healthy bmi before workout?

This one is my favorite example:



That is an 11 pound GAIN by the way. Doing powerlifting and eating 3000+ calories a day. So that is some serious training with some serious fuel for a while and gaining 11 pounds of muscle and all she looks like is much more toned defined. Not going to get bulky.

To those pointing out the cultural reasons behind the fear, I certianly didn't not mean insult I was just voicing how irrational the fear was....many fears are irrational, that doesn't make them any easier to cope with if you feel them nor does it mean those fears can't crop up from culturual pressures. I get that and I didn't mean it to be dismissive so apologies if I offended.

One thing worth noting is you definately CAN build strength without building actual muscle mass. Muscles can become more nucleated, more innervated and have better blood flow through additional capilary connections. All of which can increase overall strength. Not saying you can't get stronger at a calorie deficit, only that you can't build physical muscle tissue so you are at no risk of getting "bulky".

There is a cap for how strong you can get without putting on actual extra muscle tissue, but if you are untrained there is still a lot of room to grow there. Added benefit of the weight loss from fat is that when you weigh less you have less weight to move and that is also a form of strength. For example if you could do 2 push-ups and didn't build any strength at all but lost something like 10 pounds chances are you'd be able to do a lot more pushups just because of that. Running will be easier, anything involving moving your body will be easier and you will feel stronger as a result. Add on top of that actual strength gains through resistance training and you can feel like a new person.

peaceout_aly wrote: »

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

So it takes many many months to years and a lot of hard work and eating above (or at least at) your maintenance level to put on an amount of muscle that will be visible.

What you are seeing is just when you work out a muscle (especially if its not used to that activity level) it will swell with water and that water retention will stick around for quite some time to enable muscle repair and the transport of glycogen to the muscle.

Getting "muscly" isn't actually putting on muscle, its just that the muscle you have is swelling like a balloon pumped full of water. That is temporary. If you stop working out after a few days they will deflate back to the same size they've always been. While you have that muscle swell you will weigh more (because of the extra water retention) and your muscles will appear larger and feel harder (because they are full of water not because they have more muscle tissue).

You aren't going to put on any muscle mass while at caloric deficit, in fact if you are overly aggressive with your diet it is more likely that you will lose muscle. The best you can hope for is to retain the muscle you have.

Wouldn't worry about water retention and muscle swell, won't matter in terms of your fitness or actual fat loss.

Any "bulk" that you think was added by working out was most likely just mild water retention (which is usually due to your muscles healing themselves and is accentuated if you eat a high sodium diet). People have to eat A LOT over their TDEE in order to bulk and gain muscle. I've been heavy lifting for a year, and didn't realize that even with lift sessions 5-6 x a week the process of muscle building takes patience.

If you want to lose weight, there is absolutely NO PROBLEM with hitting the gym in addition to cutting out calories. Cardio will create more of a deficit = more calories burned and if lifting is incorporated as well (which I highly recommend) then you will retain muscle (you want to do this, I promise, it helps to give the "toned" look after all the fat is lost).

Just STICK WITH IT. Dedicate yourself and remember it takes time and patience. There will be days when you feel like you've gotten no where, but then you look back on photos and see how far you've come. Get in the habit, make it a routine, and don't give up.

Not to creep on you but I just feel you provide an excellent real world example of what really hard heavy lifting training ACTUALLY looks like for a woman. You just end up looking like a bikini model, not like Arnold. Nothing "unfeminine" about that at all. This woman from her pictures, definately lifts. You don't look like that without liftiing. I think so many people see bikini models and think they got there by eating low calories when in fact most likely it was the exact opposite, eating 2000+ and lifting heavy.

If you picture female Ms. Olympia athletes when you picture weightlifting then what you are actually picturing is heavy steroid abuse.

Not to creep on you but I just feel you provide an excellent real world example of what really hard heavy lifting training ACTUALLY looks like for a woman. You just end up looking like a bikini model, not like Arnold. Nothing "unfeminine" about that at all. This woman from her pictures, definately lifts. You don't look like that without liftiing. I think so many people see bikini models and think they got there by eating low calories when in fact most likely it was the exact opposite, eating 2000+ and lifting heavy.

If you picture female Ms. Olympia athletes when you picture weightlifting then what you are actually picturing is heavy steroid abuse.

Thank you so much. I try to be a good role model for other women here on MFP and that just made my day. Female lifting is definitely misportrayed within the media and it's unfortunate.