Im burning fat and building muscle, can this last?

Azdak

Numbers coming from fancy scale at my trainers office. Where you stand on it and hold two bars coming off, and it measures each part of the body; right leg, left leg, trunk, left arm, right arm. Spits out bmi, bfp, water weight, lean muscle, fat, etc.

I don't adjust my food down to compensate for exercise either, but on strong workout days I will eat an extra 200 calories sometimes.

I started the first couple months just eating less and eating healthier, then started doing regimented workouts, and saw better, faster results, then cranked it up and started really making my calories count and working with a trainer. My numbers going down have decreased significantly, but I'm stronger and my wife told me the other day "I don't like that you're getting defined muscles". Anybody want to guess why it was so easy for me to gain weight?

Yeah, those BIA devices are common and are laughable. Mine shows my muscle increasing or decreasing 5+ lbs on any given day. So no, don't waste your time with those numbers. That doesn't mean you should do anything differently, dropping the fat and getting stronger is perfect.

Not all BIA devices are alike. The model he is describing is qualitatively different (and better) than what people have at home.

shor0814

As a PT myself, the fancy scale isn't as accurate as you think it may be. We have one and just out of curiosity, I weighed and checked myself before a workout, then checked after..................and somehow it said I gained muscle. My weight went up a pound (from drinking water) and of course my muscles were "pumped up", but there's no way I gained muscle since working out actually tears it down.
Losing fat and building muscle (recomp) is a LONG and arduous process. Not to burst your bubble, but don't believe everything your PT is telling you.

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

It sounds like an InBody Analyzer. I did some research because I saw the same thing myself. These models are pretty darned accurate for one thing, determining body fat %. The OP is dropping fat% and becoming leaner but the scale lumps everything that isn't fat into the muscle category including, you guessed it, water weight. It is a pretty good tool for fat loss and determining muscle balance.

To the OP, if it is an InBody scale, you can get a better idea of muscle gain by charting over time (Lean Body Mass - Total Body Water) and you will probably see a flat or wavy line with maybe a small positive slope but nothing statistically significant.

wonderwoman234

Could very well be an error in measurement, but its been several weeks of this, and it seems strange that I would ramp up my strength training and yet slow down my weight loss at the same time. My chart was at a 45 degree angle going down and has leveled off, yet I'm eating better than ever before and working out more than ever before.

The only logical conclusion is that I am building muscle.

People that are new to lifting and overweight can add some muscle while in a deficit. Adding 2 pounds in a week, or even in a month, is probably not.

This will not last though so enjoy it while you can. Be prepared for it to taper off in a couple of months.

THIS. In spite of what some folks say, if you are new to strength training and eating at a deficit, you CAN gain muscle mass. There is research to back it up. However, it can only last 6-9 months and then it is pretty much impossible to gain any more eating at a deficit.

However, if you have been strength training for a while, it is unlikely you are gaining muscle mass on a deficit. As others have said, it is hard to add muscle mass. I read research recently that found that the body can only grow 1 OUNCE of new muscle each day AT MOST. So it is possible to gain 7 ounces of muscle in a week if you are training optimally (which you probably aren't...no offense) so there is no way you or anyone else can gain 2 pounds of muscle in a week. It's probably fat, glycogen and water retention.

Using a scale to measure body composition is not accurate. I would get tested using more reliable methods such as calipers or water submersion.

oinkerjnn

Numbers coming from fancy scale at my trainers office. Where you stand on it and hold two bars coming off, and it measures each part of the body; right leg, left leg, trunk, left arm, right arm. Spits out bmi, bfp, water weight, lean muscle, fat, etc.

I don't adjust my food down to compensate for exercise either, but on strong workout days I will eat an extra 200 calories sometimes.

I started the first couple months just eating less and eating healthier, then started doing regimented workouts, and saw better, faster results, then cranked it up and started really making my calories count and working with a trainer. My numbers going down have decreased significantly, but I'm stronger and my wife told me the other day "I don't like that you're getting defined muscles". Anybody want to guess why it was so easy for me to gain weight?

Yeah, those BIA devices are common and are laughable. Mine shows my muscle increasing or decreasing 5+ lbs on any given day. So no, don't waste your time with those numbers. That doesn't mean you should do anything differently, dropping the fat and getting stronger is perfect.

