Gaining Muscle is NOT that easy.
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Unfortunately, it's not that easy for men to put muscle on either.
Men do have it easier though.
Oh yea completely agree here ^^ def not easy for anyone to put on muscle! Takes time and HARD work
Hell I even have seen a few people say they are gaining so much muscle mass from walking, running, and even cleaning their house xD0 -
Unfortunately, it's not that easy for men to put muscle on either.
Men do have it easier though.
Oh yea completely agree here ^^ def not easy for anyone to put on muscle! Takes time and HARD work
Hell I even have seen a few people say they are gaining so much muscle mass from walking, running, and even cleaning their house xD
Hell if that's all it took my house would be spotless 24/7!!!0 -
Unfortunately, it's not that easy for men to put muscle on either.
Men do have it easier though.
Oh yea completely agree here ^^ def not easy for anyone to put on muscle! Takes time and HARD work
Hell I even have seen a few people say they are gaining so much muscle mass from walking, running, and even cleaning their house xD
Hell if that's all it took my house would be spotless 24/7!!!
As one of my friends said "maybe she deadlifts the fridge to sweep under it" :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:0 -
I think some of the posts are referring to something different than you are. If you have a led a very sedentary life to the point that many of your muscles have atrophed, you can build those muscles up to where they should be very quickly. I think that is often the initial "gain" posters refer to.
You seem to be talking about building new muscle on a fit person, which is very different, and much harder to do.0 -
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Hell if that's all it took my house would be spotless 24/7!!!
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As one of my friends said "maybe she deadlifts the fridge to sweep under it" :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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LMAO!!!0 -
THANK YOU!
Along the same lines, it's just as annoying when women say "Oh I don't want to lift weights because I'll get bulky". You don't just pick up a few weights or a barbell and "suddenly" get bulky, especially as a woman. I've been trying to put on muscle for months and working my a** off to do it. It doesn't just happen.0 -
THANK YOU!
Along the same lines, it's just as annoying when women say "Oh I don't want to lift weights because I'll get bulky". You don't just pick up a few weights or a barbell and "suddenly" get bulky, especially as a woman. I've been trying to put on muscle for months and working my a** off to do it. It doesn't just happen.
YES! If you pick up a dumbbell you will not turn into the incredible hulk.0 -
Here Here! I have to say, this is one of my biggest pet peeves -- I gained 5lbs this week or visa versa....it just doesn't happen! Yes, weight fluctuates. Water retention, stress, etc, but muscle mass does not increase or decrease like this. This, along with some other rants is why I don't usually scour the message boards or even my profile page too much. lol
I have been trying to gain some muscle mass since June, and I can see a difference, but it's not a remarkable difference. Yes, I can see bigger shoulders and a bit more muscle in my hamstrings and quads, but I hesitate to say I've gained any muscle weight. I'm still leaning out though, too, so it's hard to know what's a gain and what's a loss.
My truest test is in that I have gone from a size 6 in June to a size 2/4 now. So something must be working right. Having dropped sizes yet I have stayed the same scale weight.0 -
Yup. I think a lot of people say that to make someone feel better about temporary water weight gains. Glad you posted this.0
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I totally agree with this post. it's crazy how people think that 7 days makes such a huge difference.0
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I think a lot of the misconceptions in gaining is moreso from ignorance than it is just women being in denial. I know that's not what you're saying OP (and I'm very glad you made a thread about this because it needed to have been made) but a couple of comments in here make it seem like women are just making these claims because they want to be in the dark. Hopefully this thread has educated those who really did not know muscle gain is difficult. :flowerforyou:0
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I think a lot of the misconceptions in gaining is moreso from ignorance than it is just women being in denial. I know that's not what you're saying OP (and I'm very glad you made a thread about this because it needed to have been made) but a couple of comments in here make it seem like women are just making these claims because they want to be in the dark. Hopefully this thread has educated those who really did not know muscle gain is difficult. :flowerforyou:
Oh yea i definitely agree here. A lot of women do not know how much it takes! Hopefully a few of them read this :]0 -
PREACH girl!!!
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haha awesome0
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THANK YOU!
Along the same lines, it's just as annoying when women say "Oh I don't want to lift weights because I'll get bulky". You don't just pick up a few weights or a barbell and "suddenly" get bulky, especially as a woman. I've been trying to put on muscle for months and working my a** off to do it. It doesn't just happen.
YES! If you pick up a dumbbell you will not turn into the incredible hulk.
^^ this.....hahahhaa so much this^^0 -
I think some of the posts are referring to something different than you are. If you have a led a very sedentary life to the point that many of your muscles have atrophed, you can build those muscles up to where they should be very quickly. I think that is often the initial "gain" posters refer to.
