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Lose weight? Maintain? Build muscle? Which one?
pineygirl13
Posts: 7 Member
I'm 5'1 and fluctuate between 115-120. I was born with good muscle definition but always had a small pocket of fat on my stomach that won't budge. I lose and gain muscle very easy. I like the weight I'm at but I would like to gain a little more muscle and lose that belly fat. Would I fall into the calorie goal of losing weight, maininting weight or gaining muscle?I'm planning on getting back into some light lifting. Lower weights more reps. I like to look lean but a little built. Suggestions?
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I would stick with maintenance calories while lifting. Have you done any research on body recomposition?1
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I haven't. Actually never heard of it surprisingly with all my internet reading. Lol. I lost around 30 pounds over the last 2 years with max insanity and 21 day fix which is lower carb program. I also plateaued for a bit and tried intermittent fasting which helped. I wanted to learn about counting macros next. I'm ready to go to the next level but I just don't know where to start. I though about lifting heavy but I'm tiny and don't like the bulky look. I build muscle like crazy and can look bulky very easy. I'm Mesomorph body type.0
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Yeah, I'd go recomp.
Mesomorph isn't a thing by the way1 -
Wow. My fitness pal had a great article about body recomposition. Thank you.0
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Let's just clear up a few myths. You don't build or lose muscle easily. As a female that's not happening. Lifting heavy will not make you bulky, once again, women don't build muscle easily. Nobody wakes up accidentally looking like Arnie.2
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See this for how bulky all these women got lifting heavy............
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p10 -
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To have great muscle definition, normally one has to work at it. To build muscle, one has to work at it. You might have somewhat decent body composition in terms of body fat percentage, but you're not really possessed of lots of muscle mass. It just doesn't happen on a woman without a lot of concerted effort.
I disagree with GuitarJerry about your weight and being built, because I know the weight for physique competitors at our height (I'm 5'1" as well), and it's in the same range. They just have ridiculously low body fat when they compete.
I seriously doubt you'd have stomach fat and the muscles those women have without years in the gym and intensive training.
I'm also in the same weight range as you. I go back and forth on what to do myself. No matter what you decide ultimately, start lifting weights, and don't be afraid to lift heavier. You can't bulk up without eating in a surplus and using a progressive lifting program.2 -
I meant bulky in a sense of how I perceived myself. I know lifting heavy won't make a women look big like a man. I've lifted heavier before when I worked out with a trainer and I've also done crossfit. I didn't like my body composition as much because I felt I looked "bulky", bigger, heavier than I'd like. others probably wouldn't say so but I saw myself this way. I think I may have been eating too many calories then.1
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pineygirl13 wrote: »I meant bulky in a sense of how I perceived myself. I know lifting heavy won't make a women look big like a man. I've lifted heavier before when I worked out with a trainer and I've also done crossfit. I didn't like my body composition as much because I felt I looked "bulky", bigger, heavier than I'd like. others probably wouldn't say so but I saw myself this way. I think I may have been eating too many calories then.
So the bulk was likely fat gain and nothing at all to do with muscle or getting "bulky". Muscles occupy less space than fat, so the more muscle you have, the smaller and tighter you will look.3 -
Remember building muscle naturally will increase your bodies ability to burn fat. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. So you have to choose to gain, maintain, or cut weight. For you, I would just work on putting on some real muscle. Most women gain maybe 2-5 lb of muscle per year if you stay at it.
Side note, muscle takes up the same amount of space as fat. If you have more nuscle, we as humans will perceive you as healthier and therefore more attractive. It's built in.
You also have to work with your body type. Not everyone will look like a super model. Simply because of how we are all built. That's great though. It's what makes us unique.
If you want to not bulk, I would work on maintaining weight, do lots of reps with less heavy lifting. And regular massage or body work will help tone up both muscle and could be a great personal reward for yourself as you keep at it.1 -
I need smaller and tighter asap! Hahaha! I was thinking Body Beast - Lean since I've had success with other Beachbody workout programs. I live very rural and work from home so driving to the gym is out of the question.
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pineygirl13 wrote: »I meant bulky in a sense of how I perceived myself. I know lifting heavy won't make a women look big like a man. I've lifted heavier before when I worked out with a trainer and I've also done crossfit. I didn't like my body composition as much because I felt I looked "bulky", bigger, heavier than I'd like. others probably wouldn't say so but I saw myself this way. I think I may have been eating too many calories then.
