Does strength training = gaining weight (in muscle)?
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XC_Guitar17 wrote: »Just to clarify for everyone who's been saying "he" I'm a girl haha.
That being said, I think females build muscle differently than males? Because I hear girls on my team worry about getting really "big" (meaning muscular like a guy) all the time. Similarly, my ultimate goal is to be toned. Toned in a "runner's way" if that makes sense. I want to gain strength in my arms and core, and if that also means gaining muscle and gaining (or losing) a bit of weight, that sounds great to me.
Thank you all for the help so far. I honestly was not expecting people to respond to my question so much, and I greatly appreciate the help that each of you has offered. I'll be happy to clarify anything farther or answer any questions relating to my goals/original post.
Waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy slower. Outside of really frackin' kick *kitten* genetics of course...for which I do know someone...but only one in all of the females I know.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »XC_Guitar17 wrote: »Just to clarify for everyone who's been saying "he" I'm a girl haha.
That being said, I think females build muscle differently than males? Because I hear girls on my team worry about getting really "big" (meaning muscular like a guy) all the time. Similarly, my ultimate goal is to be toned. Toned in a "runner's way" if that makes sense. I want to gain strength in my arms and core, and if that also means gaining muscle and gaining (or losing) a bit of weight, that sounds great to me.
Thank you all for the help so far. I honestly was not expecting people to respond to my question so much, and I greatly appreciate the help that each of you has offered. I'll be happy to clarify anything farther or answer any questions relating to my goals/original post.
Waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy slower. Outside of really frackin' kick *kitten* genetics of course...for which I do know someone...but only one in all of the females I know.
I guess patience, persistent strength training, and getting enough protein are what I need to reach my goals then?
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Also, do I need to eat right at my recommended daily calorie and protien intake if I want to build muscle/strength, or eat at a calorie/protein surplus? From what you guys are saying it sounds like I need a surplus but I'm just clarifying.0
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XC_Guitar17 wrote: »Also, do I need to eat right at my recommended daily calorie and protien intake if I want to build muscle/strength, or eat at a calorie/protein surplus? From what you guys are saying it sounds like I need a surplus but I'm just clarifying.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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I have a really busy schedule, what is the most productive way to gain weight?0
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XC_Guitar17 wrote: »Also, do I need to eat right at my recommended daily calorie and protien intake if I want to build muscle/strength, or eat at a calorie/protein surplus? From what you guys are saying it sounds like I need a surplus but I'm just clarifying.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Cool. Thank you.0 -
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junyanpeng wrote: »I have a really busy schedule, what is the most productive way to gain weight?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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If you want to put on muscle it takes protein at the right time which is all the time- 10 grams every hour or 30 grams every three hours and try to stay in a positive calorie intake of at least 250 calories. I highly recommend 50 grams of casein (slow digesting protein before bed time. The rest is easy just lift weights until your happy with your progress then cut your calories to a deficit of 250 calories while keeping your protein in the 60% range of your total caloric intake and carbs under 15%. I do this every year and it works great..
Building muscle is 80% intake and 20% exercise!!
Muscle is dense so it does take up less space than fat but a pound of anything weighs the same as a pound of anything else.. I feel dumber for having to type this..lol.. Good luck0 -
If you just want to build strength only (no mass, no weight), eat at maintenance and lift. If you want to build muscle mass and strength, eat at a surplus and lift.0
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If you want to put on muscle it takes protein at the right time which is all the time- 10 grams every hour or 30 grams every three hours and try to stay in a positive calorie intake of at least 250 calories. I highly recommend 50 grams of casein (slow digesting protein before bed time. The rest is easy just lift weights until your happy with your progress then cut your calories to a deficit of 250 calories while keeping your protein in the 60% range of your total caloric intake and carbs under 15%. I do this every year and it works great..
Building muscle is 80% intake and 20% exercise!!
Muscle is dense so it does take up less space than fat but a pound of anything weighs the same as a pound of anything else.. I feel dumber for having to type this..lol.. Good luck
So much WTF in this post.
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Many elite distance runners now train with weights. Of course, they don't want to build muscle because adding weight might slow them down. They don't gain weight (ie, muscle). They run too much for that. They don't have the excess calories.0
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ACharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »XC_Guitar17 wrote: »I'm okay with gaining weight and toning up as long as I'm gaining mostly muscle. And I understand that muscle weighs more than fat, so by gaining muscle, I would gain some weight. That's cool. I just need "strength gains," as you (ndj1979) put it, and from what I understand, gaining strength means gaining muscle.
