Women focused on strength: How much did you gain?

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  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    According to the author of New Rules of Lifting for Women, women can gain up to around 2.5 pounds of muscle in a month. I find it very discouraging when people assume that women can't put on muscle.:frown:

    I'm actually just reading this book now, and I could swear the author actually says that women should expect only about a 0.5 pounds of muscle gain per month--typically accompanied by an equal amount of fat. i know this stood out to me as I read it because I kind of want to gain a bit of weight (possibly both fat and muscle), and was really surprised that if I do it smartly, I would only gain like 12 pounds in a year. Maybe I don't remember it correctly, but that's how I read the author's point.

    In my bulk, I calculated that I gained 1.5lb of muscle in 6 weeks and about 2lb fat. It took 1700 cals per week over my maintenance cals, 1g of protein per lb of LBM, and 18 hours of heavy progressive lifting (3 x week whole body 60 secs rest between each set). Many times I'd be picking up heavier weights than some of the guys(I have lifted for a few years off and on) and squat my body weight etc.

    I knew my biological limit to gain muscle was a quarter of a pound a week. I wanted to take as little extra body fat on as I could as I really don't want to be in deficit again for a while. My body's had enough of that.

    All I can say is, if you are gaining more than a 2 pounds a month (averaged) and you aren't following a progressive weight lifting programme, and you are unhappy about it (most important) then step back and reassess. It's notoriously hard to measure bf % and I wouldn't trust my own caliper readings or scale. My jeans don't lie, or my tape measure (on a bulk I expect things to grow uncomfortably though). I didn't cut yet as I was about 17% bf 123lb 5'7" to start with and I like my new shape, fat included end though it's going to slow my 5k time down.

    Recalculate your burns, tdee, bmr, log everything, and use calories in calories out with adequate protein. No amount of vague eating clean or healthy is going to replace that, particularly if you tend to over and/or under eat naturally.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the great advice. I appreciate hearing both sides.

    Some of you wonder what is required of jiujitsu as it is not heavy lifting. Class starts with 10-15 minutes of HIIT style warmups. Then we maneuver our bodies in various ways for drills. Finally we go one-on-one for a 6 minute roll. We usually have 5 rolls per class.

    What is a roll like? You are working to free yourself from a submission or working to submit an opponent. It is very much like a fight and you expend a lot of energy. It also requires a great deal of core strength.

    When I first started jiujitsu I could barely lift my hips to lock someone in a triangle, I didn't have the arm strength to maintain connection to my opponent's gi (AKA kimono) while he or she worked hard to pull away. I had to strengthen my body to bridge another person off of me. While the idea is to not need a lot of strength, the people who do jiujitsu are ripped. Thin guys are thin and ripped. Dense guys are dense and ripped. Basically, you don't need a lot of muscle, but if you start jiujitsu without much muscle, you are going to gain it.

    I look in the mirror at myself and although I am larger in pant size, my eyes deceive me because I swear I look better now than I did when I was wearing smaller sizes.

    Also, I am part Filipino and some Filipino's have dense muscles (short and stalky). So, while books may say the average woman will only gain so many pounds, I am far from the shape and size of the average woman.

    I am convinced that I gained 10 pounds of muscle because I stayed consistent with my weight for over a year.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    OP- I forgot to mention this in my first post. I am very interested in this part of your post:
    Stress:
    None

    How does that work? I feel like you must have a secret. Especially with 3 kids!
    TELL ME THE SECRET!

    (sorry about the yelling. I am stressed.)

