Maintaining Muscle Gain

VelvetMorning
VelvetMorning Posts: 398 Member
edited February 7 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey! So, I've been doing squats for awhile now and I just started the 60 day challenge (essentially, you start at 20 squats, add five a day with a rest day at every even number). My butt is getting firm, big, round, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL, but anyway, I'm a bit worried that when I'm done the 60 day challenge (I can't remember off hand but the squat amount will be in the hundreds) that I won't be able to maintain that. I nearly die at 40 squats; I can hardly fathom how I'll ever be able to get to 60 in one shot. So, once I'm done this challenge (may take me longer than 60 days to be fair) do I need to keep doing super high numbers of squats to continue to build the muscle and maintain what I've achieved? Is this counter productive and setting my body up for something that it can't regularly do? Advice, please!

Replies

  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    To really build muscle, you should progressively lift heavier weights. Work up to holding dumbbells, then eventually to barbell squats.
  • VelvetMorning
    VelvetMorning Posts: 398 Member
    I couldn't find my dumbbells so I use Barcardi Raspberry Mojito in one hand and tequila in the other. They're pretty heavy, so! Improvising! I kind of just want to know if I need to keep doing a ton of squats to continue to build or if there's a cut off point where you'll still gain muscle definition without needing to take a day out at a time to do 500 squats (over-exaggeration), lol. Or are you saying add more weight progressively as the squats get easier and then I can do less and get more results?
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    I kind of just want to know if I need to keep doing a ton of squats to continue to build

    If you look at how bodybuilders train, they don't do dozens of reps in each set, they do more like 8 to 12 reps using a weight that's heavy enough to be very challenging. That's what i would suggest, if you want larger muscles.
  • VelvetMorning
    VelvetMorning Posts: 398 Member
    Bump for more opinions & stuff :)
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Yeah, it's much quicker to just go with heavy weight!

    As far as I can tell, you can stick to one weight once you see the results you like. Folks will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure. You do have to keep using that amount of weight, but you won't lose the muscle it takes to lift that amount. Of course you need to eat the same, etc.

    So you would have to keep doing the same number of squats that got you there, yep. Or just switch to weights for it and do a fraction of the reps :)
  • FrnkLft
    FrnkLft Posts: 1,821 Member
    Quickly about the squats... doing more and more reps helps with conditioning, not with muscle development. Adding weight to a set number of reps (max 12) is what will help you develop muscle. Think of it this way... once you've developed your muscles enough to lift your bodyweight... why would you need more muscle to do it for longer? They are already strong enough... what you need, to accomplish more reps, is just better endurance, not a bigger butt. Put differently, you don't get bigger legs by running longer distances...

    To evaluate the results of training in a smart way, you have to understand that what you see is the result of one of two things:

    Bodyfat % getting higher or lower

    Lean muscle development (slow, even for men with all of our testosterone, and even less for women)

    Bodyfat is like padding over lean muscle.

    If your butt sagged before... it wasn't because your glutes were sagging, it was because fat and/or skin over your glutes were sagging.

    If it's getting nice now, and reading what you wrote about how you got there, chances are you might have developed *a little muscle*, and mostly dropped your bodyfat % so your glutes are now showing. This is done by exercising and eating at a caloric deficit. Real results come with months/years of eating correctly and working out using progressive resistance... and your genetics.

    One caveat is the "pump" you get from exercise. That's blood filling the muscle, making it temporarily appear larger... this goes away pretty quickly. Just go a day or so without squatting and take another look... it's going to be smaller.

    Since you're spending so much time and effort on this, you should put some of that time and effort into learning about it too. A great, easy book is New Rules of Lifting for Women. Really, you should read it.
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