Doing cardio with out gaining muscle...

emma155

My problem is I know nothing about building mucle, this has never been one of my goals hence why I am trying to find out now how easy it is to gain muscle, but by the sounds of it its not very easy at all....?

moustache_flavored_lube

Such mixed responses..... I have always used cardio before to lose weight but for some reason i just thought.. you use muscle to move meaning you use muscle to run which means running would build muscle and building mescle means weight gain? Just a thought.. Ill prob not worry too much about it.

Serious question, what is the problem with building muscle and increasing your weight? If you follow your measurements or keep track of your BF%, it's not a bad thing. Fat takes more space so even when your weight goes up, you will likely look thinner and a lot stronger. A good training program includes both resistance and cardio. Cardio is overrated IMO. It's fun though.

Besides, I am yet to see a woman that lifts weights that doesn't look great. HUGE difference between a lady that lifts and one that doesn't. And I am not talking about female bodybuilders. They do things that are way of the goals of the average woman.

How can i measure my body fat?

Calipers are the most accurate, however, electronic monitors that measure the conductivity of your body are a good estimation of body fat

emma155

Such mixed responses..... I have always used cardio before to lose weight but for some reason i just thought.. you use muscle to move meaning you use muscle to run which means running would build muscle and building mescle means weight gain? Just a thought.. Ill prob not worry too much about it.

Serious question, what is the problem with building muscle and increasing your weight? If you follow your measurements or keep track of your BF%, it's not a bad thing. Fat takes more space so even when your weight goes up, you will likely look thinner and a lot stronger. A good training program includes both resistance and cardio. Cardio is overrated IMO. It's fun though.

Besides, I am yet to see a woman that lifts weights that doesn't look great. HUGE difference between a lady that lifts and one that doesn't. And I am not talking about female bodybuilders. They do things that are way of the goals of the average woman.

How can i measure my body fat?

Calipers are the most accurate, however, electronic monitors that measure the conductivity of your body are a good estimation of body fat

I have looked into buying one but its seems to be difficult to find a good make/brand and very expensive too...

moosegt35

This is a serious forum; it is no place for jokes.

I don't know why so many people here are so ready to jump on everything they disagree with, wow. Buncha bullies.

Sorry you think you're being "BULLIED", but its quite ridiculous to imply that the time of day a person does cardio has anything to do with muscle gains or loss...

If you have some kind of research that supports the theory, please feel free to post that, but as general advice, its just laughable!

google "sarcasm" and then come back to us.

myofibril

My problem is I know nothing about building mucle, this has never been one of my goals hence why I am trying to find out now how easy it is to gain muscle, but by the sounds of it its not very easy at all....?

Absolutely right.

There is often the "illusion" of growth which simply comes about with increased muscle definition: you think you are bigger because the muscle appears to have grown. In reality the fat covering it has decreased. If you measured yourself you could actually find you are smaller.

In addition, you may experience a temporary increase in size due to fluid retention but that soon abates just as long as you keep eating at a calorie deficit.

In short, you have little to worry about from exercising and particularly from weight training whilst eating at a calorie deficit.

It is diet that is the key.

strikerjb007

Such mixed responses..... I have always used cardio before to lose weight but for some reason i just thought.. you use muscle to move meaning you use muscle to run which means running would build muscle and building mescle means weight gain? Just a thought.. Ill prob not worry too much about it.

Serious question, what is the problem with building muscle and increasing your weight? If you follow your measurements or keep track of your BF%, it's not a bad thing. Fat takes more space so even when your weight goes up, you will likely look thinner and a lot stronger. A good training program includes both resistance and cardio. Cardio is overrated IMO. It's fun though.

Besides, I am yet to see a woman that lifts weights that doesn't look great. HUGE difference between a lady that lifts and one that doesn't. And I am not talking about female bodybuilders. They do things that are way of the goals of the average woman.

How can i measure my body fat?

Calipers are the most accurate, however, electronic monitors that measure the conductivity of your body are a good estimation of body fat

yes, but the important thing is not the number, it's the trend. See, I don't care if my body fat is 4% or 6%... I mean, that's just a number, what I care about is whether than number is going up or down. So, I agree with you.

strikerjb007

My problem is I know nothing about building mucle, this has never been one of my goals hence why I am trying to find out now how easy it is to gain muscle, but by the sounds of it its not very easy at all....?

I agree. Losing weight = somewhat easy. Gaining muscle = NOT EASY.

sarafil

Even with a good hypertrophy program and a calorie surplus women typically gain no more than half a pound of muscle a month. Cardio won't make you gain muscle. If anything, you're probably losing muscle.

^^^
This

moosegt35

Such mixed responses..... I have always used cardio before to lose weight but for some reason i just thought.. you use muscle to move meaning you use muscle to run which means running would build muscle and building mescle means weight gain? Just a thought.. Ill prob not worry too much about it.

Your leg muscles are used to run but there isn't a lot of resistance. Your legs will get somewhat stronger and more conditioned from running but won't build much muscle in them. You need to keep adding heavier weights to add resistance to build muscle.

Danny_Boy13

In order to build muscle you need to be using a lot of resistance. You need to lift HEAVY weights... have hard resistance. You also need to be eating at a calorie surplus to build muscle.

While on a calorie deficit and doing cardio, you will not build muscle. Unfortunately with a deficit and cardio most of us will lose some muscle... more so with a higher deficit.

^ This FTW!!!

moosegt35

My problem is I know nothing about building mucle, this has never been one of my goals hence why I am trying to find out now how easy it is to gain muscle, but by the sounds of it its not very easy at all....?

