Muscle building/ increase body fat/ weight gain..... help!

jo_marnes

Hi all,

Quick bit about me - have been maintaining current weight (50kg) for about a year, am 5'5", workout 6 days a week, having a few health issues. Firstly, I'm coeliac and have issues with that, but mostly my concern is the fact that I've only had 1 period in 14 mths.

Had bloods etc done and Dr thinks it's to do with my body weight (i.e. need to gain). Ok. I get that. BUT - I'm at a point in my weight loss/ fitness journey where I want to be stronger and build muscle. Again, this will lead to weight gain. That's ok too. HOWEVER, will building muscle and increasing my lean body mass actually help my reproductive system kick back in? Or do I need to increase body FAT? This I am not so cool about. Yes, my BMI is low, but it's not drastic. I'm happy with my body in that it is defined, but I do know I look a bit too thin. Hence my reason for wanting to work on my lean body mass - hopefully look a bit bigger but still with the definition? I sooooo don't want to look podgy again!

I don't know if anyone can offer advice or has any experience with this?

Thanks in advance xxx

PBJunky

Your body requires a certain amount of fat (essential fat) which is necessary for the bodily functions, reproductive system included. If you get too lean your body starts to shut down in order for it to survive, thus giving you some issues in certain areas...in your case your reproductive system.

Had a look at your pictures and agree that some mass will look good on you, so would a bit of fat.....

fiberartist219

I have a friend is is underweight and has celiac's. She doesn't tell me anything about her reproductive life though...

Are you gluten free? I know that has helped my friend at least with some of her digestion problems.

I think it is hard for celiacs patients to get the nutrition they need from food. They can eat and eat all day long, but it seems to not get absorbed properly.

I don't think building muscle will hurt. I have no idea what to tell you about trying to gain a little body fat other than to eat gluten free and try to eat more in general.

Rae6503

Well you can't really gain muscle without fat anyway. So work on muscle gains, gain a little bit of fat too and see where you are and how you like it. But no, I don't think muscle gain alone (if it were possible) will help bring your period back. But building muscles might help you be happier with slightly higher levels of body fat.

I'm on a "bulking" program right now. So far in 3 months I've only gained 3lbs. It's not as scary as it seems.

kimclaws

most likely you need to increase your body fat %, what is your right now?
muscle building would look great on you since you are so lean, I would try building muscle, and if it does not help then you can slowly raise your BF %. Trial and error,

Yanicka1

Well you can't really gain muscle without fat anyway. So work on muscle gains, gain a little bit of fat too and see where you are and how you like it. But no, I don't think muscle gain alone (if it were possible) will help bring your period back. But building muscles might help you be happier with slightly higher levels of body fat.

I'm on a "bulking" program right now. So far in 3 months I've only gained 3lbs. It's not as scary as it seems.

In order to gain muscles, you have to eat at a calories surplus....you will gain muscle and fat.

jo_marnes

Thankyou for the helpful replies everyone.

Yes, I am eating a GF diet. My bloods didn't show that I was deficient in anything and my hormone levels were normal.

Only 3lbs? That's not so scary at all. How should I go about working out how many calories I should be eating?

I guess I should probably speak to one of the PT's at the gym..... although they always seem to be in the frame of mind that I should 'tone' and not 'bulk' (presumably because I'm female). I'm not a fan of the weights room, but I guess I'll have to learn to love it!

Thanks again xxx

P.S. Not had my body fat % measured so I'm not really sure

psuLemon

Thankyou for the helpful replies everyone.

Yes, I am eating a GF diet. My bloods didn't show that I was deficient in anything and my hormone levels were normal.

Only 3lbs? That's not so scary at all. How should I go about working out how many calories I should be eating?

I guess I should probably speak to one of the PT's at the gym..... although they always seem to be in the frame of mind that I should 'tone' and not 'bulk' (presumably because I'm female). I'm not a fan of the weights room, but I guess I'll have to learn to love it!

Thanks again xxx

P.S. Not had my body fat % measured so I'm not really sure

You should get your body fat done. It will allow us to understand you maintenance calories and then we can add a small surplus. We do need to figure out what your daily lifestyle is and workout schedule too. And if you dont life weights you soon might be a fan bc its required to build lean muscle mass or at least some kind of strength training will be.

jo_marnes

You should get your body fat done. It will allow us to understand you maintenance calories and then we can add a small surplus. We do need to figure out what your daily lifestyle is and workout schedule too. And if you dont life weights you soon might be a fan bc its required to build lean muscle mass or at least some kind of strength training will be.

