Questions for weight lifters

chicpeach

How long after you started lifting did you start to see your lean body mass go up? What weight did you start lifting at and what kind of weight were you lifting by the time you started seeing your lean body mass go up? and lastly, did you lift while on a weight loss program or did you lose first and then shift into weight lifting? Thanks!

missikay1970

i don't keep up with my LBM, but i started lifting almost a year ago, and was doing about 25-30 lbs., maybe 40 if i tried REALLY hard (arm "machines" such as lat pull-downs, bicep curls, tricep, chest press, etc.) now i can do about 90-110 lbs. on the same machines. it took months before i could see a huge difference in my appearance (again, dont' keep up with LBM) i would say at least 6 months+

i was losing weight and lifting at the same time. in the past year i have lost 42 lbs. i do weights 3 days/week and cardio 5-6 days per week.

debbiestine

lol
I lift 2.5-5lb weights twice a week. (and do kickboxing,step and sometimes pilates) I only saw my muscle defintion after I changed my eating habits a few months ago. did I mention I've been working out for 30 yrs 3-5x/s a week? By eating more protein and less breads- I have lost the fat that covered my muscles. I'm one of the most musclular looking ones in all my classes-now.
don't kill yourself lifting- it's 80%diet and 20%exercise I am 5ft2 110 pounds-hallelujah my high school weight at 48

trelm249

How long after you started lifting did you start to see your lean body mass go up?
Within 8 weeks I had added a couple of pounds of lean mass. It has slowed since then.


What weight did you start lifting at and what kind of weight were you lifting by the time you started seeing your lean body mass go up?
I started with weights that limited me to 8 reps on the final working set. Free weights with compound moves. I still primarily stick to that formula but the weight has gotten quite a bit heavier. For example on Deadlifts. I started at 135 lbs on the final working set. 10 months later it is 275 lbs on the final working set.


Did you lift while on a weight loss program or did you lose first and then shift into weight lifting?
When I started lifting I was in a caloric deficit and still am. I am still losing fat. The weight loss has slowed and the lean mass increases have slowed, but the leaning effect is still very active. I lift three days (full body heavy lifting) and do 2 days of cardio (1/2 hour session). Since last July I have dropped 40 pounds and six inches off the waist.

meshashesha2012

How long after you started lifting did you start to see your lean body mass go up?
At the moment i'm not lifting to increase LBM. I've always lifted (for the past 22 years) so I have a good amount of LBM. At the moment I lift to make sure I on't lose too much muscle mass while I'm losing 80 pounds of fat.


What weight did you start lifting at and what kind of weight were you lifting?
Whenever I start a new program, i start off by getting a good idea of what my 1 rep max is. That means the weight that I can only do 1 rep on without losing form. I do this for all the basic movements (I prefer free weights), so Squats, deadlifts, Barbell rows, Lat Pulldowns, Bicep Curls, Shoulder Press. Once I figure out this number (by trial and error in the gym), I do 75-85% of this weight for heavy lifting (at 4-5 sets of 3-5 reps each set) or 50-75% of this weight for my circuit training style lifting (at 3 sets of 10-12). I don't bother with doing anything under 50% of my 1 rep max unless it's a warm up set because less than 50% is pretty much of a waste of time for me and my goals.

also when i lift heavy, I increase a bit every set even if it's just for a few reps and I end up having to drop down to a lower weight to finish out the set.

by the end of a program, I usually have some excellent strength gains using this method


and lastly, did you lift while on a weight loss program or did you lose first and then shift into weight lifting?
Yes I'm lifting now. I still have about 50# to lose. Once I reach my goal weight then I'll increase my calories a bit to start replacing some of the muscle I'm losing while I'm reaching my goal weight

blazeybug87

Bump for later

wellbert

I moved from bar weight (45lbs) to 120 bench, 160 squat, and 200 deadlift in about a month. I saw no increase in muscle mass, but I also ate at a calorie deficit. I have also gained 8 lbs since then, but that can be bone, sinew, water, glycogen...

CountDown321

How long after you started lifting did you start to see your lean body mass go up? What weight did you start lifting at and what kind of weight were you lifting by the time you started seeing your lean body mass go up? and lastly, did you lift while on a weight loss program or did you lose first and then shift into weight lifting? Thanks!

I started with compound lifting like deadlifts and in 2 months have gone from 20lbs to 160lbs, and squatting from the 45lb bar to 140 today. I am doing the Starting Strength program, mostly, but I dont do their crazy eating. I eat at a mild calorie deficit and have seen pretty consistent gains in strength and Im finding new muscles and lumps and bumps and sexy muscle curves all the time. Its hard to quantify accurate lean body mass without DEXA scans, so its really hard to say. But my muscles have grown and in some places fat loss is very evident.

chicpeach

Thanks everyone for sharing. It's helpful and encouraging to me as I've been lifting since March and haven't seen any increase in lean body mass, which I was thinking I should be seeing by now, but it looks like that's just pretty normal.