    The secret to stress reduction: Yoga and Jiujitsu. Yoga is quiet and mindful, lots of stretching which releases tense muscles. Jiujitsu is an all out brawl. Think of wrestling on the grass with your friends. It's fun and burns a lot of energy. I laugh a lot in my classes. Lastly, 2 of my 3 kids are grown and out of the house. If you have 3 little ones at home aim for yoga twice a week. smile
  • heatherloveslifting
    heatherloveslifting Posts: 1,428 Member
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    I totally agree that if you are happy and healthy the scale is not terribly important, BUT 1) there is no way you put on 20 lbs of muscle doing yoga and pilates and 2) if your scale and tape measure are both increasing you are eating above maintenance.
  • Sarah4fitness
    Sarah4fitness Posts: 437 Member
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    Recently I went on a 6 week heavy bulk, I was lifting HEAVY weights with proper form, SLOWLY, and doing no cardio. I ate above maintenance, with a redonkulus amount of protein/day.

    I gained 7lbs.

    I'm aware that some of that was water, some was fat, and a bit was probably muscle. I have naturally high testosterone for a female, but even so, I'm under no delusions that my gains were entirely muscle. I have NEVER been so ready for a cut as I was the weekend before my coach gave me the go-ahead. If you're genuinely trying to BUILD/ADD muscle to your frame, rather than just strengthen what you've got, you NEED heavy resistance training. Newbie gains through new exercises can absolutely change how you look in the short term, but to add muscle it takes heavy lifting and eating in a surplus.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    How many of you have seen your weight climb and worried that you're too heavy even though you didn't feel fatter? How did you cope? What were your results?

    My background...

    Age: 38
    Female
    3 children (youngest is 7)
    Height: 5'3"


    Exercise:
    I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (2x/week), yoga (x1) and Pilates (x1). All basically good for building muscle and flexibility and jiu jistu also fills the gap for cardiovascular fitness. I also spend a few minutes a couple of mornings per week to do jumping jacks, lunges or other types of quick cardio or strength to get my heart pumping. And a few times I week I go for a 15 minute, 1 mile walk.

    Diet:
    Mostly clean. Very few processed foods. I know that I am not over eating or under eating. Logged recently just to be sure.

    Water:
    6-8 8oz. servings

    Rest:
    7-9 hours per night.

    Stress:
    None

    I know I am on the right track. But I find it bothersome that I weigh 152 pounds right now. (I'm trying my best not to let the scale frighten me.) I started at 135 before starting jiu jitsu a year ago. I was weak compared to now. It didn't take long to jump to 145 pounds. I am so much stronger and happier. Fat began to melt away when I incorporated occasional exercise burst in the morning, but my weight didn't drop. I don't think I should be worried. The calipers tell me that I'm still losing fat even though the tape measure is creeping up just slightly. I'm sure I'm gaining muscle as I am getting better at jiu jitsu and the guys are "fighting back" much harder against me.

    I guess what I really want to know is for females who are in maintenance mode and are primarily focusing on muscle building, how heavy did you become before it was very obvious that your fat percentage was dropping? Did you gain a significant amount of weight that you started to worry a little too?

    Oh... and after logging the past couple days, I realized I need to increase my protein.

    Thanks for offering me your insight!

    I'm sorry but you did not gain 17 lb of muscle in a year
    Thanks. Turns out I had some water gain and it freaked me out. I am going through the same thing again now. I should be back to normal in a few days once I've purged the sodium. I've been holding steady at 146.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    I totally agree that if you are happy and healthy the scale is not terribly important, BUT 1) there is no way you put on 20 lbs of muscle doing yoga and pilates and 2) if your scale and tape measure are both increasing you are eating above maintenance.

    Thanks. I didn't put on 20 pounds. Just 10. I went from 135-145 doing jiujitsu. The extra pounds that brought me to 152 ended up being water weight and was gone within a week. Either I had too much sodium or I over worked some muscles. Maybe both. I freaked out because that's a big jump in numbers, that's why I posted. Currently I jumped from 146 to 150 over the weekend. I'm not stressing this time because I remember eating high sodium meals over the past few days.
  • lacewitch
    lacewitch Posts: 766 Member
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    not sure
    but ... I am 10kg heavier than when i was 16 and slimmer now (32) by quite a bit
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I know women who does karate and cardio and HIIT and resistence training and she is stronger than she was before and quite lean...ie six pack emerging...

    But she in no way has added any muscle to her frame..