I don't know how to go about this here in Australia. They don't do it at the gyms and the Dr didn't know either. Yes, I could use callipers or stand on a scale, but they are not likely to be accurate.

My daily lifestyle is looking after 3 kids, am out and about all the time but not 'working hard' - just on my feet. I am busy with things like helping in the canteen at school, fundraising for the kindy and volunteering with the State Emergency Service. I get up at around 6.30am and I got to bed about 11.30pm. I work out for an average of an hour a day. Workouts vary between hill walking, gym classes (Combat etc), Jillian Michaels DVDs and other home workouts. I don't generally 'lift' but I do a fair amount of body weight exercises (i.e. push ups). But most of my workouts lean towards being a cardio circuit style.

EricMurano

Your doctors wants you to gain body FAT, not just muscle.

Women need a body fat percentage of 15-20% minimum (someone tell me if my numbers are wrong). In women body fat plays a big role in hormone production hence why ultra lean women find their menstruation cycles stopping.

RE: getting your body fat percentage measured Google for DEXA, body composition or body fat percentage measuring. I'm in Brisbane and there's a DEXA scan clinic at Morningside. There's definitely a couple of places in Sydney and I'm sure Melbourne would have some.

The DEXA is probably the most informative as they can look at you viseral fat stores. If you don't have enough visceral fat your organs won't have sufficient padding. If you fall over and hit your torso you might end up in serious trouble.

Here's a sample report from the clinic at Morningside. There's lot's of good info that they give you: http://www.bodycompositionqld.com.au/handouts/bca sample report.pdf

NemesisJRM

Your doctors wants you to gain body FAT, not just muscle.

Women need a body fat percentage of 15-20% minimum (someone tell me if my numbers are wrong). In women body fat plays a big role in hormone production hence why ultra lean women find their menstruation cycles stopping.

RE: getting your body fat percentage measured Google for DEXA, body composition or body fat percentage measuring. I'm in Brisbane and there's a DEXA scan clinic at Morningside. There's definitely a couple of places in Sydney and I'm sure Melbourne would have some.

The DEXA is probably the most informative as they can look at you viseral fat stores. If you don't have enough visceral fat your organs won't have sufficient padding. If you fall over and hit your torso you might end up in serious trouble.

Here's a sample report from the clinic at Morningside. There's lot's of good info that they give you: http://www.bodycompositionqld.com.au/handouts/bca sample report.pdf

your numbers are correct women should never be below a body fat of 14% but yes health range for women is between 15-20%
Men are around 8-15% if memory serves there mini being around 3-5% but thats bodybuilder stuff imo

Wiki states :

A person's body fat percentage is the total weight of the person's fat divided by the person's weight and consists of essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat is necessary to maintain life and reproductive functions. The percentage of essential body fat for women is greater than that for men, due to the demands of childbearing and other hormonal functions. The percentage of essential fat is 3%–5% in men, and 8–12% in women.

Storage body fat consists of fat accumulation in adipose tissue, part of which protects internal organs in the chest and abdomen. The minimum recommended total body fat percentage exceeds the essential fat percentage value reported above. A number of online tools are available for calculating estimated body fat percentage.

acruz049

Hi all,

Quick bit about me - have been maintaining current weight (50kg) for about a year, am 5'5", workout 6 days a week, having a few health issues. Firstly, I'm coeliac and have issues with that, but mostly my concern is the fact that I've only had 1 period in 14 mths.

Had bloods etc done and Dr thinks it's to do with my body weight (i.e. need to gain). Ok. I get that. BUT - I'm at a point in my weight loss/ fitness journey where I want to be stronger and build muscle. Again, this will lead to weight gain. That's ok too. HOWEVER, will building muscle and increasing my lean body mass actually help my reproductive system kick back in? Or do I need to increase body FAT? This I am not so cool about. Yes, my BMI is low, but it's not drastic. I'm happy with my body in that it is defined, but I do know I look a bit too thin. Hence my reason for wanting to work on my lean body mass - hopefully look a bit bigger but still with the definition? I sooooo don't want to look podgy again!

I don't know if anyone can offer advice or has any experience with this?

Thanks in advance xxx

the whole period and increase muslce building and body fat increase and weight gains sounds like what I have PCOS

psuLemon

You should get your body fat done. It will allow us to understand you maintenance calories and then we can add a small surplus. We do need to figure out what your daily lifestyle is and workout schedule too. And if you dont life weights you soon might be a fan bc its required to build lean muscle mass or at least some kind of strength training will be.

