95lbs lost and 19lbs of muscle gained in 11 weeks

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130311/news/703119634/?interstitial=1

That's a loss of about 10lbs of fat a week and a gain of nearly 1.75lbs of muscle a week...by a female!

Obviously that rate of fat loss is incredible but for the biggest loser it's common since they workout for like four hours a day. What I'm more interested in is that Danni was able to gain 19lbs of muscle in just 11 weeks while losing an incredible amount of fat. As far as I know, she was not on any kind of steroids. How is this rate of muscle growth even possible? Most females at a calorie surplus only gain half a pound of muscle a month. She was gaining about 7lbs of muscle a month! Even most men that are on steroids and lifting gain slightly less than that (around 1.4lbs a week).

Explain/discuss.

bokodasu

It's not. Whatever they used to figure her LBM was innacurate.

helengetshealthy

The Biggest Loser does 2 weeks in one (as far as I know), so it's more like 22 weeks than 11

dawnemjh

I saw that also and was surprised, but they said they measured 3 different ways....

iAMsmiling

Honest mistake or BS from a TV show...

I'd default to the BS answer, considering the source.

imjenjen00

I was shocked when I heard that on the show, too. Regardless, she looks amazing. Her transformation is what got me out of bed this morning for the gym

AmyRhubarb

I was thinking the same thing when I watched the show - the doctor dude comparing her before and after stats said she gained 19lbs of muscle - and he seemed shocked too - but I have a hard time believing it! Seems like not enough time for that to happen, and I doubt she's been eating enough to build muscle anyway.

Something doesn't add up.

Sarauk2sf

Honest mistake or BS from a TV show...

I'd default to the BS answer, considering the source.

^^yep

trogalicious

I was thinking the same thing when I watched the show - the doctor dude comparing her before and after stats said she gained 19lbs of muscle - and he seemed shocked too - but I have a hard time believing it! Seems like not enough time for that to happen, and I doubt she's been eating enough to build muscle anyway.

Something doesn't add up.

exactly.

Yanicka1

She might be genetically gifted or it is BS.


Take your pic

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

The Biggest Loser does 2 weeks in one (as far as I know), so it's more like 22 weeks than 11

Even gaining 19lbs of muscle in 22 weeks would be nearly impossible. They said she had set a new record.

agggie550

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-much-muscle-can-you-gain/

Found this today because everyone is talking about.. oh you gained a lb its probably muscle, this sheds a little light on the subject.. not saying its scientific law but it gives a good view point.

jonnythan

She might be genetically gifted or it is BS.


Take your pic

Option 3: juice.

DontStopB_Leakin

BS concocted to get ratings. That's all.

PayneAS

Waiting for the "you can't gain muscle while in a deficit" crowd.

Christizzzle

If only I had 11 weeks to devote entirely to weightloss.

mrswoodstock

i think BL does more harm than good. it gives people unrealistic goals and expectations. and i also think they "fix" the numbers for better ratings. granted i have thier kinect game, but its the only "weight loss game" i could find in my price range at my local gamming store.

diodelcibo

:laugh: 19lbs of muscle in 11 weeks and for a female?

Maybe 3 years.

concordancia

Even the show admitted that this was extraordinary: they said it was a record, implying that even the men don't gain that much muscle. It would be nice to know how long it actually was. We know that they were home for two weeks, but for the rest of the season, we don't know which weeks were longer nor how much longer.

I don't think it was BS, if you look at Danni, she is the poster child for transformation through muscle. That girl is just a freak of nature, in a beautiful, strong, sexy way.

Meanwhile, I am gaining weight doing an extra hour a day on my vacation, while eating at the same level. I don't for a minute believe it is because is I am putting on that much muscle.

ShreddedTweet

It's true! It's all true!!! Also the world is flat, muscle weighs more than fat and the moon is made of green cheese. Facts!

geekyjock76

No way in hell. At best, a female can realistically gain about 1 lb of lean body mass per month while on a dedicated surplus. Three pounds compared to 19? No.

MB_Positif

Seriously it's just got to be a flat out lie. Here's the situation, she was an athlete when she was younger, she absolutely appears to have "gained" muscle because it was there already under the fat. She doesn't have the loose skin that some of the other contestants get because they weren't as athletic as her when they were younger.

I do think her transformation has been amazing, but I am still calling BS on the "gain" of the muscle. It's an optical illusion because she was already muscular.

dixiewhiskey

Never trust media like NBC to report factual information... Danni looks fantastic but I am sure there is more behind the story e.g. a longer time than NBC admits

NBC doesn't give us all the variables like how much the contestants are eating, how much they are working out... you barely see them in the kitchen but always working out. Something is amiss.

trogalicious

There's gotta be a sponsor somewhere complaining about the show not making them enough money.

DopeItUp

Are we really discussing the validity of a claim made by a REALITY TV SHOW?

bokodasu

Yay, I did math! I really wish I had her starting BF%, but I couldn't find it anywhere; if someone has that it would make these numbers a lot easier to work out.

She started at 258. Let's say she measured at 60% BF; that would give her 103 lbs of LBM.
She ended at 163, and they said she gained 19 lbs of "muscle" (LBM); that would mean she had 122ish lbs of LBM and would measure at 25% BF. That seems... unlikely, given the pictures I've seen, but ok, sure, let's go with that.

I don't know when they do the initial weigh-in or what the conditions are or how they calculate the contestants' BF; those things would make this easier too. But all bodyfat calculations are based on averages and get wonky when you get to really high or low weights. And all measurements have a built-in margin of error. Using multiple methods of measuring doesn't correct for this, because they're all based on the same slightly-wonky calculations in the first place. So let's go with 4% margin of error, because that's a pretty tiny for all current methods but gives good number.

If she was at 56% bodyfat at 258, she had 113.5 lbs of LBM.
If she was at 29% bodyfat at 163, she now has 115.7 lbs of LBM.

Which would mean she gained 2.2 lbs of muscle in "11 weeks" (could really be as much as 20ish depending on how much the show lies). Totally possible for a big girl newbie.

rodneyderrick

I can't bring myself to watch reality television.

determined_erin

I like watching this show, and I love Danni. However, I feel like they made Danni the favorite to the viewers throughout the season. It wasn't a shock to me when she was the #1 finalist on the episode this week. It almost feels planned.

lizzybethclaire

bump

amilypic

She's just going to gain it all back anyway. She did nothing but excersize for for 11 weeks, everything it going to be different whne she goes back to work.

Martucha123

they said in on TV SO IT MUST BE TRUE