STRUGGLING TO BUILD MUSCLE
ShareeEmma
Posts: 64 Member
...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
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Replies
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Building muscle, especially for women, is slow and requires consistent (but progressive) training over months/years. Eating at maintenance, to limit fat gain, will mean your growth is slower than if you were to eat at a surplus. Eating at a surplus will enable you to out on muscle, but it also comes with fat gain - you don't see muscle definition during a growth phase,thats what you cut for.
How are you determining your calorie intake? Are you accurate with your tracking - by measuring (liquids) and weighing (solids) everything you consume and logging with correct database entries?
How are you determining your composition changes? Photos? Calipers? Measurements? Scales?
If you're committed to putting on muscle, it requires the time and dedication to training and diet over a significant amount of time.2 -
You don't build muscle from eating - you build muscle from training and you haven't mentioned that at all.
It's also fiendishly difficult to actually measure muscle and fat changes in the short term so how do you know if you are or not?
You need to give far more detail about yourself if you want to resolve your issue. Training plan, current stats, timeline, how you track progress..... All people know abut you from your post is that you are female, 14lbs from goal and eating at maintenance levels.
Your diaries are private BTW.3 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Building muscle, especially for women, is slow and requires consistent (but progressive) training over months/years. Eating at maintenance, to limit fat gain, will mean your growth is slower than if you were to eat at a surplus. Eating at a surplus will enable you to out on muscle, but it also comes with fat gain - you don't see muscle definition during a growth phase,thats what you cut for.
How are you determining your calorie intake? Are you accurate with your tracking - by measuring (liquids) and weighing (solids) everything you consume and logging with correct database entries?
How are you determining your composition changes? Photos? Calipers? Measurements? Scales?
If you're committed to putting on muscle, it requires the time and dedication to training and diet over a significant amount of time.
I am good with tracking I sometimes slack at the weekend with alcohol but that's it really. I still workout 3/4 times a week.
I take photos, I now also attend a body fat measuring class where it is done by a professional and my body fat (27%) never seems to change.
its been four months now and two months there hasn't been any change... that I can see anyway.![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
I suppose ill just keep going
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You don't build muscle from eating - you build muscle from training and you haven't mentioned that at all.
It's also fiendishly difficult to actually measure muscle and fat changes in the short term so how do you know if you are or not?
You need to give far more detail about yourself if you want to resolve your issue. Training plan, current stats, timeline, how you track progress..... All people know abut you from your post is that you are female, 14lbs from goal and eating at maintenance levels.
Your diaries are private BTW.
I do train 3/4 times a week. 1 spin class a week, maybe cutting cardio out all together may help.
I'm saying that I cant tell, I would have thought that I would see some sort of change but if it realllly takes that much time then i may just be being impatient. Cant seem to loose belly fat either, but ill carry on and give it more time and see.
Sorry, maybe its just people who i am friends with that can view my diary then, sorry didn't realise. 0 -
How do you actually train those 3-4 days a week? Are you following a progressive overload structured lifting program? Also, taking into consideration it's actually fairly difficult to be an appreciable amount of muscle while losing weight.
If you are trying to cut fat, are you tracking daily? Are you using a food scale?
ps- your diary is closed, so we can't look at it.1 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »You don't build muscle from eating - you build muscle from training and you haven't mentioned that at all.
It's also fiendishly difficult to actually measure muscle and fat changes in the short term so how do you know if you are or not?
You need to give far more detail about yourself if you want to resolve your issue. Training plan, current stats, timeline, how you track progress..... All people know abut you from your post is that you are female, 14lbs from goal and eating at maintenance levels.
Your diaries are private BTW.
I do train 3/4 times a week. 1 spin class a week, maybe cutting cardio out all together may help.
I'm saying that I cant tell, I would have thought that I would see some sort of change but if it realllly takes that much time then i may just be being impatient. Cant seem to loose belly fat either, but ill carry on and give it more time and see.
Sorry, maybe its just people who i am friends with that can view my diary then, sorry didn't realise.
When I say detail it's far more than frequency!
My training day might be an hour of heavy weights or six hours of cycling for example - very different.
Expand!I do train 3/4 times a week.
No cutting out cardio doesn't help - horrible old myth and one that's going to tip your energy balance the wrong way. It's not what you exclude it's the training you include.
But how? What method exactly. The professionals in my gym use a BIA device which is comically inaccurate.I now also attend a body fat measuring class where it is done by a professional and my body fat (27%) never seems to change.
