Weight lifting weight gain frustration

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jsmommy1999
jsmommy1999 Posts: 35 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Six weeks ago I made the decision to stop the incessant cardio, start increasing calories slowly (I am at my goal weight - or was) and finally start strength training. I've been trying to increase my metabolism and better regulate my hormones. Well since then I have gained a few pounds, which I kind of expected, but I am BIGGER too. I am a very small boned pear shaped woman and my upper body looks great but my thighs are HUGE and none of my pants fit. Today I did body pump and managed to gain two pounds! I could really care less about the scale weight if I felt that I was gaining muscle and getting more toned, but I just plain feel plump. My calories are not over and I weight and measure everything. Is this a normal occurrence for a small woman lifting? Am I better off going back to cardio or just eating less? While I enjoy the muscle up top I am really self conscious of my heavy lower body (and don't want to dump a ton of money replacing all of my designer jeans!!

Thanks.

Replies

  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    Water retention. You're working your muscles, so water is within them to help repair them. Hence why they appear bigger, but they're just swollen. Just up the water and keep doing what you're doing.
  • dollforlife
    dollforlife Posts: 41 Member
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    Happened to me too..especially in my thigh area. Three weeks into my program I lost the 4 lbs I'd gained.



    http://weightloss.answers.com/side-effects/sore-muscles-and-weight-gain#slide=1
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    Ive added 3/4 inch to my thighs since squatting heavier plus doing glute bridges & lifts have rounded my rear. My chest has increased due to lat pulls cause i sure havent got any boobs left. And i love the way this looks but i like bigger muscular thighs so much better than smaller flabby thighs that rub when you walk. Good tradeoff as far as im concerned
  • jsmommy1999
    jsmommy1999 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks - it's been 6 weeks though, shouldn't the water retention have worked itself out? Also am trying to create the illusion of a smaller lower body (I am very pear shaped) and I am embarrassed to say that I really do prefer smaller legs to bigger muscular ones. Should I ditch lower body? Just keep doing upper body? I want to increase my muscle but really don't want to outgrow my clothes and feel fatter.

    Thanks
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    If your still eating at a deficit you wont be gaining muscle, if your at maintenance but stopped doing all the cardio did you adjust your calories to be right without the exercise? Also you can do a lower weight higher rep cardio type workout, which is pretty much what body pump is. Just dont progress to higher weights and you shouldnt " grow" anymore. But if your gaining weight "fat" because your eating to much you will get bigger.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Water/glycogen weight.

    Also, you don't need to increase cals to lift - you can get a few months decent STRENGTH gains at deficit. I'm assuming you're not counting your body pump as weights?
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    If your still eating at a deficit you wont be gaining muscle, if your at maintenance but stopped doing all the cardio did you adjust your calories to be right without the exercise? Also you can do a lower weight higher rep cardio type workout, which is pretty much what body pump is. Just dont progress to higher weights and you shouldnt " grow" anymore. But if your gaining weight "fat" because your eating to much you will get bigger.

    FYI heavy weights DO NOT make you 'grow' - calorie surplus does.
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    If your still eating at a deficit you wont be gaining muscle, if your at maintenance but stopped doing all the cardio did you adjust your calories to be right without the exercise? Also you can do a lower weight higher rep cardio type workout, which is pretty much what body pump is. Just dont progress to higher weights and you shouldnt " grow" anymore. But if your gaining weight "fat" because your eating to much you will get bigger.

    FYI heavy weights DO NOT make you 'grow' - calorie surplus does.
    yeah i purposely put that in parenthesis for that very reason. She thinks she growing muscle. It was sarcasm i guess you didnt get it.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Thanks - it's been 6 weeks though, shouldn't the water retention have worked itself out? Also am trying to create the illusion of a smaller lower body (I am very pear shaped) and I am embarrassed to say that I really do prefer smaller legs to bigger muscular ones. Should I ditch lower body? Just keep doing upper body? I want to increase my muscle but really don't want to outgrow my clothes and feel fatter.

    Thanks

    Don't ditch 'leg day'. You should be able to trim your legs down through fat loss and strengthening your legs won't make them bigger, just firmer.

    You need a calorie surplus to build muscle but you can lift weights and NOT gain muscle if you're still eating at a deficit - it will just help you to retain most of your lean mass (that's not just muscle, it's important to maintain bone density too).
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    If your still eating at a deficit you wont be gaining muscle, if your at maintenance but stopped doing all the cardio did you adjust your calories to be right without the exercise? Also you can do a lower weight higher rep cardio type workout, which is pretty much what body pump is. Just dont progress to higher weights and you shouldnt " grow" anymore. But if your gaining weight "fat" because your eating to much you will get bigger.

    FYI heavy weights DO NOT make you 'grow' - calorie surplus does.
    yeah i purposely put that in parenthesis for that very reason. She thinks she growing muscle. It was sarcasm i guess you didnt get it.

