How quickly do people think they gain muscle weight?

BrianJLamb

I might be way off on this, but I don't think that I am. I go through these forums and read what people are posting and it seems crazy to me. People in here, mostly women, will be upset about not dropping weight. They are looking for the scale to tell them that they have lost a pound or two and they are discouraged or upset about it when there is no loss. So often, the responses to these posts are "You are gaining muscle and it weighs more than fat, that is why the scale isnt going down." This seems crazy as hell to me.

I need to find out. What supplements are the women in here taking that they are gaining a pound or two of lean muscle a week? What type of lifting routines do they have? Most of the time, they mention doing some cardio, maybe a Jillian Michaels dvd...so how come they are gaining so much muscle density?

Newfiedan

It totally depends on diet, body type, genetics and what not. I can gain muscle on average 4-5 pounds a month with the right diet and exercise regimen without supplements. Women will tend to gain more muscle in their legs than upper body so there are a lot of factors to consider. If I were using supplements I can put on a lot more muscle in a month.

MissAnjy

Reality is, they are NOT gaining muscle. That kind of muscle gain takes a long time to muster up! If you step on and gain +4lbs overnight, it's not MUSCLE. It's probably water retention, or the fact that you overate. A LOT of people use this as an excuse as to why they gained while forgetting about the slack in their diet. It's a poor excuse but it's a way for people to justify why the scale isn't moving.

ArchyJill

Hmmm...good question, and I know what you mean, but I will say that I know water retention tends to go up (initially) as muscles repair themselves after hard exercise (repair=muscle gain too).

As for myself, about a year ago I got a DEXA scan and it showed I weighed 155 and had 25% overall body fat. Just a few weeks ago I had another DEXA scan and it showed I weighed 161 and had 22% overall body fat.

MeghanAM

I think that the problem is that every time there's a thread like that, people reassure the poster that it's muscle weight. Then the poster will say the same thing to the next person who asks...

sassyg

Not to mention, isn't it exceptionally difficult to build muscle on a caloric deficit anyway?

Mindful_Trent

I might be way off on this, but I don't think that I am. I go through these forums and read what people are posting and it seems crazy to me. People in here, mostly women, will be upset about not dropping weight. They are looking for the scale to tell them that they have lost a pound or two and they are discouraged or upset about it when there is no loss. So often, the responses to these posts are "You are gaining muscle and it weighs more than fat, that is why the scale isnt going down." This seems crazy as hell to me.

I need to find out. What supplements are the women in here taking that they are gaining a pound or two of lean muscle a week? What type of lifting routines do they have? Most of the time, they mention doing some cardio, maybe a Jillian Michaels dvd...so how come they are gaining so much muscle density?

I'm with you. I think the "you're gaining muscle" is WAY overused. Not only are most people on this site in a calorie deficit, which makes it very hard to put on significant lean muscle mass, but even professional bodybuilders take longer than a few weeks to put on noticeable muscle weight. When people say that they've gained muscle after one or two weeks without a loss (while in a calorie deficit and not trying to build muscle), I just have to laugh.

♥_Ellybean_♥

I hate when this advice is given, a lot of times it when someone has only been working out a short time, like a couple of weeks, and I am like seriously?!? .... The reality of it is, women need REASONS why... and that's a good reason, just not the right one.. but hey, we women can convince ourselves anything is true if we really want too.

taiyola

I don't have a clue - but I have put on 4LB, yet lost a few inches off my waist, hips and top hip. That happened within a couple of weeks.

Buckeyt

It totally depends on diet, body type, genetics and what not. I can gain muscle on average 4-5 pounds a month with the right diet and exercise regimen without supplements. Women will tend to gain more muscle in their legs than upper body so there are a lot of factors to consider. If I were using supplements I can put on a lot more muscle in a month.

I'd love to know more specifics on how you can gain 4-5 pounds of muscle a month. I spent about 5 months lifting 3x a week, 45 min. to an hour as heavy as I could, eating 3,000+ calories and maybe gained about 15 pounds of which 6-7 pounds were muscle. How are you eating, what are you lifting. Clearly 4-5 pounds a month is not sustainable for very long.

Tim

hpsnickers1

This is so true. I used to believe it. But I also believed women could "bulk up". Diet and cardio exercise can cause you to lose muscle mass along with fat.

Strength training and upping your protein might not even be enough to keep from losing some muscle mass but I'm hopeful it helps. Unless you start heavy weight lifting there is no muscle gain.

I just did Day 1 of P90X. I was doing Jillian's No More Trouble Zones with 3lb weights and though I was working out. No, I wasn't

Naomi91

COmpletely agreee!!! I lift heavy weights leading to failure, and get at least 140g of protein. Im having so much trouble attempting to gain muscle with reduced calorie. So one step at a time fat loss then ill focus on mah muscles

BrianJLamb

Thank you...all these responses are directly to my point. I don't lift a lot, but when I have lifted, I NEVER gained multiple pounds of muscle in a month. I mean, think about a 1 pound steak and then think about adding that much meat to your body as lean mass. That is a pretty tough feat, especially when you are doing cardio and lowballing on calories or taking in calories comprised of cheetos and bacon bits.

