average a net intake of around 2200 calories. You guys tell me whether it should be possible to gain muscle mass with these specs based on your conventional wisdom. I bench 225, squat 285, curl 45's, and OHP 185. I have clear definition and well developed musculature. I am far from a noob. I cant explain why it is that this works for me, all I am saying is it does.

    And to answer your serious question; I am about as knowledgable as you'll find in this forum. If there's one thing you can't question, it's my grasp of the concepts and terms discussed and professed herein. I am also willing to challenge them occasionally.

    Not sure about exact time frame and weight changes/measurements. Just know this was an experiment done in a 2 year time frame? It's a really confusing thread. :laugh:


    ETA: Oh, here's another post they made with a time frame
    Fine. You guys are forcing me to get more specific. So here I go:

    1) I am about as accurate a logger as there is. I track everything down to the gram. Unless its the occasional cheat meal, if it's not weighed and portioned, it doesn't go in my mouth.

    2) My BF% has not decreased in over a year. I have been lean to the point of definition, vascularity and striations for over a year, my change in appearance is only due to muscle gain, not increased defintion due to fat loss.

    3) I never said that I haven't gained weight. I have gained 6-7 lbs. of lean muscle in the last 8 months while maintaining BF%

    4) I'm not making newbie gains. I am 40 years old and have lifted weights off and on for 25 years.

    5) My TDEE is only as accurate as what MFP and FItbit tell me. So I can't argue with the fact that my TDEE is less than what I'm being told. But if that's the case, how did I successfully lose weight based on the same calculator.

    What I believe is happening is that by maintaining a slight deficit and lifting with super high intensity, I am forcing my body to use whatever it can to rebuild muscle. I fully understand the science behind hypertrophy and being in an anabolic state, so I can't tell you scientifically why this has been working for me, but the proof is in the pudding. I don't like putting pictures of myself online, so youre; just going to have to take my word for it.
  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
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    Does anybody have cliffs and can anyone tell me what OPs weight has done and in what time frame?

    Op believes he is an advanced lifter with no noob gains left to have (cannot bench 285? as advanced lol)

    "2 years of experimention "

    "I can just tell you that I net under my TDEE every week, and every week I get bigger, stronger, and more defined"
    "I have gained 6-7 lbs. of lean muscle in the last 8 months while maintaining BF% "

    Conclusion:

    OP disproved the law of conservation of energy

    Champagne has been broken out world wide.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Does anybody have cliffs and can anyone tell me what OPs weight has done and in what time frame?

    Op believes he is an advanced lifter with no noob gains left to have (cannot bench 285? as advanced lol)

    "2 years of experimention "

    "I can just tell you that I net under my TDEE every week, and every week I get bigger, stronger, and more defined"
    "I have gained 6-7 lbs. of lean muscle in the last 8 months while maintaining BF% "

    Conclusion:

    OP disproved the law of conservation of energy

    Champagne has been broken out world wide.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • RivenV
    RivenV Posts: 1,667 Member
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    3) I never said that I haven't gained weight. I have gained 6-7 lbs. of lean muscle in the last 8 months while maintaining BF%

    If you didn't lose weight, you are not eating below TDEE.

    If you gained weight - which is what you appear to saying - you are actually eating above TDEE.

    If you gained weight while maintaining the same body fat %age, you gained some fat.

    Serious question - are you sure you know what these terms mean?

    I am 155 pounds with a BF% somewhere between 7-9%. I work construction, have a 3 year old and an infant, don't sit down for about 14 straight hours every day and workout hard 4 times a week. I average a net intake of around 2200 calories. You guys tell me whether it should be possible to gain muscle mass with these specs based on your conventional wisdom. I bench 225, squat 285, curl 45's, and OHP 185. I have clear definition and well developed musculature. I am far from a noob. I cant explain why it is that this works for me, all I am saying is it does.

    And to answer your serious question; I am about as knowledgable as you'll find in this forum. If there's one thing you can't question, it's my grasp of the concepts and terms discussed and professed herein. I am also willing to challenge them occasionally.

    i'm an astronaut and a famous rock star and a professional baseball player and a military general and also a CEO of a fortune 500 company. you'll just have to take my word for all of that... but it's ok, this is the internet. nobody exaggerates on the internet. that would be against the law.

    tumblr_mx5j7q6HfW1s76756o1_500.gif
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I don't see what the fuss is about.


    OP:

    Your average caloric intake based on what is logged has been in the neighborhood of 2550 calories over the past year. Roughly consistent with your 2 month average as well.

    If you've gained a small amount of weight and maintained the same bodyfat%, congrats on your bulk. You're eating just slightly above TDEE at that caloric load which is perfectly reasonable for an active ~150lb male.
  • 1mountainmama
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    W
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I don't see what the fuss is about.


    OP:

    Your average caloric intake based on what is logged has been in the neighborhood of 2550 calories over the past year. Roughly consistent with your 2 month average as well.