    Regardless of sarcasm or not - you're advising her to carry on with light weights (or cardio) while feeding into women's fears that heavy weight will make them huuuge.
  • orlandogirl97
    orlandogirl97 Posts: 30 Member
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    Thanks - it's been 6 weeks though, shouldn't the water retention have worked itself out? Also am trying to create the illusion of a smaller lower body (I am very pear shaped) and I am embarrassed to say that I really do prefer smaller legs to bigger muscular ones. Should I ditch lower body? Just keep doing upper body? I want to increase my muscle but really don't want to outgrow my clothes and feel fatter.

    Thanks

    It took me 6 weeks to see any reduction in my thighs....I also had gained in those areas. It sucks! but I am now starting to shrink.....very slowly. Keep going! Almost everybody says the water retention will go away in 2 weeks or so....it does take longer for some people. I also upped my calories by 100 per day. ( I may up by another 100 per day) I needed more and healthy calories. One thing that helped was watching any added sugar. Good Luck
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    If your still eating at a deficit you wont be gaining muscle, if your at maintenance but stopped doing all the cardio did you adjust your calories to be right without the exercise? Also you can do a lower weight higher rep cardio type workout, which is pretty much what body pump is. Just dont progress to higher weights and you shouldnt " grow" anymore. But if your gaining weight "fat" because your eating to much you will get bigger.

    FYI heavy weights DO NOT make you 'grow' - calorie surplus does.
    yeah i purposely put that in parenthesis for that very reason. She thinks she growing muscle. It was sarcasm i guess you didnt get it.

    Regardless of sarcasm or not - you're advising her to carry on with light weights (or cardio) while feeding into women's fears that heavy weight will make them huuuge.
    No im advising her that if she doesnt want her thighs to get larger then she needs to eat at a deficit or maintenance and if shes eating at a surplus she can continue doing her cardio based strength training ie body pump. Body pump can be challenging for someone not used to lifting. I didnt say light weights i said not to progressively get to heavier ones,Im not promoting "the youll get bulky " bull if you lift heavy at all. I went from less weight higher reps to heavier weights less reps in the last 8 weeks and my thighs in particular are bigger., i LIKE that, she obvouisly dosent. I think shes eating at a surplus and gaining weight its not muscle. She isnt burning the amount of calories she was doing all cardio and if she didnt change her calorie intake to offset that then shes gonna keep gaining.I love to lift heavy i like the results, you seem to also, but not everyone likes the look and some women do get bulky thighs easier than others.
  • anotherghost
    anotherghost Posts: 6
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    Are you taking creatine? If so, during the first week or so you will experience an increase in water weight. It will stick around for a while.
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    At 110 and 5'6" your thighs are not your only issue. Please ignore all my prior posts they do not apply to your situation. Good luck.
  • jsmommy1999
    jsmommy1999 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks for the posts. Actually until now I have maintained 5' 6" 110 for years eating a lot of calories and working out - I am also not one of those people you look at and think are supper skinny. Not saying I don't obsess about my body (I obviously do) but it's not what it sounds like - I'm 19% body fat not a walking skeleton.

    Anyway, I've been eating at maintenance (my metabolism is suppressed a bit so I am eating at what my current maintenance is) not in a deficit, and trying to increase calories slowly to increase my metabolism (too much cardio drove it down). I have definitely gained a bit of muscle because my body fat has decreased and you can see my thigh muscles. Just annoyed at how big they've gotten as I wasn't prepared for that.

    So the thought is to keep up that weights and the retention will go down?
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    At 110 and 5'6" your thighs are not your only issue. Please ignore all my prior posts they do not apply to your situation. Good luck.

    Okay we disagree on other stuff obviously but I didn't see the 110 lb thing either. I agree with your above post wholeheartedly.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Thanks for the posts. Actually until now I have maintained 5' 6" 110 for years eating a lot of calories and working out - I am also not one of those people you look at and think are supper skinny. Not saying I don't obsess about my body (I obviously do) but it's not what it sounds like - I'm 19% body fat not a walking skeleton.

    Anyway, I've been eating at maintenance (my metabolism is suppressed a bit so I am eating at what my current maintenance is) not in a deficit, and trying to increase calories slowly to increase my metabolism (too much cardio drove it down). I have definitely gained a bit of muscle because my body fat has decreased and you can see my thigh muscles. Just annoyed at how big they've gotten as I wasn't prepared for that.

    So the thought is to keep up that weights and the retention will go down?

    Sorry, I can't get my head around your being 110 lb but that your thighs are huge. Not saying it not the case but it seems unlikely. Hopefully it's just some kind of weird retention thing that'll go down.

    Personally, at your weight, I'd seriously consider a bulk but maintainence is good too. Please ignore all my earlier posts about lifting at deficit, this is definitely not for you. You wouldn't be able to recover adequately and could actually lose muscle and bone density. Good luck.
  • azymth99
    azymth99 Posts: 122 Member
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    Ripping your muscles with heavy weight will make them "puff up" temporarily as your body responds to the stress of lifting (just like sprain or an injury but on a smaller scale). Give them a full week to repair between leg workouts. You can work lower body without weights at all. Squats, lunges, calf raises, isometric stances, hops, pistol squats, donkey kicks etc. can all be done without weight. They will tone and strengthen your legs while staying lean. Eat plenty of protein, up your water intake and watch the amount of salt in your diet so you won't retain water.

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