More Calories to Build Muscle???

BluthLover

I saw a post that I now cannot find. I was wondering though... To build muscle you need more calories? Like if I'm weight training and I'm not eating enough then I'm gaining muscle but not loosing fat? I was confused about this. How do you hit the right balance of gaining muscle and losing weight?

Thanks

Colbyandsage

I am going to try to explain this but hoping that I bump your threat up so the experts can answer.

It's hard to build muscle on a deficit from your TDEE. Not sure what your number are for BMR and TDEE but mine at 5.3 and 133 lbs around 1600 (TDEE) for sedentary, if I wanted to build muscle, I would go up to 2000 on heavy lifting days according to the sites like fat2fitradio.com.

BluthLover

I am going to try to explain this but hoping that I bump your threat up so the experts can answer.

It's hard to build muscle on a deficit from your TDEE. Not sure what your number are for BMR and TDEE but mine at 5.3 and 133 lbs around 1600 (TDEE) for sedentary, if I wanted to build muscle, I would go up to 2000 on heavy lifting days according to the sites like fat2fitradio.com.

Ok well I NEVER knew this!!!! What I'm wondering is if the lifting I have been doing has been what is messing with my weight. I've steadily gained. First I was netting 1200 now 1550. TDEE at sedentary would be same as u. Same height and two lbs heavier. So what I'm wondering is if that's why? I lift 3 or more times a week. Heavy as I can do it. Hitting the major muscle groups. Doing 4-5 machines each time I lift with 4 sets each as many reps as I can. Usually 8-12 depending on the machine or weight. I'm just wondering if eating at a deficit is actually making my body not let go of the fat...

31prvrbs

There could be a multitude of reasons for the scale increase, but to answer some of your questions:

1) yes eating too little for the amount of exercise you do can cause your body to store fat (and to break down muscle, rather than build it!)

2) when you lift that heavy, you tear the muscle, so your body pulls water into the muscle to protect it as it repairs. Lifting heavy will always equal crazy scale fluctuations due to the water retention. Try weighing after a day or two off from the weights to get a more accurate weigh in

3) in order to build muscle your body prefers a slight surplus. Muscle requires food, & if the food isn't there, your body may decide that muscle isn't a necessity (whereas fat IS) & decide to break it down, as mentioned above to preserve the fat.

Hope that helps some?

~Kiki

BluthLover

There could be a multitude of reasons for the scale increase, but to answer some of your questions:

1) yes eating too little for the amount of exercise you do can cause your body to store fat (and to break down muscle, rather than build it!)

2) when you lift that heavy, you tear the muscle, so your body pulls water into the muscle to protect it as it repairs. Lifting heavy will always equal crazy scale fluctuations due to the water retention. Try weighing after a day or two off from the weights to get a more accurate weigh in

3) in order to build muscle your body prefers a slight surplus. Muscle requires food, & if the food isn't there, your body may decide that muscle isn't a necessity (whereas fat IS) & decide to break it down, as mentioned above to preserve the fat.

Hope that helps some?

~Kiki

Kiki!! HUGE HELP! Thank you so much! I'm just new to lifting and don't really know how it all works yet. Thank you so much! Any advice on how many days to lift per week? As far as calories go I guess I should eat more on days I lift?

azalais7

I would shoot for three times a week to give your body sufficient time to rest. If you're focusing on one body area each time (e.g. legs one day, back and chest another day, etc.), you might be able to do four times a week. But rest is key! Otherwise you risk overtraining, which will stall your progress.

azalais7

And you can build a slight bit of muscle on a small deficit. I'm eating at about 300-250 below TDEE and am slowly gaining muscle and burning fat.

Greenrun99

Any advice on how many days to lift per week? As far as calories go I guess I should eat more on days I lift?

I would say go with your schedule you feel comfortable with, just make sure your skipping days when working major body areas (lower body one day, upper body that sort of thing) so that your giving the general muscle groups you lifted a rest day in between..
You should eat more on days that you lift or on days that you are exercising in general as your body is burning more calories, since its hard to predict how many calories you burn when weight lifting, I would say for 1 hour of weight lifting with small breaks between sets (not 5 minute breaks!!!) you burn probably 200-300 calories.

Also you can tone muscles and get them more developed when in a deficit but you really can't build more muscle mass, you may work parts of your body that are not used to seeing normal work and that can result in feeling stronger and feeling firmer but small muscle gain if any. Also if your eating in a deficit make sure you are eating your lean body mass in protein, so if your around 130-140lbs, you will definitely want over 100g protein, if your more than that more protein.. it won't hurt you and it will help you keep what muscles you have instead of your body using them for energy.

BluthLover

Thank you everyone. I guess I just feel like during strength training my weight has gone up and so I know I am building muscle. But my inches havent gone down and one measurement went up. So I'm not sure that I'm losing fat. I net 1600 and my BMR is 1550. TDEE is 2150. So I'm not sure why I'm not losing fat. Because it doesn't feel like I am!

zechks

Thank you everyone. I guess I just feel like during strength training my weight has gone up and so I know I am building muscle. But my inches havent gone down and one measurement went up. So I'm not sure that I'm losing fat. I net 1600 and my BMR is 1550. TDEE is 2150. So I'm not sure why I'm not losing fat. Because it doesn't feel like I am!

Eat more than your TDEE, bump it for like 100-200 cals more. Then you build muscle. Then incorporate some moderate cardio after lifting sessions maybe 20 mins. You'll gain both muscle and fat in the process but if you just keep your diet clean and if you can aim to gain 1lb a month, then you will most likely gain more lean mass and minimize the fat gained. Yeah something like that. I hope i made sense.

BluthLover

Thank you everyone. I guess I just feel like during strength training my weight has gone up and so I know I am building muscle. But my inches havent gone down and one measurement went up. So I'm not sure that I'm losing fat. I net 1600 and my BMR is 1550. TDEE is 2150. So I'm not sure why I'm not losing fat. Because it doesn't feel like I am!

Eat more than your TDEE, bump it for like 100-200 cals more. Then you build muscle. Then incorporate some moderate cardio after lifting sessions maybe 20 mins. You'll gain both muscle and fat in the process but if you just keep your diet clean and if you can aim to gain 1lb a month, then you will most likely gain more lean mass and minimize the fat gained. Yeah something like that. I hope i made sense.

Absolutely! But I don't want to gain I want to lose this is the problema!