Someone needs to step up here and tell the truth to whoever is asking. I can't be the one, because a dude who steps into a forum and tries to debunk the 'your putting on muscle' myth is definitely going to get flamed. Some of you women in the know need to be the bearers of bad news. Sometimes we work hard, and it isnt hard enough. Sometimes we sacrifice and we might need to sacrifice more.

Naomi91

I will definately volunteer. I have experience with trying to put on muscle with low calories. Doesnt work like that.

hpsnickers1

I don't have a clue - but I have put on 4LB, yet lost a few inches off my waist, hips and top hip. That happened within a couple of weeks.

Took a quick peep at your diary. It's what you are eating. I went back a couple of weeks and everything is boxed, processed or canned. Weight loss is 80% diet and I mean the type of food, not just how much food. It's more than just restricting calories. It's about eating the right things.

Vegetables (I buy mine frozen when I can't get them fresh), fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, low fat or fat free dairy and lots and lots of water. I do eat things out of a box but most of my food consists of real food. I have protein powder and protein bars and dinner is sometimes out of a box but I do my best to eat real foods.

I don't know what your weight loss goal is but I would try for .5 pound per week loss. You aren't big and don't have a lot of weight to lose. That tells me you are already at a healthy weight.

hpsnickers1

Thank you...all these responses are directly to my point. I don't lift a lot, but when I have lifted, I NEVER gained multiple pounds of muscle in a month. I mean, think about a 1 pound steak and then think about adding that much meat to your body as lean mass. That is a pretty tough feat, especially when you are doing cardio and lowballing on calories or taking in calories comprised of cheetos and bacon bits.

Someone needs to step up here and tell the truth to whoever is asking. I can't be the one, because a dude who steps into a forum and tries to debunk the 'your putting on muscle' myth is definitely going to get flamed. Some of you women in the know need to be the bearers of bad news. Sometimes we work hard, and it isnt hard enough. Sometimes we sacrifice and we might need to sacrifice more.

Hey, I believe in tough love. If you do it online you can just put a bunch of smiley faces after it. I'll do it when I possibly can. In fact I made some comments earlier that kind of said that.

hpsnickers1

COmpletely agreee!!! I lift heavy weights leading to failure, and get at least 140g of protein. Im having so much trouble attempting to gain muscle with reduced calorie. So one step at a time fat loss then ill focus on mah muscles

I have actually set myself up with Maintenance calories now. I just purchased a BodyMedia Fit and learned that during the workweek I burn about 2000 calories. I'm 5'2" and 123lbs. I'm doing 40/40/20 carb/pro/fat. I tried 50% protein but just couldn't quite get there. So I backed off. But I take in more than 100g of protein (yesterday was 139g).

How big are you? If you are already at a healthy weight but want to shed some fat you might even want to focus of heavy weight lifting right now. The fat loss comes with it. There is a post in my signature. "Relatively light people looking to get leaner". You might have already seen it.

Naomi91

COmpletely agreee!!! I lift heavy weights leading to failure, and get at least 140g of protein. Im having so much trouble attempting to gain muscle with reduced calorie. So one step at a time fat loss then ill focus on mah muscles

I have actually set myself up with Maintenance calories now. I just purchased a BodyMedia Fit and learned that during the workweek I burn about 2000 calories. I'm 5'2" and 123lbs. I'm doing 40/40/20 carb/pro/fat. I tried 50% protein but just couldn't quite get there. So I backed off. But I take in more than 100g of protein (yesterday was 139g).

How big are you? If you are already at a healthy weight but want to shed some fat you might even want to focus of heavy weight lifting right now. The fat loss comes with it. There is a post in my signature. "Relatively light people looking to get leaner". You might have already seen it.

I have a 30/45/25 for carbs/fat/protein. I am 5ft2 and 125 pounds. I have searched a ton about it but get so confused when it comes to lifting! Not so much what to do, I know that. But just when and how often. And if I should be doing cardio. I run like crazy xD about 6 miles a day... not helping my muscles haha

Checking out that post now!

JennLifts

I wouldn't say they are... I'd say people stall and need an answer. Unless we have some estrogen blocking, testosterone taking bunch of women

beerbomber

Kind of off subject sorta but talking about the scale going up and down first of all you have to realize 3500 is a pound so if you want to lose a pound you have to burn 3500 calories than your body is burning. This is for the getting on the scale and your 4lbs heavier in 2 days it is prolly not what you ate but what you drank...if you heat a 2000 calories at a sitting but the food weighed half a pound well you get on scale only going to be half a pound heavier so most times its just cause your holding water and thats no biggie so smile

kelsully

I have often wondered that too. It took me hitting a low weight that was a bit too low for me and then eating a bit more but gaining more than I should have been but noticing some observable differences in my muscle tone etc to think that is what have ben going on with me..took over 8 months...