Not all BIA devices are alike. The model he is describing is qualitatively different (and better) than what people have at home.

The machine I'm "weighing" on once a week is around $5000. I was going to buy one on amazon, but didn't feel like dropping a grand on it,and. That seems to be the cutoff for anything worth a darn. So I figured I'd spend the money on a Trainer instead and get some workout coaching too.

I have a cheap digital scale I used to weigh on daily, now I have scaled back (pun intended) to a couple times a week.

I am new to regimented lifting for sure. I've always been active, always played sports. Went through a Gym rat phase for a while years ago but never hit the free weights. Strictly machines (with nowhere near enough weight) and cardio at the time.

Six to nine months of this will be just fine. I'm two thirds to my goal (and fully intend on reaching it by October), but I feel so good I will probably continue to lift and work out regularly once that time comes. I don't really know what will happen to my diet at that point, I've always eaten healthy food for the most part, I just got way carried away on portion size and eating for sport. I refuse the use the phrase "addictive personality" but I feel so much better working out on a regular basis and eating right that I don't see myself slowing down.

oinkerjnn

Im very numbers oriented, so its tough as I get closer To my goals to see my numbers suffer, despite the fact I'm feeling stronger and better every day.

They aren't suffering per se, I'm still hitting my targets, but I was exceeding them for a period of time. Once I exceed a goal, I like to set a new higher goal, not treat it like a fluke and go back to the same goal.

Except that there was a lot of "noise" in those numbers so it is problematic to use them as a reference. That's a decent model for that type of scale, but it would still not recommend too frequent readings, unless you are prepared to deal with the variability. Those aren't precise readings, they are affected by hydration status. They are best used to show general trends over time.

I weigh at the same time each week and try to eat and drink the same thing prior. Weigh in is 11:00 in the morning, so while I can eat the same breakfast I can't control my eater intake. Well, I guess I can, but it is silly to walk into a workout dehydrated to inflate your results. The fancy scale shows both intercellular and extra cellular water too though.

mustgetmuscles1

Im very numbers oriented, so its tough as I get closer To my goals to see my numbers suffer, despite the fact I'm feeling stronger and better every day.

They aren't suffering per se, I'm still hitting my targets, but I was exceeding them for a period of time. Once I exceed a goal, I like to set a new higher goal, not treat it like a fluke and go back to the same goal.

Except that there was a lot of "noise" in those numbers so it is problematic to use them as a reference. That's a decent model for that type of scale, but it would still not recommend too frequent readings, unless you are prepared to deal with the variability. Those aren't precise readings, they are affected by hydration status. They are best used to show general trends over time.

I weigh at the same time each week and try to eat and drink the same thing prior. Weigh in is 11:00 in the morning, so while I can eat the same breakfast I can't control my eater intake. Well, I guess I can, but it is silly to walk into a workout dehydrated to inflate your results. The fancy scale shows both intercellular and extra cellular water too though.

Except it showed you that you gained 2 pounds of muscle in a week.... :noway: .SO it is pretty much worthless to use as a short term indicator.

Its very hard to argue about how accurate the instrument might be after that.

mayfrayy

a lot of people think you cant gain muscle and lose fat, and cite bodybuilders as an example which is beyond ridiculous because as everyone should know gaining muscle as a beginner (especially with more body fat) is easier than a person at or near there limit (ie bodybuilder)

the more fat you have, the easier this is as long as you stay near maintenance and understand it will be slow fat loss/muscle gain.

I don't know if you are actually gaining muscle, strength != muscle and any sort of bf device like that wont be accurate, but in theory you can.

As for how long you can do it, most likely forever, being slower the lower your BF gets.

Scooby http://scoobysworkshop.com/gain-muscle-lose-fat/ is one of the biggest proponents on the internet about gaining msucle and losing fat. I think he is a total douche and biochem isn't my forte, but it is definitely possible to an extent.

This article talks about what happens to the energy from the fat cell (FFA)
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/what-happens-when-fat-is-burned.html

the human body is a marvelous thing, and the law of conservation of energy applies.

Personally, as a beginner, I can do it (and tell via multiple measurements and progressively loading weights).

Edit: a lot of people only do cardio when losing fat, so they obviously will never be able to gain muscle.