    If you've gained a small amount of weight and maintained the same bodyfat%, congrats on your bulk. You're eating just slightly above TDEE at that caloric load which is perfectly reasonable for an active ~150lb male.

    I am not sure how gravitation pull, amoebas and moon phases got into it, but the "fuss" is from the claim that the OP has 'debunked the myth that you cannot gain muscle on a deficit' by adding about a lb a muscle a month for 7 months as an experienced lifter...while actually gaining weight and providing no explanation even for how the BF% was estimated.
  • mattbell007
    mattbell007 Posts: 45 Member
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    Quote: I don't think the body can metabolize 1/3 lb of fat/day. and if it did it would be for life sustaining functions and others such as hair, skin, nails, before it would go into building muscle mass.

    The body will do what it needs to do as best it can to meet the demands placed on it. If you work hard enough to give your body the idea that it needs to build muscle, and then give it (or have on hand) enough resources to do so, it will do it. If it has a percieved demand, and resources available to do it, it will use whatever resources it has (including fat stores) that are available to meet the need. After all, what is the purpose of fat stores, anyway? Answer: to use when there is a calorie need but not enough calorie intake.

    Cavemen had to work hard even when there wasn't plenty of food around, so their bodies stored fat when the calories exceeded the need so they could survive the times when calorie intake didn't meet the need.

    If a body perceives a need for more muscle, has enough protein, and has enough calories, it will build muscle. Although the body doesn't turn fat into muscle, there is no reason it cannot use stored fat for energy to support the building of muscle, even when calorie intake isn't sufficient to support the need all by itself. Ergo, you CAN build muscle and lose fat at the same time, and you CAN do it at a calorie intake deficit.

    Note that I did not say that you can do it at a total calorie deficit, only at a calorie intake deficit. If you have no stored fat and you eat at a deficit, your body will then not have the resources to meet its perceived need, and you won't get more muscle.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    The original poster said they lost 67 lbs of fat.

    Where did the OP state that?

    The OP didn't. That was from the thread hijacker.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Inaccurate calorie logging and overestimation of calorie burns. I've been there myself. Unless (of course) there are hormonal issues at play.
    I disagree. Hormonal issues merely change the 'calories out' side :).
    CI vs CO isn't even biology, it's basics physics.
    (I will accept water weight, however :) ).

    Here is some 'evidence' of fat loss and strength gain together:
    http://rippedbody.jp/english/results-english/

    From my own experience, it certainly feels that with 'noob gains' (coming back from having lifting before, even recently with a 6 month gap - now hitting new 1RM highs), it's not that hard to do both, at least initially.

    I am using the 'lean gains' approach that Andy Morgan of the above site follows.

    I wasn't talking to the OP. This is all getting way too confusing as there are 3 different conversations going on. LOL
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Although the body doesn't turn fat into muscle, there is no reason it cannot use stored fat for energy to support the building of muscle, even when calorie intake isn't sufficient to support the need all by itself.

    It's not just about "energy", it's about metabolic pathways. Energy sources aren't fungible - If energy is in Place A and is needed in Place B but there is no mechanism to get it there, it may as well not be there. And unfortunately, nobody has been able to demonstrate a direct path from metabolization of fat stores to creation of muscle fibres.

    While I'm fine with the notion that some people, under some pretty specific conditions, can add a little lean mass while under a caloric deficit, that doesn't change the basic reality that most people, most of the time, won't. It is a 99% safe assumption that a dieter is mistaken when they claim a number of pounds of muscle mass gained while on a deficit.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    congratulations OP ..you have proved nothing…
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    I don't see what the fuss is about.


    OP:

    Your average caloric intake based on what is logged has been in the neighborhood of 2550 calories over the past year. Roughly consistent with your 2 month average as well.

    If you've gained a small amount of weight and maintained the same bodyfat%, congrats on your bulk. You're eating just slightly above TDEE at that caloric load which is perfectly reasonable for an active ~150lb male.

    I am not sure how gravitation pull, amoebas and moon phases got into it, but the "fuss" is from the claim that the OP has 'debunked the myth that you cannot gain muscle on a deficit' by adding about a lb a muscle a month for 7 months as an experienced lifter...while actually gaining weight and providing no explanation even for how the BF% was estimated.

    I only brought up amoebas while trying to say, apparently unsuccessfully, that all that energy we talk about comes from actual stuff going in our bodies and actual stuff coming out of them. Something might go in as a solid and come out as a gas, which is I think why people have such crazy ideas about all this. Because only a very small portion of those gases are of the variety detectable by your nose. So it's kinda like magic.

    I feel like it's easy to fool yourself about ENERGY. Is it even real? MAGIC. But if we express (theoretically anyway) weight change as accumulation or loss of the mettle that holds the energy, it's a bit more "real". To me, anyway. But hey, I'm a bit odd.