Should I expect to gain weight after joining gym?

lemonsurprise
lemonsurprise Posts: 255 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm starting to go to the gym. Which is amazing as when I started MFP about 25 days ago there wasn't a hope in hell that I would step foot in one, just from lack of confidence!

Anyway, I wanted to know, should I expect to put on weight from gaining muscle? Or will the fat burn off much quicker than the muscle will come on so it will level out? I'm 200lb+ so burning fat is going to be much easier than a healthy sized person doing so.

And, seeing as I don't exercise and never have done, (apart from 10,000 steps a day) how often should I start off with per week and for how long?

Replies

  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
    When In a deficit its near impossible to build muscle, for that you have to have a surplus of calories. You may gain whats called newbie gains but this is such a small amount its not even worth paying attention to. What you will find whenever you start a new exercise rotine you will have water retention which helps your body repair damaged muscles, this could easily mask fat loss but overtime will disappear.

    So for the first few weeks to be to dishearten if you see no loss.
  • tacticonned
    tacticonned Posts: 7
    Hey, this is just my personal experience :-) but for me I joined up with a gym too a couple of months ago and spoke to a number of people when I did. Since I am obese, by participating in the classes/program or whatever you choose to do, I will essentially lose weight. As for muscles, I will tone up and strengthen them but I won't gain weight by putting on muscle.I have a calorie deficit that does not allow me to gain muscle weight as I am not feeding it (if that makes sense...) Muscles won't happen until you reach your goal weight, then you go and change it all up to get the muscle you want. For the time being, all you will be doing is simply toning (hence changing your body shape) and making them stronger.
    There will be weeks where you won't lose and this may boil down to diet, water retention etc... But not necessarily muscle.

    Burning fat is not easy! You have to be 'in the zone' for it to be any useful, otherwise what's the point? You have to get that heart rate up and a lot of the times that hurts :)

    Initially I did 3 classes - I found doing it by myself was challenging due to lack of motivation. I do those on my easy days . I now do 8 one hour classes of cardio and strength in 5 days (i do a couple back to back). I have a rest day or if I'm feeling good I go for a walk or hit the gym for some light stuff on the other two days.

    If your gym doesn't have classes, I would strongly suggest finding a program somewhere online (there's plenty about) and sticking to it like glue. If you're looking for cardio look for an app 'c25k' to help you out. Strength, 5x5 is good (google that) but just remember, females can't bulk up so don't be scared of the heavier weights.

    How many and how long? Only you can answer that one. What fits in with your timetable? i think there is a recommendation of at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. But it also depends on what you want, and how long/much you want to lose. Me personally, overall, over the spread of a week I do 1.5 hours each day and I plan to do this until March next year when my semester timetable changes. I don't weight myself often as I judge by my clothes - it appears that my hips are not as wide :-)

    Gee I wrote a lot! I'm sure there are others that will say I'm wrong but this is what works for me and I'm sticking with it no matter what they say. Just start off easy, just until you feel comfortable for a bit (and confident!) then get into it - you are not stuck in a gym with other people, they are stuck in the gym with you :-P

    Good luck!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    When you start exercising, you will of course burn more calories than doing nothing. As far as gaining weight, in a new exercise program, it is common to retain water as the muscles repair. Gaining muscle is a very long slow process for women and with the exception of what they call that newbie gain, you don't really do much while eating in a deficit except maintain more muscle mass than you would if you weren't strength training.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
    Hey, this is just my personal experience :-) but for me I joined up with a gym too a couple of months ago and spoke to a number of people when I did. Since I am obese, by participating in the classes/program or whatever you choose to do, I will essentially lose weight. As for muscles, I will tone up and strengthen them but I won't gain weight by putting on muscle.I have a calorie deficit that does not allow me to gain muscle weight as I am not feeding it (if that makes sense...) Muscles won't happen until you reach your goal weight, then you go and change it all up to get the muscle you want. For the time being, all you will be doing is simply toning (hence changing your body shape) and making them stronger.
    There will be weeks where you won't lose and this may boil down to diet, water retention etc... But not necessarily muscle.

    Burning fat is not easy! You have to be 'in the zone' for it to be any useful, otherwise what's the point? You have to get that heart rate up and a lot of the times that hurts :)
    +1.
    makes sense to me and mirrors my recent experience.
    Initially I did 3 classes - I found doing it by myself was challenging due to lack of motivation. I do those on my easy days . I now do 8 one hour classes of cardio and strength in 5 days (i do a couple back to back). I have a rest day or if I'm feeling good I go for a walk or hit the gym for some light stuff on the other two days.

    If your gym doesn't have classes, I would strongly suggest finding a program somewhere online (there's plenty about) and sticking to it like glue. If you're looking for cardio look for an app 'c25k' to help you out. Strength, 5x5 is good (google that) but just remember, females can't bulk up so don't be scared of the heavier weights.

    How many and how long? Only you can answer that one. What fits in with your timetable? i think there is a recommendation of at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. But it also depends on what you want, and how long/much you want to lose. Me personally, overall, over the spread of a week I do 1.5 hours each day and I plan to do this until March next year when my semester timetable changes. I don't weight myself often as I judge by my clothes - it appears that my hips are not as wide :-)

    Gee I wrote a lot! I'm sure there are others that will say I'm wrong but this is what works for me and I'm sticking with it no matter what they say. Just start off easy, just until you feel comfortable for a bit (and confident!) then get into it - you are not stuck in a gym with other people, they are stuck in the gym with you :-P

    Good luck!

    great post.
    strength training planned for when i achieve goal.

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