I Know It's not all Muscle, but..

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  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    If you have noticed that your thighs are considerably firmer and have definition now where previously they were just sausages then that is definite progress and you should be proud of that. I guess the question is do you want legs that look fit (ie muscular and trim) or do you want stick legs. If you want stick legs you might be on the wrong track with all this working out running and eating right stuff but if you want to look fit sounds like you are on the right track to me.

    I think you hit the nail on the head...I wanted thinner legs, maybe not stick thin but really thin...2 size smaller than what I got now. But then when I start appreciating muscles...I am kinda in dilemma now: what I am doing apparently is not give what I want, but what I like what I got so far and don't want to give up. LOL sorry about the confusion...

    Appearance is subjective, health isn't. I personally prefer the muscled and fit look myself but others may not including yourself. I don't judge on that or I try not to anyways but I will say you are healthier from what you are doing than if you had just ate at a deficit and not worked out at all and lost both the fat and the muscle in your legs as a result.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    If you have noticed that your thighs are considerably firmer and have definition now where previously they were just sausages then that is definite progress and you should be proud of that. I guess the question is do you want legs that look fit (ie muscular and trim) or do you want stick legs. If you want stick legs you might be on the wrong track with all this working out running and eating right stuff but if you want to look fit sounds like you are on the right track to me.

    I think you hit the nail on the head...I wanted thinner legs, maybe not stick thin but really thin...2 size smaller than what I got now. But then when I start appreciating muscles...I am kinda in dilemma now: what I am doing apparently is not give what I want, but what I like what I got so far and don't want to give up. LOL sorry about the confusion...

    Appearance is subjective, health isn't. I personally prefer the muscled and fit look myself but others may not including yourself. I don't judge on that or I try not to anyways but I will say you are healthier from what you are doing than if you had just ate at a deficit and not worked out at all and lost both the fat and the muscle in your legs as a result.

    I used to want to look like one of the Victoria Secret Models, but now I think I prefer Athleta models.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
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    So after 2 years of exercise, running & strength training you have nice lean hard legs...but people are claiming it's not muscle????

    its not new muscle.
    the loss of fat will reveal what was there, but if OP is on a deficit, beyond slight noob gains, it will be the muscle that she already had.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
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    I think it is possible to gain muscle in a deficit, but it is very rare to gain lean body mass while in a deficit. The two exceptions I've seen of this are in the extremely obese and as a result of newbie gains (when you first start heavy lifting). You can also have regional muscle gain in a deficit. So, although your lean body mass may be the same or reduced overall, you can have greater muscle in certain areas -- such as when a previously untrained individual starts lifting heavy and will see increased muscle in certain areas (oftentimes the upper body or back).
  • bshot1
    bshot1 Posts: 44
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    So after 2 years of exercise, running & strength training you have nice lean hard legs...but people are claiming it's not muscle????

    its not new muscle.
    the loss of fat will reveal what was there, but if OP is on a deficit, beyond slight noob gains, it will be the muscle that she already had.
    Pretty much this. There may be water retention and increase blood circulation giving that nice pumped firm muscular look, but you aren't breaking the laws of physics.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
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    I think it is possible to gain muscle in a deficit, but it is very rare to gain lean body mass while in a deficit. The two exceptions I've seen of this are in the extremely obese and as a result of newbie gains (when you first start heavy lifting). You can also have regional muscle gain in a deficit. So, although your lean body mass may be the same or reduced overall, you can have greater muscle in certain areas -- such as when a previously untrained individual starts lifting heavy and will see increased muscle in certain areas (oftentimes the upper body or back).

    say what now?

    are you maybe thinking of strength gains?
  • laurynwithawhy
    laurynwithawhy Posts: 385 Member
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    So after 2 years of exercise, running & strength training you have nice lean hard legs...but people are claiming it's not muscle????

    its not new muscle.
    the loss of fat will reveal what was there, but if OP is on a deficit, beyond slight noob gains, it will be the muscle that she already had.
    Pretty much this. There may be water retention and increase blood circulation giving that nice pumped firm muscular look, but you aren't breaking the laws of physics.

    This. It's definitely muscle - the muscle that you already had. When we have a lot of fat and don't exercise, the muscle is weak, underdeveloped, and can even have fat marbled through it (think steak). Exercise, drop some of the fat, work the muscle, and it becomes more developed and appears and feels harder. You can't gain muscle WEIGHT on a deficit, but you can improve the muscle tone and quality with exercise.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
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    I think it is possible to gain muscle in a deficit, but it is very rare to gain lean body mass while in a deficit. The two exceptions I've seen of this are in the extremely obese and as a result of newbie gains (when you first start heavy lifting). You can also have regional muscle gain in a deficit. So, although your lean body mass may be the same or reduced overall, you can have greater muscle in certain areas -- such as when a previously untrained individual starts lifting heavy and will see increased muscle in certain areas (oftentimes the upper body or back).

    say what now?

    are you maybe thinking of strength gains?

    Nope, not just strength gains. I don't have the studies handy at the moment, but Lyle talks about it here in his "overfat" beginners or those returning to strength training after a lay-off. I'll see if I can find the studies on regional increases.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    Here's one that shows increases in lean body weight in the case of obese, untrained women who were dieting and lifting heavy. Not much, but it's there. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/47/1/19.full.pdf

    I also know I've seen a study where the women just worked their quads/hamstrings and they found region increases there but overall reduction in lean body mass while in a caloric deficit.

    I can't find the text of the original study on any free cites, but here's a summary from an atkins site (titled Effect of a Hypocaloric Diet, Increased Protein Intake and Resistance Training on Lean Mass Gains and Fat Mass Loss in Overweight Police Officers): http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Activity---Exercise.aspx
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    It's been two years... this hasn't happened over weeks or months but years... sounds like a recomp to me.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Toning is for real!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I think it is possible to gain muscle in a deficit, but it is very rare to gain lean body mass while in a deficit. The two exceptions I've seen of this are in the extremely obese and as a result of newbie gains (when you first start heavy lifting). You can also have regional muscle gain in a deficit. So, although your lean body mass may be the same or reduced overall, you can have greater muscle in certain areas -- such as when a previously untrained individual starts lifting heavy and will see increased muscle in certain areas (oftentimes the upper body or back).

    say what now?

    are you maybe thinking of strength gains?

    Nope, not just strength gains. I don't have the studies handy at the moment, but Lyle talks about it here in his "overfat" beginners or those returning to strength training after a lay-off. I'll see if I can find the studies on regional increases.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    Here's one that shows increases in lean body weight in the case of obese, untrained women who were dieting and lifting heavy. Not much, but it's there. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/47/1/19.full.pdf

    I also know I've seen a study where the women just worked their quads/hamstrings and they found region increases there but overall reduction in lean body mass while in a caloric deficit.

    I can't find the text of the original study on any free cites, but here's a summary from an atkins site (titled Effect of a Hypocaloric Diet, Increased Protein Intake and Resistance Training on Lean Mass Gains and Fat Mass Loss in Overweight Police Officers): http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Activity---Exercise.aspx
    While noob gains are a thing, they are measured in ounces, and only last a matter of a few weeks.

    Also, lean mass gains are not the same thing as muscle gain. Most lean mass gains are due to water and glycogen storage, not muscle tissue. Growing actual muscle tissue is very, very, hard.

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