3500 calories for a pound of fat, how

Rae6503

Yeah, I KNOW I'm not getting enough rest. My kids have been sick and not sleeping well, which means I'm not sleeping well.

You need 6 - 7.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. And you need to plan your rest days. You cant keep tearing down muscle fiber without giving your body time to recuperate.

I probably get that much total, but not "uninterrupted". I only life 2-3 times a week. Trying for 3 but sometimes it just doesn't happen again due to children.

deathstarclock

Straight from NCSF's Advanced Concepts of Personal Training literature:

"It takes 3500 kcals to add a pound of fat and 2500 kcal for a pound of lean mass."

solpwr

A good way to track muscle gains is by performance. The amount of weight you are lifting. Your performance directly correlates to muscle mass. If you bench 135 (2-45's) for a rep, you have x muscle mass. If in 2 months you are benching 185 for 2 reps, you have x+y muscle mass. You have gained "y" muscle mass. You can confirm that with taking key measurements of your body, and BF% analysis periodically.

If your performance in the weight room is improving, you are gaining incremental muscle mass, even if they are just ounces of mass. That's true even if the scale is not moving. That's why I say a person can gain muscle mass and lose fat. Especially at the beginning of a weight training regimen. Some initial gains can partially be attributed to technique. But musculature is improved even in your bodies' adaptation to coordinate the new movements.

Muscles gets stressed during weight training. The stress gives way to muscle soreness. Sufficient rest and quality replenishment of essential nutrients allows them to repair and compensate for what's being asked of them. It's not a function of calories ingested period. Its the quality, quantity, and intensity of the stress, combined with time to repair and recover, combined with the availability of essential nutrients to build back stronger (which IS muscle mass).

Rae6503

I've been increasing steadily. in 4 weeks, lifting about twice a day, my squats have gone from 2 sets of 15 with the bar, to 2 sets of 12 at 85lbs. Starting tomorrow I drop to 3 sets of 10. Dead lifts have gone from 2 sets of 15 at 65lbs to 2 sets of 12 at 105lbs.

solpwr

I've been increasing steadily. in 4 weeks, lifting about twice a day, my squats have gone from 2 sets of 15 with the bar, to 2 sets of 12 at 85lbs. Starting tomorrow I drop to 3 sets of 10. Dead lifts have gone from 2 sets of 15 at 65lbs to 2 sets of 12 at 105lbs.

I guarantee that you have increased muscle mass. That's a primary way to quantify it. Along with the other things I know you are already doing Rachel. Clothes fitting, objective analysis of what you see in the mirror, measurements.