    Unless you are lifting a progressive load lifting program (heavy weights) and eating at a surplus the gains are not muscle sorry ladies..esp 10lbs in one year...that would be great for a woman but not realistic.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    What kind of Pilates classes are you taking? Are you just doing mat work, or are you working in a machine-equipped studio? There is no progressive loading component to traditional Pilates mat work. If you're working with a machine-equipped studio, you can get a miniscule amount of progressive loading work on a Reformer or a Chair (maybe one or two Cadillac exercises as well, but none on the Ladder Barrel or Half Barrel). That tops out pretty quickly, though, because those machines aren't designed to keep letting you add resistance indefinitely, and there are only a handful of Reformer and Chair exercises that work in a progressive loading-type manner. If you're working in a full Pilates studio with an instructor who understands the concept, you might put on a tiny bit of muscle, but we're talking ounces. Total. And maybe.

    (I worked my way through college as a Certified Pilates Instructor in an instructor-training studio).
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    What kind of Pilates classes are you taking? Are you just doing mat work, or are you working in a machine-equipped studio? There is no progressive loading component to traditional Pilates mat work. If you're working with a machine-equipped studio, you can get a miniscule amount of progressive loading work on a Reformer or a Chair (maybe one or two Cadillac exercises as well, but none on the Ladder Barrel or Half Barrel). That tops out pretty quickly, though, because those machines aren't designed to keep letting you add resistance indefinitely, and there are only a handful of Reformer and Chair exercises that work in a progressive loading-type manner. If you're working in a full Pilates studio with an instructor who understands the concept, you might put on a tiny bit of muscle, but we're talking ounces. Total. And maybe.

    (I worked my way through college as a Certified Pilates Instructor in an instructor-training studio).

    It's a mixed levels Pilates class. We mostly do mat work, lunges, planks, resistance bands/ring. The routines used to be challenging before I started jiujitsu. Now they are easy, but I enjoy the slow control so I make a point of going once a week. I don't do Pilates to grow huge muscles, but rather to focus on posture and strengthening supportive muscles.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    OP- I forgot to mention this in my first post. I am very interested in this part of your post:
    Stress:
    None

    How does that work? I feel like you must have a secret. Especially with 3 kids!
    TELL ME THE SECRET!

    (sorry about the yelling. I am stressed.)

    The secret to stress reduction: Yoga and Jiujitsu. Yoga is quiet and mindful, lots of stretching which releases tense muscles. Jiujitsu is an all out brawl. Think of wrestling on the grass with your friends. It's fun and burns a lot of energy. I laugh a lot in my classes. Lastly, 2 of my 3 kids are grown and out of the house. If you have 3 little ones at home aim for yoga twice a week.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    I know women who does karate and cardio and HIIT and resistence training and she is stronger than she was before and quite lean...ie six pack emerging...

    But she in no way has added any muscle to her frame..

    Unless you are lifting a progressive load lifting program (heavy weights) and eating at a surplus the gains are not muscle sorry ladies..esp 10lbs in one year...that would be great for a woman but not realistic.

    Sounds like that lady you spoke of is burning a lot of calories. I don't work out that hard so I'm not reducing my existing fat very much. I held my weight steady for a year, the first 10 pounds came on during my first 3 or so months of jiujitsu as I learned to lift my own body weight to account for many of the moves. I'm nowhere near a power lifter, but I do recognize when I am stronger. Was curious what other women have gone through regarding weight and muscle. I posted originally because I had a sudden peak in weight. Turns out it was probably water gain as I was back to my normal weight 145-146 within a week.
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    To address the original post, I have been lifting "heavy" for 46 weeks now. I am the exact same weight, but 2 sizes smaller. I don't weigh myself often (usually once a month). At this point, I'm not going to get worked up over the # on the scale if I'm 2 sizes smaller.

    It seems like I have lost fat/gained muscle using (like another poster said) progressively heavier weight. I eat at a small deficit during the week...and usually just over maintenance calories on the weekend.

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