Question about a woman gaining muscle

Hi all,

I am soon to start heavy lifting with a Personal Trainer and want to know: can I gain muscle by converting my existing fat to muscle, as opposed to gaining muscle on top of my current weight?

Does that make sense?! Basically I weigh 137lbs (5ft 5.5) and don't wanna gain weight if I can help it- I do have fat to lose so would this naturally turn to muscle when doing weights???

Thanks for any help

you cannot "turn fat into muscle"...however, you CAN lose fat and build muscle.

I would focus more on measurements and the fit of clothing than on what the scale says. There are pictures in my profile of me at almost the exact same weight. However, in one I am wearing a 42DD bra and size 16/18 pants. The other I am in a 38C bra and 12/14 shorts

Are you eating at a calorie deficit, surplus or to maintain your weight?

Gaining muscle is pretty hard for everyone, women more so than men because we have much less testosterone. If you are very new to weight lifting you might gain a small amount of muscle even if you are at a deficit, or maintaining, but I'm talking less than a pound.

However, you might gain some pounds due to the water weight that often comes with beginning a new program. Your muscles might swell again due to this water. These effects are temporary and should not be of concern. You also might lose fat over your muscles making them appear more defined but that doesn't mean they grew.

you might see lb gain at first from water retention (just like when you sprain your ankle and it swells, when you stress your muscles they retain water for healing). long term you might gain pounds from gaining muscle but your body composition WILL change and you will look better. & the more muscles you have the more calories you burn.. even while sleeping. you will burn fat and gain muscle. go by pictures to track your progress instead of the scale. you will be happier. and make sure you're getting enough protein.

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

I use to powerlift when I was younger 17-24 , I was buff for me because that is what my genetics allowed and i trained my *kitten* off. now i do more mainstream lifting and I don't look much different , smaller biceps than i use to have ect .. If you can train your *kitten* of do it, not sure of your age, so if you are in the younger age group you should do whatever you are able to do now before you waste your youth. and if you continue you will be glad you did, this is the fountain of youth , sweat, lifting and eating clean. goodluck and have fun with your transformation.

1. you won't gain long term weight by lifting if you aren't eating at a calorie surplus, or at least it is very hard to gain muscle that way.
2. You might gain some temp weight as your muscles retain water when you start to lift.
3. You don't convert fat into muscle....you burn fat, and build muscle.

^^^^^
That's what I was going to say.
God bless,
Karen

Are you eating at a calorie deficit, surplus or to maintain your weight?

Gaining muscle is pretty hard for everyone, women more so than men because we have much less testosterone. If you are very new to weight lifting you might gain a small amount of muscle even if you are at a deficit, or maintaining, but I'm talking less than a pound.

However, you might gain some pounds due to the water weight that often comes with beginning a new program. Your muscles might swell again due to this water. These effects are temporary and should not be of concern. You also might lose fat over your muscles making them appear more defined but that doesn't mean they grew.

I am eating to maintain. If I carry on doing this while lifting heavy what will happen? Can I still gain muscle or do I need to eat a surplus?

You might gain a small amount of muscle and a lose a small amount of fat. That's what referred to as a body re-composition. It's a very long and slow processes with minimal results. This is why a lot of people do cut/bulk cycles were they alternate eating at a deficit and a surplus for a period of time each (2-6 months, maybe).

But I'm not sure what you are doing is going to be enough to build muscle. I'd suggest looking into a good basic compound full body routine (Stronglifts 5x5, New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women, Starting Strength). These are designed to gain muscle as fast as possible but I think they are a very good starting point for all beginners. After you try them for 4-6 weeks if you want to switch to a hypertrophy program you can.