I don't know how to go about this here in Australia. They don't do it at the gyms and the Dr didn't know either. Yes, I could use callipers or stand on a scale, but they are not likely to be accurate.

My daily lifestyle is looking after 3 kids, am out and about all the time but not 'working hard' - just on my feet. I am busy with things like helping in the canteen at school, fundraising for the kindy and volunteering with the State Emergency Service. I get up at around 6.30am and I got to bed about 11.30pm. I work out for an average of an hour a day. Workouts vary between hill walking, gym classes (Combat etc), Jillian Michaels DVDs and other home workouts. I don't generally 'lift' but I do a fair amount of body weight exercises (i.e. push ups). But most of my workouts lean towards being a cardio circuit style.

Well if you dont have access to calipers or a dietician, you can use the link below as a start. I would consider your lifestyle lightly active and we can account for your workouts. Once you provide an estimate on your body fat, if you can also provide your weight, then we can start looking into estimating your BMR and TDEE.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

agthorn

the whole period and increase muslce building and body fat increase and weight gains sounds like what I have PCOS

I've never heard of anyone with PCOS who needs to gain weight. Typically they struggle with losing weight due to hormonal imbalances. She's 5'5" and weighs 110, which is an underweight BMI. That's almost certainly why her periods have stopped.

psuLemon

the whole period and increase muslce building and body fat increase and weight gains sounds like what I have PCOS

I've never heard of anyone with PCOS who needs to gain weight. Typically they struggle with losing weight due to hormonal imbalances. She's 5'5" and weighs 110, which is an underweight BMI. That's almost certainly why her periods have stopped.

I can vouche for the PCOS. My wife has it, and has always struggled with weight loss. And thanks for the calculations.



OK, down to the dirty; @ 110 lbs, 5'5" and 27 years old, your estimated BMR is 1235, using the BMR tool on this site. Now that would equate to 20% body fat and knowing you are under weight and probably way too little body fat, i will assume 12% body fat,which makes your BMR 1318. Now since you are lightly active, your TDEE multiplier is 1.375 (based on katch mcardle) which is 1812. This means, if you do NOT workout you are burning 1812 calories. If you workout and burn on average 600 calories per workout, you now burn 2412 calories per day. Over 6 days of working out, and one day at your normal TDEE, it would put you at 16284 calories in a week. Teh other option you can set your lifestyle at very active, eat the same calories per day and average it over a week (method I use). it then would be 1.375 * 1.725 = 2274 * 7 = 15920.


Both methods work, both are about the same, but providing starting points for you to gain weight. If you notice over a month, you don't gain weight, you increase your calories by 200 a day. Effectively, you will be able to build muscle and hopefully add some fat. If you have a problem eating 2300 calories a day, then you need to cut back on exercise to change your activity level. And look to cut cardio since it's really high calorie burner. Some ways to make this easier is eat calorie dense food; nuts, avocado or cook in olive oil if that doesnt' affect your condition (since I don't know anything about it). Also, at first it may be hard to eat that, but you can train yourself to do it. It took me some time to eat 2600 lean calories, and now I would have no problem packing down 3000+.

jo_marnes

Wow, some great replies here guys, thanks so much.

No PCOS - had ultrasound last week to eliminate that

I'm in Adelaide - no DEXA here - I've looked it up before. I was at the gym this morning and talking about it with a PT and they have body fat scales. We did that and it was 14.4%...... so yeah, pretty low. Not sure how accurate that is though.

It's a serious amount of calories.... I currently eat about 1600. I struggle to get my head around eating 1000 more and not turning into a whale!! lol

I know I need to increase slowly.... just after 3 years, its hard to change the way you think. But 2012 is going to be a healthy year. I am going to do this.

psuLemon

Wow, some great replies here guys, thanks so much.

No PCOS - had ultrasound last week to eliminate that

I'm in Adelaide - no DEXA here - I've looked it up before. I was at the gym this morning and talking about it with a PT and they have body fat scales. We did that and it was 14.4%...... so yeah, pretty low. Not sure how accurate that is though.

It's a serious amount of calories.... I currently eat about 1600. I struggle to get my head around eating 1000 more and not turning into a whale!! lol

I know I need to increase slowly.... just after 3 years, its hard to change the way you think. But 2012 is going to be a healthy year. I am going to do this.

What i suggest is increasing your calories by 200 every two weeks so your body can adjust. You won't balloon up, you are burning way too many calories to do that. Also, if you gain weight in the first few weeks, its just water weight.

jo_marnes

Thanks again. I am planning to start this properly Jan 1st - seeing as from Sunday onwards, my main food groups will be chocolate and wine ;-)