Too much muscle from running!

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  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    You probably have three things going on.

    First, when you are in a running program your muscles will adapt by storing more glycogen and water for energy. How much is dependant on how much you run. At 12 miles a week this may be a pound or two. This also is what people usually mean (whether they know it or not) when they say you gain muscle. This can also account for some size increase in the leg muscles, particularly if they have never been worked hard before.

    Second, if you are training in hot weather your body will acclimate to the heat. One of the things it does is increase blood serum volume by up to two liters. So, if you are running outside and it is hot where you live this could account for up to 4 pounds.

    Third, I think that at the most you gained five or six pounds from the above training adaptations. The other four or five pounds are likely either from eating too much or from random weight fluctuations.
  • chickentunashake
    chickentunashake Posts: 165 Member
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    Quad development from running and not heavy squats who knew.

    ^^^^ LOL l was thinking the same thing :laugh:
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
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    Hmm... can you spot reduce muscle? *philosoraptor face*

    Mr7Hp.jpg
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    Hmm... can you spot reduce muscle? *philosoraptor face*

    You can "spot reduce" muscle simply by not working it or having resistance applied to it - atrophy.

    You cannot spot reduce fat however. Sadly the areas you lose fat from as you diet down comes down to genetics mostly.
  • chuisle
    chuisle Posts: 1,052 Member
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    You probably have three things going on.

    First, when you are in a running program your muscles will adapt by storing more glycogen and water for energy. How much is dependant on how much you run. At 12 miles a week this may be a pound or two. This also is what people usually mean (whether they know it or not) when they say you gain muscle. This can also account for some size increase in the leg muscles, particularly if they have never been worked hard before.

    Second, if you are training in hot weather your body will acclimate to the heat. One of the things it does is increase blood serum volume by up to two liters. So, if you are running outside and it is hot where you live this could account for up to 4 pounds.

    Third, I think that at the most you gained five or six pounds from the above training adaptations. The other four or five pounds are likely either from eating too much or from random weight fluctuations.

    Great answer.

    For the OP...you have unknowingly (I think) stumbled onto an MFP hot spot in which posters, most often women, blame 'muscle gain' for changes in their bodies they do not like like increased size or weight. On the whole, science and fitness experts deems this highly unlikely to impossible. Despite best attempts to explain this scientific phenomena a depressing amount of people on MFP still believe that they should blame muscle for issues like those I mentioned above. People have knee jerk reactions (not unwarranted) to posts of this kind and that's what you're seeing here.
  • Angel1066
    Angel1066 Posts: 816 Member
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    I don't understand what the problem is.
    :laugh:
  • chelledawg14
    chelledawg14 Posts: 509 Member
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    I've been running almost 3 months now; my legs have always been muscular, but I am loving the way they are changing shape - along with the rest of me. I haven't lost a pound in almost a month, but I have dropped another jean size and top size in that month. I, too, cannot imagine how you would gain 10 lbs of muscle so fast. I usually go anywhere from 2.5 - 6 miles 5-6 days a week and twice a week I also do a 3 mile walk to and from my zumba classes. I never heard short distance runner have bigger legs - I'll have to research that. For the record, I really didn't see any "mean" posts like I've seen on other topics.
  • vytamindi
    vytamindi Posts: 845 Member
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    Hmm... can you spot reduce muscle? *philosoraptor face*

    Mr7Hp.jpg

    I am bending at the knee and curtseying, good sir. Many thanks.
  • vytamindi
    vytamindi Posts: 845 Member
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    Hmm... can you spot reduce muscle? *philosoraptor face*

    You can "spot reduce" muscle simply by not working it or having resistance applied to it - atrophy.

    You cannot spot reduce fat however. Sadly the areas you lose fat from as you diet down comes down to genetics mostly.

    So it's more like "spot prevent" like that don't skip leg day meme.

    And darn genetics. I get my back fat from my mom and my lack of butt/prominent (yet disappearing) belly from my dad.

    Thanks for taking the time to answer :D
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    Gaining muscle from running, distance running no less? I say no-way-jose... Long distance running is more like to induce atrophy, not hypertrophy. If you said you did 50meter and 100meter sprint intervals and put on a little muscle in 3months or so I could almost believe it.

