The calorie deficit/ muscle gain paradox...

ellenkxxx

I accept hat you won't gain muscle on a calorie deficit unless you're very overweight or very new to lifting.

My question is this: if you are eating at maintenance level or a slight deficit, completing 3 cardio sessions burning 700 calories, and 3 heavy lifting sessions each week, WHAT happens to your muscles?

I get that they won't grow big, (don't want that anyway), I'm just looking for a small amount of fat loss and for my muscles to be toned, with a small amount of definition.

I eat a LOT of protein, btw.

diabloben68

I accept hat you won't gain muscle on a calorie deficit unless you're very overweight or very new to lifting.

My question is this: if you are eating at maintenance level or a slight deficit, completing 3 cardio sessions burning 700 calories, and 3 heavy lifting sessions each week, WHAT happens to your muscles?

I get that they won't grow big, (don't want that anyway), I'm just looking for a small amount of fat loss and for my muscles to be toned, with a small amount of definition.

I eat a LOT of protein, btw.

There are a lot of factors that go into this,

What kinds of heavy lifting workouts are you doing, how much weight, and for how long?
Genetics
Age
Gender
Current weight

As a 26 year old male, I can tell you that I gain about a pound of muscle a month from lifting 4 to 5 times a week. Danny off this seasons biggest loser gained 19lbs of muscle so far, and I think she is at a deficit in calories. Does that help lol?

ellenkxxx

I accept hat you won't gain muscle on a calorie deficit unless you're very overweight or very new to lifting.

My question is this: if you are eating at maintenance level or a slight deficit, completing 3 cardio sessions burning 700 calories, and 3 heavy lifting sessions each week, WHAT happens to your muscles?

I get that they won't grow big, (don't want that anyway), I'm just looking for a small amount of fat loss and for my muscles to be toned, with a small amount of definition.

I eat a LOT of protein, btw.

There are a lot of factors that go into this,

What kinds of heavy lifting workouts are you doing, how much weight, and for how long?
Genetics
Age
Gender
Current weight

As a 26 year old male, I can tell you that I gain about a pound of muscle a month from lifting 4 to 5 times a week. Danny off this seasons biggest loser gained 19lbs of muscle so far, and I think she is at a deficit in calories. Does that help lol?

ellenkxxx

Thanks for your reply.

I am 32, female, and am using machines at the gym on the highest weight setting that allows me to perform 6 sets of 8-12 reps.

I am 169cm tall, 58kg. I would like to lose 4kg, but m more interested in toning. I'm getting floppy in my old age!

diabloben68

Thanks for your reply.

I am 32, female, and am using machines at the gym on the highest weight setting that allows me to perform 6 sets of 8-12 reps.

I am 169cm tall, 58kg. I would like to lose 4kg, but m more interested in toning. I'm getting floppy in my old age!

Ok cool, 32 is still young so you dont really need to worry about your muscles flying away at night (wink).
I think you can expect to get toned for sure, if you are being fairly intense than I would say expect to see some great definition and some mass added. It may take 3 or 4 months to see these results, but on average more like 2 months.

What your going to find about lifting weights is that it is going to give you more visible results than probably anything you have ever done. This is the case with both men and women. Lifting weights, especially heavy lifting can bring fantastic results.

Women and men seem to plateau with their overall mass after a while anyway. If you are familiar with the S curve in graphing, you can expect to see little to no results, than lots of results, and then diminishing returns after a while. This is normal. So once you get past that first suckyness of no results, then there is a while where there are results, and then the results starts to slow down.

Dont stop lifting, make sure everytime you go back to the weights, you are doing more, so if you squat 50kg this week, do 55kg next week. Always push yourself to do more.