That, as VintageFeline said, is a function of how many calories you were eating and was likely fat, not muscle. You'd still look bulky. It's not easy for women to gain muscle, and even when they're trying, the gains are slow.
How you look lifting heavy will be a direct function of the amount of calories you're eating. If you eat at maintenance, you'll become tighter and likely lose some body fat in the process. Read the recomposition thread in the maintaining section for some guidance.0 -
pineygirl13 wrote: »Wow. My fitness pal had a great article about body recomposition. Thank you.
Actually the MFP article on recomp is appalling, IMHO!
They make it seem complicated and needing forcing and it doesn't. It's a totally normal process and doesn't need silly restrictive rules.
Eat at or around maintenance calories and train hard. That's it!2 -
pineygirl13 wrote: »Wow. My fitness pal had a great article about body recomposition. Thank you.
Actually the MFP article on recomp is appalling, IMHO!
They make it seem complicated and needing forcing and it doesn't. It's a totally normal process and doesn't need silly restrictive rules.
Eat at or around maintenance calories and train hard. That's it!
It sounded easy to me. But what do I know. It basically said eat 15% over your maintain calorie number on lifting days and 10% less on non lifting days. Should I not do that?0 -
robthephotog wrote: »Remember building muscle naturally will increase your bodies ability to burn fat. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. So you have to choose to gain, maintain, or cut weight. For you, I would just work on putting on some real muscle. Most women gain maybe 2-5 lb of muscle per year if you stay at it.
Side note, muscle takes up the same amount of space as fat. If you have more nuscle, we as humans will perceive you as healthier and therefore more attractive. It's built in.
You also have to work with your body type. Not everyone will look like a super model. Simply because of how we are all built. That's great though. It's what makes us unique.
If you want to not bulk, I would work on maintaining weight, do lots of reps with less heavy lifting. And regular massage or body work will help tone up both muscle and could be a great personal reward for yourself as you keep at it.
I mean, how much nope in one post? Women, can, given optimal conditions gain, 0.5-1lb of lean mas per week. But most women don't go for optimal because it's really just damn hard and unless you want to compete, life is a bit too short to be that laser focused. But more than 2lbs of muscle in a year if doing things just about right for sure.
Muscle does not take up the same amount of room of fat, muscle is more dense so pound for pound, takes up less volume. That's why women with good muscle mass look small and tight (if their bodyfat percentage is also low enough, got to be able to see some of that definition).
No need for high reps low weights, that's an old, nay ancient, way of thinking (or Tracy Anderson, bleugh). And massage is not tonight up your muscles, this is the first time I've seen someone claim this, thank goodness.
It does work as a nice personal reward though.
OP, I also only workout from home. Been eyeing up Body Beast but I would just go with the full version, need to get a decent bench first though (because I want a decent bench, I'm aware there are good enough cheap ones). I currently use and love Fitness Blender and use adjustable dumbbells for that. Now let me get you that recomp thread link..........3 -
pineygirl13 wrote: »pineygirl13 wrote: »Wow. My fitness pal had a great article about body recomposition. Thank you.
Actually the MFP article on recomp is appalling, IMHO!
They make it seem complicated and needing forcing and it doesn't. It's a totally normal process and doesn't need silly restrictive rules.
Eat at or around maintenance calories and train hard. That's it!
It sounded easy to me. But what do I know. It basically said eat 15% over your maintain calorie number on lifting days and 10% less on non lifting days. Should I not do that?
No need to calorie cycle. That's complicating things too much.0 -
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pineygirl13 wrote: »pineygirl13 wrote: »Wow. My fitness pal had a great article about body recomposition. Thank you.
Actually the MFP article on recomp is appalling, IMHO!
They make it seem complicated and needing forcing and it doesn't. It's a totally normal process and doesn't need silly restrictive rules.
Eat at or around maintenance calories and train hard. That's it!
It sounded easy to me. But what do I know. It basically said eat 15% over your maintain calorie number on lifting days and 10% less on non lifting days. Should I not do that?
Only if you want to.
It's just pure broscience that you NEED to.
Why put arbitrary restrictions of your lifestyle for no quantified benefit?0 -
1) Eat at maintenance.
2) Lift weights
That is the basic premise of a recomp. If you decide that you aren't seeing the progress you hope for and want to reduce your bodyfat, then drop calories into a slight deficit.
In my opinion, you should go straight into a slight deficit (250 calories) and lift to get your body as lean as you want.1
This discussion has been closed.
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