If you think you gained muscle... Read this.

On pretty much a daily basis I read a post by someone complaining that they gained 5 lbs in a week or two and someone responds that maybe they gained muscle. Please read the following and stop this behavior.

Weight training aims to build muscle by prompting two different types of muscular hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy. The term hypertrophy is a big fancy word that simply refers to the increase in size of muscle cells. During myofibrillar hypertrophy, actin and myosin contractile proteins increase in number and add to muscular strength as well as a small increase in the size of the muscle. During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with little accompanying increase in muscular strength

It is important to note that these two forms of hypertrophy rarely occur completely independently of one another, one can experience a large increase in fluid with a slight increase in proteins, a large increase in proteins with a small increase in fluid, or a relatively balanced combination of the two.

Weight training exercises are broken up into groupings of the number of times the movement is performed; these are called sets and repetitions (reps), respectively. The reason for this is to tailor the weight training towards a specific goal, such as strength, power, size, or endurance.

Generally, the rep range breakdown is as follows:

1 to 5 reps = Strength & Power (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy)
6 to 12 reps = Size (Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy)
13 to 20 reps = Muscular Endurance

To put this in more understandable terms; generally bodybuilders that are concerned with the size and appearance of their muscles and will work in the 6-12 rep range while power lifters and Olympic lifters that are concerned with lifting heavier weights (being stronger) will work in the 1-5 rep range.

Why do reps matter? The truth is that it is the load that matters more than the reps since you can lift a heavier weight for 5 reps than you can for 8 reps. Here is this example in greater detail; let’s say that John and Joe can both squat 285lbs for one rep (their one rep max or 1RM), which means that their 5RM would be approximately 255lbs and their 8RM would be approximately 230lbs. (There is a formula behind these calculations but it is not important for this illustration.) So their lifts would look like this.

John: 255lbs x 25 reps (5 sets x 5 reps) = 6375lbs
James: 230lbs x 24 reps (3 sets x 8 reps) = 5520lbs
Difference: 855lbs

So even though there is only a difference of one total rep between a 5x5 and 3x8 routine, there is a total difference of 855lbs over all sets because of the heavier weight that can be used for five reps; this is the main reason why lower reps are used to build strength.

So, all of this should lead you to multiple logical conclusions. First, muscle mass is not the same thing as muscle size, i.e. a person can have visibly smaller but denser muscles and be stronger than someone with visibly larger muscles. This means that if you are trying to get strong and doing a bodybuilding routine, you are going nowhere fast. Secondly, but most importantly, you CANNOT gain muscle by accident! 5lb aerobic dumbbells will net you zero muscle mass gain, likewise walking, jogging, yoga, Pilates, etc… will net you zero muscle MASS gain. What you will gain is an increase in muscle fiber recruitment, which will result in some strength gains, but this should not be confused with muscle gains; they are two completely different things.

Gaining muscle mass is a hard and long process. In the BEST of conditions, the average male could gain approximately 3-5lbs of muscle in one month, and women will be lower than this around 1-2lbs. However these are the upper bounds, most people will fall well below these numbers. Males should expect no more than 1-2lbs of muscle mass per month and women no more than ½ to 1lb per month.

In addition, building muscle mass requires calories above maintenance levels. By definition “maintenance” calories, means that your eat enough to “maintain” your current body composition. In order to change your body composition you need to eat more or less. There are exceptions to this in people who have high (above 30%) body fat percentages. These individuals have larger fat reserves to use and can see an increase in muscle mass on a calorie deficit; but this is the exception, not the rule, and these gains will decrease as their body fat decreases. Eventually, they will require a calorie surplus to keep gaining muscle mass.

So in conclusion, please stop trying to tell yourself or others that you/they gained 10lbs of muscle in a couple of weeks because the number on the scale increases.