Gaining muscle and losing inches on waist??????

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wmjrigo
wmjrigo Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has any one had success on gaining muscle mass but losing inches on your waist? I know you have to be in a positive calorie intake to gain muscle but how much? I've definatley added muscle but I've also gained an inch on my waist. I guess I don't want to be hitting the weights hard but not gaining the optimal amount of muscle cuz I'm not eating enough. Any Advise? Thanks

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  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
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    I have. I lost an inch and gained 3lb of lbm.. is the question how I did it or?
  • wmjrigo
    wmjrigo Posts: 69 Member
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    Yeah...Thanks
  • notOpel
    notOpel Posts: 46
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    I'm not a fitness guru but from what I understand it works like this: If your doing strength training, your going to gain muscle. If your looking to lose fat (muscle gain will help this) then you need to be cutting your calories. If your looking to gain weight, aka bulk up, then you need to be upping your calorie intake. Typically, the rule is to increase or decrease the calories you need to maintain your current weight by 500 (more or less depending on whether you want to gain or loose, obviously). Here's the tool I used to calculate my goals: http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/caloriecalculator.htm
    I'm not sure exactly what your asking, but it sounds like what your looking to do is cut your calories and possibly up your protein intake. Hope that helps, and good luck!
  • ShaeDetermined
    ShaeDetermined Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Yes, absolutely, in 8 months i didn't lose a lb (due to intense workouts and building lean muscle), but lost 1.5 inches off my waist and 3 inches off my hips!

    A pound of muscle and a pound of fat both weigh (duh!) a pound. BUTa pound of muscle tissue takes up less space than a pound of fat tissue. So .... when you improve your muscle-to-fat ratio, you start losing clothing sizes (inches)even if the scale doesn’t budge (pounds).
  • alex215
    alex215 Posts: 518 Member
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    yes this is very possible. I went from a 44 inch waist in January to now a 37 inch waist and also put on mass by eating a lot of protein and lifting heavy and consistently. Also i find working out my back makes my back wider and makes my waist look smaller, i'm going for a nice V taper.
  • Curry0724
    Curry0724 Posts: 51 Member
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    From what I understand, this is how it goes:
    If you are looking to loose fat, you need to strength train and do cardio. If you merely strength train, you will be adding muscle, but the fat will still stay there. If you want to build muscle and loose fat (aka loose inches and pounds) lift weights and throw in a 20 minute run or elliptical or bike ride or something afterwards. If you want to bulk up (not something most girls want to do, but considering you are a guy, this may be true :) ) Stick to strength training with lots of protein after. However your muscles will shine through much more if there isn't a nice layer of fat covering them up.

    Because muscle weighs more than fat, you can 'gain weight' while lifting. However muscle takes up less space that fat, so it is ENTIRELY possible (and normal) for someone who is intensely strength training to gain weight but loose inches.

    I hope this answers your questions :)
  • wmjrigo
    wmjrigo Posts: 69 Member
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    Interesting...never heard muscle takes up less space but makes sence.
  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
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    Interesting...never heard muscle takes up less space but makes sence.

    It's more dense. so in the same area it will weigh more than fat.
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    If you're new to weight training (less than a year) You can eat right around maintenance and you're gonna gain muscle and lose a little fat probably.
    I lost 15 pounds in my first year of excercise, while still putting on some muscle.

    It gets harder after that. To gain you have to eat at or above maintenance for the most part.



    Disregard what dude said about doing cardio and weights to lose weight, but just lifting to gain.
    Do cardio regardless. I do cardio when I'm gaining weight and I do it when I'm cutting fat.
    Don't neglect your cardiovasular health just because you're trying to put on some size.
    Cutting fat/gaining muscle is more about nutrition than rather you're running or not.
  • llovegrove
    llovegrove Posts: 94 Member
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    Love that website! Thanks for sharing!
  • wmjrigo
    wmjrigo Posts: 69 Member
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    I am offically motivated!!!
  • geraintf
    geraintf Posts: 15
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    wmjrigo,

    You can do both at the same time as doing weight training will increase your metabolism but in order to gain serious muscle you must eat LOTs of cals.

    As gaining muscle and loosing fat are two opposing objectives the best thing is to do is to do cycles of fat burning and muscle building. So for two weeks reduce your cal intake by 500/day, continue to do weight training to maintain the muscle you have at present, also do 3-5 high intensity running sessions a week (no longer than 25-30min). After the two weeks you should of lost some fat no up cal intake by 500 above your normal intake and continue weight sessions (but reduce the number of runs).

    It's also worth noting that for every lb of lean muscle you have your body uses up around 50cals/day just maintaining it.

    Hope I was some use.
  • wmjrigo
    wmjrigo Posts: 69 Member
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    bump
  • wildon883r
    wildon883r Posts: 429 Member
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    Fat is excess energy storage. More muscle equals more energy consumption. A body with more muscle burns more calories. Adding muscle mass means gaining muscle weight. Muscle burns more energy 24/7 where as cardio burns more energy only while your exerting yourself. Cardio as a side effect of building muscle stamina. but the big picture is that more muscle is more calories burned all around and one reason its easier for men to lose weight then women simply do to muscle mass.

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