I hope that makes sense. And I may be totally wrong or I may be understanding your answer to my question wrong - like I said, I'm new to this strength training thing.
Thanks for the response by the way.
It would be pleasing, to me at least, if we could keep this tired old argument over semantics out of the gaining section. You do understand that both statements are equally right and wrong, don't you?
It shows up on the main boards pretty frequently so there's plenty of opportunities to flog it death there, if you enjoy doing so.
OP simply wanted to know if he would gain weight (while eating at maintenance), he won't.
Agreed. It is commonly accepted that when people say muscle weighs more than fat, they mean the same volume of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat. Adding in the extra words does add clarity but does not change the way most people understand it. Just as it is commonly understood that when you write "don't" you are writing a shorter form of "do not". It's informal. It is equally correct to say that muscle is denser than fat, i.e. 1 lb of muscle takes up less space than 1 lb of fat. Who cares which you say, unless you are writing a scientific paper?0 -
http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/natural-muscular-potential-women/
ETA: this is a link with an article summarising scientific research on body building in women. It has links to full articles too. Haven't read the whole thing but it says that in short, women can build muscles just as much as men. They synthesise proteins the same as men after exercise. The difference is that women have a different starting point so have a longer way to go.0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »XC_Guitar17 wrote: »I'm okay with gaining weight and toning up as long as I'm gaining mostly muscle. And I understand that muscle weighs more than fat, so by gaining muscle, I would gain some weight. That's cool. I just need "strength gains," as you (ndj1979) put it, and from what I understand, gaining strength means gaining muscle.
I hope that makes sense. And I may be totally wrong or I may be understanding your answer to my question wrong - like I said, I'm new to this strength training thing.
Thanks for the response by the way.
It would be pleasing, to me at least, if we could keep this tired old argument over semantics out of the gaining section. You do understand that both statements are equally right and wrong, don't you?
It shows up on the main boards pretty frequently so there's plenty of opportunities to flog it death there, if you enjoy doing so.
OP simply wanted to know if he would gain weight (while eating at maintenance), he won't.
Then please stop being wrong. Muscle is denser than fat.
Not a big deal. "Muscle ways more than fat" is just a piece of misinformation they taught me in high school health class, apparently. I didn't mean to start a big debate.0 -
XC_Guitar17 wrote: »Just to clarify for everyone who's been saying "he" I'm a girl haha.
sorry
No problem, the pic of my guitar before was kinda ambiguous.0 -
DancingMoosie wrote: »If you just want to build strength only (no mass, no weight), eat at maintenance and lift. If you want to build muscle mass and strength, eat at a surplus and lift.
I want to build a little mass (to "look toned," I guess), but mostly strength. I understand the strength is more important whereas the wanting to look toned part (mass) is more from vanity.
So a little surplus and lift. Got it. Thank you so much! You made it sound so simple haha.
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If you want to put on muscle it takes protein at the right time which is all the time- 10 grams every hour or 30 grams every three hours and try to stay in a positive calorie intake of at least 250 calories. I highly recommend 50 grams of casein (slow digesting protein before bed time. The rest is easy just lift weights until your happy with your progress then cut your calories to a deficit of 250 calories while keeping your protein in the 60% range of your total caloric intake and carbs under 15%. I do this every year and it works great..
Building muscle is 80% intake and 20% exercise!!
Muscle is dense so it does take up less space than fat but a pound of anything weighs the same as a pound of anything else.. I feel dumber for having to type this..lol.. Good luck
Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately what I can do is limited by the lifting vs. running schedule given by my cross country/track coach and my equally limited funds and time as a college student. Also, I don't think I'm looking to gain as much strength as your training program would entail.
I still appreciate that you took the time to respond, though.0 -
You can gain strength at a deficit, which is not the same as gaining muscle.
- You may be able to gain muscle at a deficit, depending on individual factors (leanness, gender, training routine, how long you have been training, size of deficit genetics etc).
- You can gain muscle at maintenance - its called recomp.
- You can gain muscle at a surplus.
The ease and speed of gaining muscle (and I use the term 'ease' loosely as its not easy) is hardest and slowest under the first and easiest and fastest (but still slow) under the last set of circumstances.
To gain muscle under any of the circumstances, you need to provide stimulus to the muscles - which means you need to have a routine that provides progressive loading in the appropriate volume and rep ranges, get enough protein and be patient. Its hard to gain muscle, and even harder for a female to gain any appreciable muscle as we lack the levels of testosterone that men do.0
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