Why can't you gain muscle at a deficit again?

songbyrdsweet

is transamination like the process of changing some beater car into a Trans Am?

Well...sure, if the Trans Am is more important to you than the beater car. It would be more like attaching a Trans Am kit to your beater car lol

SanteMulberry

I read on a body-builder site that it is impossible to gain more than about 1 pound of muscle per MONTH! Is that true? It isn't any wonder then that crash diets just strip off muscle and make you add fat when you go back to regular eating. Now, the "muscle sparing" effect of eating healthy carbs makes sense to me. If you are not eating enough carbs and fat (I notice that the lower my carbs go, the higher the proportion of fat in my diet) you will burn muscle instead---not a good idea. You can go on a low-fat diet and burn carbs or you can go on a low-carb diet and burn fat (a better idea to me because of the appetite suppressing effect of eating lower carbs) but you cannot do both as you are working at cross-purposes if you are trying to simultaneously gain muscle. I also read that if you eat a lot more protein than what your body needs to build muscle that you will just end up burning protein and you don't want to train your body to burn protein as it will ultimately work against your muscle growth.

AsellusReborn

I dunno, Loveys. I am consistently getting stronger and stronger because I have been challenging myself since my early twenties. My ability to deal with increasingly heavy weights - which, I THINK means my muscles are "growing" happens whether I am eating more or eating less calories, so all I can say is..... Get to know your OWN body.... :flowerforyou:

That's assuming that strength equates to building muscle though. You can make your muscles stronger without growing new ones - it might even make your current muscles swell with water which makes them looking bigger, but you're not building new muscle tissue. The body just doesn't work that way

FullOfWin

I read on a body-builder site that it is impossible to gain more than about 1 pound of muscle per MONTH! Is that true? It isn't any wonder then that crash diets just strip off muscle and make you add fat when you go back to regular eating. Now, the "muscle sparing" effect of eating healthy carbs makes sense to me. If you are not eating enough carbs and fat (I notice that the lower my carbs go, the higher the proportion of fat in my diet) you will burn muscle instead---not a good idea. You can go on a low-fat diet and burn carbs or you can go on a low-carb diet and burn fat (a better idea to me because of the appetite suppressing effect of eating lower carbs) but you cannot do both as you are working at cross-purposes if you are trying to simultaneously gain muscle. I also read that if you eat a lot more protein than what your body needs to build muscle that you will just end up burning protein and you don't want to train your body to burn protein as it will ultimately work against your muscle growth.

How much muscle you can gain per month depends on gender and how much muscle you already have along with other genetic factors.

As for macro levels, just eat minimums of 1g pro and .45g fat per lb of lean body mass. If you do that and eat at a proper caloric level, you aren't going to eat too much or too little of any macro.

ninerbuff

I dunno, Loveys. I am consistently getting stronger and stronger because I have been challenging myself since my early twenties. My ability to deal with increasingly heavy weights - which, I THINK means my muscles are "growing" happens whether I am eating more or eating less calories, so all I can say is..... Get to know your OWN body.... :flowerforyou:

Strength can be tremendously increased (to an extent) without gaining size. It's neuro muscular adaptation you're experiencing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Shock_Wave

I dunno, Loveys. I am consistently getting stronger and stronger because I have been challenging myself since my early twenties. My ability to deal with increasingly heavy weights - which, I THINK means my muscles are "growing" happens whether I am eating more or eating less calories, so all I can say is..... Get to know your OWN body.... :flowerforyou:

Strength can be tremendously increased (to an extent) without gaining size. It's muscular neuro adaptation you're experiencing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yup also known as motor neurons and motor units but even then they peak out.

ninerbuff

I read on a body-builder site that it is impossible to gain more than about 1 pound of muscle per MONTH! Is that true?

Well no because people who are new to lifting, doing correctly, providing correct nutrition and getting enough rest can easily put on one pound of muscle.
I believe that what the bodybuilder is referring to is that "seasoned" lifters, bodybuilders, athletes would have a problem doing it. You'll see lots of supplement ads stating "lost 20lbs and gained 11lbs of muscle" and some bulked out dude with an after "cut" pic for visual effects.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Shock_Wave

I read on a body-builder site that it is impossible to gain more than about 1 pound of muscle per MONTH! Is that true?

Well no because people who are new to lifting, doing correctly, providing correct nutrition and getting enough rest can easily put on one pound of muscle.
I believe that what the bodybuilder is referring to is that "seasoned" lifters, bodybuilders, athletes would have a problem doing it. You'll see lots of supplement ads stating "lost 20lbs and gained 11lbs of muscle" and some bulked out dude with an after "cut" pic for visual effects.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I would like to add that it is not uncommon for natural bodybuilders (no roids) to gain 2 lbs of muscle in a months time. Granted they eat,sleep and train to perfection.

DanaDark

Didn't read everyone's replies, but here we go...

Your body has two primary modes: Catabolic and Anabolic. In the catabolic state, your body breaks things down for energy, this can be fat, muscle, and other tissues. In the anabolic state, your body builds things up such as fat, muscle, and again, other tissue.

Your body is never fully in one state or the other. There is always some breaking down going on and some building up.

To gain muscle, you need a high enough anabolic rate to cover general bodily repairs and have left overs to build muscles. More muscle will require more of your anabolic rate to maintain.

The only way to increase the rate of anabolism in the body (without drugs) is through a caloric surplus. But this is not REQUIRED to put on muscle for beginners and people that have taken long breaks.

Why is that? Well, their level of anabolism even with a caloric deficit is more than enough to maintain their body, with extra left over. This allows the extra to be used to build muscle. Eventually, the extra muscle will add to the maintenance and in time, there will be no extra wiggle room. So, the deficit needs to be reduced or a surplus needs to be created.

So yes, you can create muscle at a deficit. But this all depends on the rate of anabolism in the body and your capacity to support more growth. Once you have reached your capacity, then you have to reduce the deficit or go full surplus to actually make gains.

In time, even at a huge surplus, you'll have reached the maximum you can support through your own anabolism. This is why non-drugged body builders do not turn into skyscraper sized beasts that can bench planets.

TL;DR

Anabolism does maintenance, repairs, and growth.
So long as maintenance and repairs do not take up your entire anabolic rate, you can have growth.
A caloric surplus will maximize your anabolic rate.
A caloric deficit will reduce it, larger the deficit, the smaller the rate.