If gaining muscle was easy every guy at the gym would look like the Rock. You aren't going to gain so much muscle that you look bulky unless you start lifting like crazy and eating tons of protein with a cal surplus.

aeverson2

Very good point!

emma155

What sot of measurements should I look to lose? What is realistic? eg should I want to lose one inch a week from my hips/waist?
For instance what sort measurement difference would be needed to drop a dress size? (if the measurement was from you hips say) this is new to me so I am interested.

TXGirl821

Just out of curiosity, and maybe it's been answered and I didn't see it, but you seem to be terrified of gaining muscle. Why is that? You won't get all crazy bulky like a man. Depending on your strength training, you will probably drop a size and just look lovely and healthy. You don't want to be skinnyfat and you don't need to just be focused on the scale.

SRH7

It makes sence, I have always been like this, if it makes you feel any better; as soon as I started running I lost the pounds (10 lbs in 6 weeks) combined with a calorie intake of 1.000 calories which is quite drastic but Ive eaten healthy and allowed some 'off days'.

Although, i do feel like my legs have toned/tightened, which is what I was scared of but if anything it has made them look thinner! x

No offence but there is no way to get the nutrients your body needs on 1,000 calories a day, so in reality this is not healthy (you yourself said it is "drastic", which says it all)

moosegt35

What sot of measurements should I look to lose? What is realistic? eg should I want to lose one inch a week from my hips/waist?
For instance what sort measurement difference would be needed to drop a dress size? (if the measurement was from you hips say) this is new to me so I am interested.

If you don't have much to lose, and it looks like you don't, then 1 inch a week is a lot. Might look for an inch a month. take measurements around yuor neck, arms, legs waist, or wherever you think you have some excess fat and watch the measurements slowly shrink. Another way would be to take unclothed photos of yourself in the mirror and keep a timeline of them to see if you can see progress. I am great with a computer so you could send those to me and I could compile the timeline for you if you want.

emma155

Just out of curiosity, and maybe it's been answered and I didn't see it, but you seem to be terrified of gaining muscle. Why is that? You won't get all crazy bulky like a man. Depending on your strength training, you will probably drop a size and just look lovely and healthy. You don't want to be skinnyfat and you don't need to just be focused on the scale.

I do not like the thought of gaining because i get easily discoraged meaning if i dont feel like im loosing fat i seem to lose hope.... I dont have a probelm with gaining muscle as such just that im determined to stay on track and so far so good.... Im terrified of falling of the wagon not gaing muscle

emma155

What sot of measurements should I look to lose? What is realistic? eg should I want to lose one inch a week from my hips/waist?
For instance what sort measurement difference would be needed to drop a dress size? (if the measurement was from you hips say) this is new to me so I am interested.

If you don't have much to lose, and it looks like you don't, then 1 inch a week is a lot. Might look for an inch a month. take measurements around yuor neck, arms, legs waist, or wherever you think you have some excess fat and watch the measurements slowly shrink. Another way would be to take unclothed photos of yourself in the mirror and keep a timeline of them to see if you can see progress. I am great with a computer so you could send those to me and I could compile the timeline for you if you want.

LOL you want me to send unclothed photo's of my self to you? Im sure you didnt mean it in that way (I hope) but sounds a little dodgy hehe!

psuLemon

Just out of curiosity, and maybe it's been answered and I didn't see it, but you seem to be terrified of gaining muscle. Why is that? You won't get all crazy bulky like a man. Depending on your strength training, you will probably drop a size and just look lovely and healthy. You don't want to be skinnyfat and you don't need to just be focused on the scale.

I do not like the thought of gaining because i get easily discoraged meaning if i dont feel like im loosing fat i seem to lose hope.... I dont have a probelm with gaining muscle as such just that im determined to stay on track and so far so good.... Im terrified of falling of the wagon not gaing muscle

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

This is what happens when you go through a bulk phase. Is that so bad? Do you want a leaner and tighter body or just weight less. Weight is meaningless. And even if you can't get body calipers or measuring, just take pictures. Not all gaining is bad.

weird_me2

You care more about the number on the size tag than about looking/being fitter?

Okayyy...

You do realize that if you strength train and shape your muscles, you can lose inches but the scale won't budge, right? Weight is not related to size. I've seen women on here who lost inches all over but gained five pounds because muscle is more dense than fat.

Personally, I'd rather look awesome in a dress that's a size 8 than be squishy and a size 6. Nobody can see your size tag, but they CAN see how you look in it. It's not like the size is printed on the back.

Ok I understand what you are saying, but for me its about loosing motivation, its always been my problem with dieting, I find I need to measure so I can tell my self im doing well.... it may sound strange to some people but for some it must make sense?????

My first suggestion is to find your motivation outside of the scale. You are almost guaranteed to NOT lose 1 pound per week every single week. If you base your motivation solely on seeing the scale move, you are likely to fail very quickly. You have to work on your mindset and your thinking patterns in order to be successful longterm if you let scale movement or non-movement determine your mindframe.

Start by accepting that what you are doing is for life. If you can't accept that it's for life, then find something that you can accept for life. There is no magical ending point. You don't get to stop when you get to goal. If you tell yourself that you will quit as soon as you hit a bump in the road, then you are setting yourself up for failure. Really work on changing your thoughts and responses to disappointment. Find motivation from factors other than the scale and just keep going. It would be way better for you to take 20 or 30 weeks to lose the weight slowly than for you to set an unrealistic or even realistic goal and quit the second it gets hard. Being down 10 pounds a year from now would be way better than being up even 1.


I've lost all my weight over the course of 52 weeks and I probably have at least 52 more weeks, but if I had given up the first time I'd seen a gain, I'd probably weigh 10 pounds more than I did a year ago instead of over 52 pounds less...