You seem to be talking about building new muscle on a fit person, which is very different, and much harder to do.
Agreed, good rant. and I'll add to it...
Rant continued...
In response to the above poster: Even in "untrained individuals", people are generally not working hard enough nor long enough to see significant strength gains. In order to see appreciable strength gains you have to be working a an intensity at 60% of your 1 rep max. That means for you to improve strength in a say a "leg press" an average 35 year old male who weighs 200# would need to be lifting 304#. That is a lot of weight. Also to see significant strength gains and in turn muscle hypertrophy you need to participate in a high intensity program for a minimum of 12 weeks.
So if you are lifting that kind of weight and doing it faithfully for 12 weeks than that may be a "muscle weight gain". But chances are its a normal weight fluctuation.
End rant continuation0 -
I think some of the posts are referring to something different than you are. If you have a led a very sedentary life to the point that many of your muscles have atrophed, you can build those muscles up to where they should be very quickly. I think that is often the initial "gain" posters refer to.
You seem to be talking about building new muscle on a fit person, which is very different, and much harder to do.
Agreed, good rant. and I'll add to it...
Rant continued...
In response to the above poster: Even in "untrained individuals", people are generally not working hard enough nor long enough to see significant strength gains. In order to see appreciable strength gains you have to be working a an intensity at 60% of your 1 rep max. That means for you to improve strength in a say a "leg press" an average 35 year old male who weighs 200# would need to be lifting 304#. That is a lot of weight. Also to see significant strength gains and in turn muscle hypertrophy you need to participate in a high intensity program for a minimum of 12 weeks.
So if you are lifting that kind of weight and doing it faithfully for 12 weeks than that may be a "muscle weight gain". But chances are its a normal weight fluctuation.
End rant continuation
love the continuation! As the poster ilovedeadlifts said:With proper diet and heavy lifting, in your first year of training (the time when you can make the easiest muscle gains), 12 pounds of muscle is pretty much the limit. And that's with perfect conditions.
12 lbs in a year. That is a pretty small amount compared to the posters thinking they are gaining 5 lbs of muscle a month by walking/cleaning0 -
Yeah, I get a kick out of all the 30DS threads, "wow....i'm gaining a lot of muscle".
First off, if I understand it right, it's mostly cardio and body weight stuff. Some tiny weights are used but that's it.
If a woman really kicks *kitten* in the gym and is in a surplus they'll be lucky to put on couple of pounds in a month. That's pumping heavy metal, not just body weight and girly weights.0 -
THANK YOU! finally a post worth the space.
A lot of people don't realize that it takes a LOT more than lifting light weights 2x a week to really gain muscle on top of which 90% (being conservative) of the MFP community is on a deficit, not a surplus. If anything, they may be conditioning the muscles they do have, but sure are not breaking them down and building them up several times a week. Professional body builders train around the clock, taking in cycles for proper rest & nutrition for muscle repair in order to even see a smidgen of change in their masterpieces. The typical exerciser is not going to wake up one morning with a 12-pack without going through what most people would consider an ungodly training regimen.0 -
Maybe someone can help me understand my situation (I mean this in no condescending terms so please do not read it this way).
In early October of 2010, I was at 225 lbs and 47% body fat (equates to 120 lbs lean body mass). This is considered obese class 2 (morbid obesity). I lost 15 lbs in about a month from diet and light cardio alone and got down to 210, still well into obese category for me. I kept this off until December of 2010. I joined MFP at this point. I started lifting at this point with help from a trainer and maintained a caloric deficit. By the end of April, my body fat was 33% and I was down to 190 (equates to 127 lbs lean body mass). As of last week, I am at 188 lbs and 28% body fat (135 lbs lean body mass). This is a 14 lb increase in lean body mass in 10 months. In March/April, I had a family crisis and was eating a lot more than I normally did, but I kept up with the weight training. Otherwise, I've been at a consistent caloric deficit.
I don't entirely understand how this is working. My trainer seems to think that because my body fat percentage was so high and I was so heavy to begin with that this has something to do with the initial muscle gain. Since I've maintained my weight training, it's not gone away and continued to build. He told me when I started to not expect to gain any muscle but rather to become more defined instead. While I can see definition in my arms, thighs, and calves, I still have a lot of fat on my midsection and back and haven't seen much definition here at all.
I'd really like to understand this more than I do. I just know what my experience has been.
Any ideas?
EDIT: I refer to lean body mass as simply my non-fat body mass. I don't have an accurate measure of my actual muscle mass.0
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