Clueless about strength training and gaining muscle

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megabitch2007
megabitch2007 Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, so I recently lost 30 pounds and now I'm very slim but definitely what you would call "skinny fat". It's all thanks to too much cardio and very little weight training, and now I want to change that. I want to get more muscle and lose that jiggle, but I'm clueless on where to start. I started doing kickboxing two times per week which is both cardio and strength, and I'm thinking about doing additional weight lifting 2 times per week while doing additional (light) cardio 4 times per week. Does this sound good? I honestly just don't know.
Also- as for eating, I'm working on getting lots of protein. I've heard of bulking and cutting too but I don't know if I should do something like that or just eat at maintenance calorie-wise???? Any advice or tips would be so so welcome.

Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    My personal experience as someone exercising on and off for 20 years is that unless your ideal is a competitive body builder's body, or if you are newly initiated in weight training and overly enthusiastic about the novelty of it, of course cardio is not going to hurt your body in any way, or make you lose muscle or have loose skin or be "skinny fat". So, you can blame lack of muscle volume or lack of upper body strength to no strength training, but you did not do any damage by doing cardio and there is no reason from turning this into "light" cardio, unless you are tired of it, bored etc :)
    Regarding strength training, you should figure out what your goals are. If you want body builder's muscles, then you do indeed need to look further into heavy lifting, bulking etc, s this is the easiest way to get to your goals. If you want what most people call a "toned" body, then you have more options, depending on what you enjoy. Weights are for sure great, or you can try body weight exercises, resistance bands, circuit training classes, martial arts or whatever else you enjoy.
    I see you are very young, which means a 30 pound loss and beign very slim raises a few red flags for me. Be careful to not overdo it, and to accurately calculate your TDEE, eating back all these exercise calories. You cannot be strong when you have no fuel to build muscles. Are you currently udnerweight? If yes, increasing your calorie intake and getting to a heatlhy weight, should come before adding regular exercise to your lifestyle.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!
  • pandorakick
    pandorakick Posts: 901 Member
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    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!
    ^^^ Big agree with this!
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    Bump. I'm interested into the answers to this too as strength is something I'm playing with after years of cardio and not much else. Have been doing weights for a couple of months and feeling great about the changes to my body.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    OP, one good tip at your age is to first check with your dr where you should be regarding eating (30 lbs lost very fast at your age and you saying you are very slim, it means you need to be careful), check with an experienced personal trainer what is ok for your body to do to build strength without risks (if you are into kick boxing, your instructor should be a good person to offer tips for your body type) and also a good idea is to ask people IRL who have bodies you like, what are there routines. You get all sorts of people online, but you have no idea what is their goal, what they like, what are their eating habits, or where they are coming from regarding weight, past exercise routines etc. What is going to work e.g. for a guy who routinely eats 3000+ calories per day or for someone with years of training behind them, or for an ex obese older woman, might not be the ideal for you.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!

    You are advising an 18 year old girl who lost 30 pounds in a few months to try bulking and cutting cycles. If you see nothing wrong with it, what can I say?
  • rodduz
    rodduz Posts: 251 Member
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    If you're comfortable eating the amount of calories that you are at the minute then I'd continue with that amount as you'll get newbie gains in any case. But if you start feeling you're not recovering quick enough, up your intake.

    Use this to do so

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • coolblondenerd
    coolblondenerd Posts: 90 Member
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    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!

    ^^These are very good ideas! What I'm doing myself (an almost former skinny fat girl) is an exercise plan from a site called FitnessBlender, they're on YouTube if you want to check them out. It's a combination of strength, cardio, kickboxing, yoga, HIIT, everything really! I really enjoy it and my body has improved drastically in aesthetics and what it can do. I cannot cannot recommend them enough. But that's just what worked for me! One thing to keep in mind is do not fear getting a "manly bulk" look and avoid lifting heavy weights. Go as heavy as your body feels comfortable! Most women do not have the hormones to bulk like men do, so go nuts and get as strong as you can. It is awesome and you will feel awesome!
  • spinedocmfp
    spinedocmfp Posts: 109 Member
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    muscleandstrength.com has a ton on information on exercise, including workouts and video's for each exercise. You can learn a lot there.
  • Jennkies
    Jennkies Posts: 382 Member
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    I'm not sure where everyone is getting the idea that she lost all 30 lb. in a matter of a couple months?
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Options
    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!

    You are advising an 18 year old girl who lost 30 pounds in a few months to try bulking and cutting cycles. If you see nothing wrong with it, what can I say?

    Where does it explicitly say the timescale she lost the weight over? I must have missed that.

    Advising someone who is unhappy with their current body comp to train properly and eat properly? How else will they achieve their desired body-comp? Sure there are other training schemes she could do. But the training schemes I mention will give the best bang for your buck for a beginner (and are easy to follow/progressively load and used widely). There are other ways to build muscle (from bodyweight exercises through to kettlebells), but you still gotta eat enough after you've provided the stimulus from the training.

    TBH you lost me at "body-builder" muscles. Whatever they are. You can train and eat to stimulate muscle growth and minimal fat gain. Then you can train and eat to retain that muscle and shred off the fat. Or you can mess around with a bunch of fluff and get nowhere. I am assuming she wants to actually get somewhere...

    I see nothing wrong with putting out the right information. There's plenty of places you can get the wrong information.
  • megabitch2007
    megabitch2007 Posts: 7
    Options
    ^ignore the above.

    Get on a recognised beginners routine (Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, All Pro's SBR).

    Eat at a mild surplus to put on a bit of muscle (you will gain some fat too).

    When you've put on as much weight as you're comfortable with (it's a bit of a psychological game), then you continue to lift heavy and eat in a deficit. You'll lose the fat and retain your muscle. Things will be tighter.

    You may need to run a couple of cycles like this over a year or two until you've got your body where you want it.

    It takes time, discipline and hard work. There's more info and support on the "women who bulk" group here on mfp - check it out.

    Good luck!

    You are advising an 18 year old girl who lost 30 pounds in a few months to try bulking and cutting cycles. If you see nothing wrong with it, what can I say?

    Where does it explicitly say the timescale she lost the weight over? I must have missed that.

    Advising someone who is unhappy with their current body comp to train properly and eat properly? How else will they achieve their desired body-comp? Sure there are other training schemes she could do. But the training schemes I mention will give the best bang for your buck for a beginner (and are easy to follow/progressively load and used widely). There are other ways to build muscle (from bodyweight exercises through to kettlebells), but you still gotta eat enough after you've provided the stimulus from the training.

    TBH you lost me at "body-builder" muscles. Whatever they are. You can train and eat to stimulate muscle growth and minimal fat gain. Then you can train and eat to retain that muscle and shred off the fat. Or you can mess around with a bunch of fluff and get nowhere. I am assuming she wants to actually get somewhere...

    I see nothing wrong with putting out the right information. There's plenty of places you can get the wrong information.
    He/she is correct it was in a way-too-short matter of months (hence the skinny-fat result) which they probably just found from some of my other posts. But I'm not at risk or underweight, both my doctor and mother (who happens to be a dietitian) agree that I'm at a perfectly healthy weight as far as numbers go. From what I've researched I've gathered that it's better to take the progress slowly and eat at a small surplus (250 over maintainence...ish???) and lift heavy often. I'll look into the programs listed above and see what sounds doable.

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