Weight Training and Gaining Weight

reneepugh

I know it is normal to gain while starting a new weight training routine. I think I just need some encouragement because my brain is telling me this is wrong. Tomorrow is my weigh in and I may have to put that I gained my 2 lbs back and I really wanted to lose this week. However, I know I have done well. I have been doing 100 situps every other day and started to work out my arms with 8 lb weights. I have worked out and met all my goals. So, is anyone else having this problem?

End6ame

I know it is normal to gain while starting a new weight training routine. I think I just need some encouragement because my brain is telling me this is wrong. Tomorrow is my weigh in and I may have to put that I gained my 2 lbs back and I really wanted to lose this week. However, I know I have done well. I have been doing 100 situps every other day and started to work out my arms with 8 lb weights. I have worked out and met all my goals. So, is anyone else having this problem?

Are you exercising? Are you eating healthy and below your maintenance calories? If both of these answers are yes, then just keep doing it and don’t worry about it. This is why people need goals outside of weight loss. Pick a goal like getting stronger, running faster or longer and train for it and the fat loss will be an additional result.

hrbaker1

Im a qualified Advance personal trainer. I help all of my clients with their diets and of course their training. The majority of my clients are women and i would say that 99% of them will experience weight gain during training. My top tip would be never weigh yourself, there is no need. I simply measure my clients leg circumference, neck size, waist size, hip size, upper arm circumference and chest circumference. It is often the case that my clients may put on a few lbs but lose inches at the same time.

Without going into too much detail this is because of an increase in muscle density. When you lift weights and become stronger/fitter your muscle tissue becomes denser; as muscle density increase so does your metabloic rate (the rate of which your body uses energy) so this is brilliant because you will be burning off a lot more fat than you would if you didnt use weight training as part of your programme. Also as muscle density increases the weight of the muscle tissue increase (Hence the weight gain!), although this does not mean that you will get 'bigger'.

Basically if you need a figure or measurement to track your progress and make you feel like you are doing good then measure yourself. Once a week or even once a month. This will make you feel great because you will see every inch falling off.

But please take my word for it that weight training is an essential component to getting your body in shape, my sessions with my female clients consist of about 80% weight training and 20% cardiovascular training.

I apologise in advance if this doesn't make sense, my spelling and grammar isn't brilliant! but i hope it helps.

Fell good about yourself and keep up the good work!

End6ame

Im a qualified Advance personal trainer. I help all of my clients with their diets and of course their training. The majority of my clients are women and i would say that 99% of them will experience weight gain during training. My top tip would be never weigh yourself, there is no need. I simply measure my clients leg circumference, neck size, waist size, hip size, upper arm circumference and chest circumference. It is often the case that my clients may put on a few lbs but lose inches at the same time.

Without going into too much detail this is because of an increase in muscle density. When you lift weights and become stronger/fitter your muscle tissue becomes denser; as muscle density increase so does your metabloic rate (the rate of which your body uses energy) so this is brilliant because you will be burning off a lot more fat than you would if you didnt use weight training as part of your programme. Also as muscle density increases the weight of the muscle tissue increase (Hence the weight gain!), although this does not mean that you will get 'bigger'.

Basically if you need a figure or measurement to track your progress and make you feel like you are doing good then measure yourself. Once a week or even once a month. This will make you feel great because you will see every inch falling off.

But please take my word for it that weight training is an essential component to getting your body in shape, my sessions with my female clients consist of about 80% weight training and 20% cardiovascular training.

I apologise in advance if this doesn't make sense, my spelling and grammar isn't brilliant! but i hope it helps.

Fell good about yourself and keep up the good work!

I am going to disagree here. The weight increase you are seeing as a result of weight lifting is caused by increase glycogen in your muscles which is used to repair the muscle cells. You will not build muscle mass (density) with 8lb dumbbells, you may recruit more muscle fibers but will not create new ones.

I have a post on this very topic here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/234432-if-you-think-you-gained-muscle-read-this

To Summarize:
- You will not gain muscle by accident, it takes intentional work
- Muscle size and muscle mass are not the same thing.
- Muscle mass = muscle density and attributes to strength and power (think Olympic weight lifter)
- Muscle size = build up of fluid in the muscle cells and attributes minimally to strength (think bodybuilder)
- Gaining muscle mass typically requires lifting heavy (75%-85% + of your 1RM)
- Lifting at this intensity automatically forces you into a lower rep range because you can’t lift a heavy weight as many times as a lighter weight.
- The speed at which you lift can also be a factor in the amount of weight you can lift.
- Faster lifting = the ability to lift heavier weights, which lands you in the lower rep ranges
- Slower lifting = requires lighter weight and will land you in the higher rep ranges
- The average male should expect no more than 1-2lbs of muscle mass gains per month
- The average female should expect no more than ½-1lb of muscle mass gains per month
- In most cases building muscle mass requires a calorie surplus, except in individuals with higher BF%

reneepugh

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I knew I would gain some weight. However, I think just starting out on this site and creating a new routine, it's hard to wrap your brain around gaining instead of losing. I am going to start measuring now. I definitely do now want to stop weight training. I feel better and stronger.

myofibril

I feel better and stronger.

If it ain't broke then don't try and fix it

Who really cares what the scale says? Your scale weight doesn't tell you about body composition.

If you are stronger, feel and look better then you are headed in the right direction.