    There is another variable at play that you're not considering.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    I have that exact same problem! The doctor tested my testosterone levels which came back extraordinarily high for a girl so she recommended that I cut my running down to 1 mile and do only light weight high reps of any sort of weight bearing exercises.

    Listen to your doctor, not MFPers.

    :smile:

    Unless your doctor is a Physiologist or also has a background in Kinesiology / Exercise Science / Sports Medicine I would absolutely not listen to a doctor's "specific" advice on how to exercise. Let's be honest here, most GP's and even Cardiologists know that you should exercise but they don't know what you should be doing or even how to do it. I have never seen a doctor that had any muscle mass to them whatsoever.
  • purplegoboom
    purplegoboom Posts: 400 Member
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    I have that exact same problem! The doctor tested my testosterone levels which came back extraordinarily high for a girl so she recommended that I cut my running down to 1 mile and do only light weight high reps of any sort of weight bearing exercises.

    I'm sorry, your doctor doesn't know what he/she's talking about.

    Unless you're taking steroids, you won't get big man muscles. Men themselves can't even get big muscles without months upon months of hard work and dedication.

    I think what you're seeing is actually the fact that you're working and toning (I know people hate that word but I can't think of anything different) your muscles under layers of fat, which makes them LOOK big and bulky. Once you shed the fat on top of the muscle, you won't see big bulky man muscles.

    Heavy weight training is actually GOOD for women. The high rep/light weights is BS.

    I have PCOS which means I have high androgens/testosterone as well, and if this was true I would look like a man. Trust me when I say I certainly do not.
  • Melanie_RS
    Melanie_RS Posts: 417 Member
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    I have that exact same problem! The doctor tested my testosterone levels which came back extraordinarily high for a girl so she recommended that I cut my running down to 1 mile and do only light weight high reps of any sort of weight bearing exercises.

    Listen to your doctor, not MFPers.

    :smile:



    Unless your doctor is a Physiologist or also has a background in Kinesiology / Exercise Science / Sports Medicine I would absolutely not listen to a doctor's "specific" advice on how to exercise. Let's be honest here, most GP's and even Cardiologists know that you should exercise but they don't know what you should be doing or even how to do it. I have never seen a doctor that had any muscle mass to them whatsoever.

    my doctor is a marathoner...I love him!!

    and I love genetic anomalies like the OP. Please donate your body to science promptly upon death. :D

    (edited for quotes in the wrong place)
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I know you'd like to think you've gained 10lbs of muscle in 2 months but you haven't.

    Edit: I know a lot of other people posted this too
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    Started 2 months ago, I have gained about 10 pounds of muscle mainly in my quads and glutes.

    9utgk.gif

    Lmao. This one gets me every time.
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
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    Well now that most of you have been *kitten* to the OP...
  • PANZERIA
    PANZERIA Posts: 471 Member
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    Yeah...I'm calling 'troll' on this one. If you're serious, you don't really know anything about muscle, lol.

    There is no way you could have gained 10lbs in muscle in 2 months. No. Physical. Way.

    Also, I don't see the problem with muscly legs. Muscle is a good thing. If you don't like it, stop exercising. Simple.
  • jamers3111
    jamers3111 Posts: 495 Member
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    I too gain muscle easily and tend to look bulky but I have never seen that much of a weight gain. I have been running for 15 years and have noticed that I am much leaner now than I was when I was younger. I think the theory of that you may be eating more now that you are running could be true. Have you measured yourself or tested your BMI?

    I hope you found some helpful info within some of these responses. Keep running! I love it and I'm glad to hear that you do too.
  • emyishardcore
    emyishardcore Posts: 352 Member
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    It could be from the type of food you have been eating.
  • vtachycardia
    vtachycardia Posts: 374
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    Big muscles like this:

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/olympic-track-cyclists-legs-are-gigantic

    enjoy the read.

    Love it! How many times do people go on about "cardio" burning muscle? Running, and cycling have a cardiovascular effect, but they have a resistance aspect too!

    Yes, and those nice germans and all track cyclists spend 30 hours a week just cycling their bikes and Mr. U Bolt does nothing but sprints and marathons. Cardio cardio cardio for these sprint people and their need for explosive power.

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