Your profile page says you have 14lbs to lose so any changes could well be hidden. When you are lean even small changes pop out.
You are eating at maintenance (not losing weight) and doing an unspecified exercise routine. Not so far seeing why your body would change. I've been using gyms for four decades and see hopelessly inefficient routines all the time with people just wasting their time - that's why detail is important.
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How do you actually train those 3-4 days a week? Are you following a progressive overload structured lifting program? Also, taking into consideration it's actually fairly difficult to be an appreciable amount of muscle while losing weight.
If you are trying to cut fat, are you tracking daily? Are you using a food scale?
ps- your diary is closed, so we can't look at it.
I do lift weights I don't just use the machines - Monday is leg day, Tuesday is spin class wednesday I cant make gym Thursday is abs and arms Friday & Saturday I cant make it if I go on sunday its a cardio workout.
any ideas on how I can open my diary I thought it was as friends can view my meals are pretty much the same each day.
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ShareeEmma wrote: »How do you actually train those 3-4 days a week? Are you following a progressive overload structured lifting program? Also, taking into consideration it's actually fairly difficult to be an appreciable amount of muscle while losing weight.
If you are trying to cut fat, are you tracking daily? Are you using a food scale?
ps- your diary is closed, so we can't look at it.
I do lift weights I don't just use the machines - Monday is leg day, Tuesday is spin class wednesday I cant make gym Thursday is abs and arms Friday & Saturday I cant make it if I go on sunday its a cardio workout.
any ideas on how I can open my diary I thought it was as friends can view my meals are pretty much the same each day.
And there in lies the problem. You are following a poorly structured program where you might not even being training the majority of muscle groups. If you want to have a chance of gaining some muscle, get one of the below programs that focuses on core muscle groups.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p11 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »You don't build muscle from eating - you build muscle from training and you haven't mentioned that at all.
It's also fiendishly difficult to actually measure muscle and fat changes in the short term so how do you know if you are or not?
You need to give far more detail about yourself if you want to resolve your issue. Training plan, current stats, timeline, how you track progress..... All people know abut you from your post is that you are female, 14lbs from goal and eating at maintenance levels.
Your diaries are private BTW.
I do train 3/4 times a week. 1 spin class a week, maybe cutting cardio out all together may help.
I'm saying that I cant tell, I would have thought that I would see some sort of change but if it realllly takes that much time then i may just be being impatient. Cant seem to loose belly fat either, but ill carry on and give it more time and see.
Sorry, maybe its just people who i am friends with that can view my diary then, sorry didn't realise.
When I say detail it's far more than frequency!
My training day might be an hour of heavy weights or six hours of cycling for example - very different.
Expand!I do train 3/4 times a week.
No cutting out cardio doesn't help - horrible old myth and one that's going to tip your energy balance the wrong way. It's not what you exclude it's the training you include.
But how? What method exactly. The professionals in my gym use a BIA device which is comically inaccurate.I now also attend a body fat measuring class where it is done by a professional and my body fat (27%) never seems to change.
Your profile page says you have 14lbs to lose so any changes could well be hidden. When you are lean even small changes pop out.
You are eating at maintenance (not losing weight) and doing an unspecified exercise routine. Not so far seeing why your body would change. I've been using gyms for four decades and see hopelessly inefficient routines all the time with people just wasting their time - that's why detail is important.
My aim was to loose weight get down to around 8st3 then start building muscle because at 9stone I didn't want to be bigger, the reason I'm asking on here is because people seem to have a lot of person experience which I feel is far better than trying to google my answer. I don't just want to loose weight and have no muscle that's why my I want to change my fat to muscle (it all makes sense in my head, but maybe I'm delusional)
my body fat is measured by a caliper... I generally lift weights when I'm at the gym, Monday - legs, Tuesday spin, Thursday, abs and arms and Sunday IF I can make it is cardio. maybe including an extra weight lifting session in may help.
that's exactly how I'm feeling like I'm wasting my time AND energy. its just not motivating I'm not going to give up because I really enjoy going to the gym I'm not forcing myself or anything
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at 12-1400 calories, you'd likely struggle to build muscle anways (IMHO) - I'm focusing on eating just below maintenance (which averages out to about 2300cal a day - 5'3", 148lb female) and its a slow road (I also don't follow progressive overload yet...but looking to start)0
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ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
0 -
Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.0
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bakiredape wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
I want to look toned and defined, NOT chizzled. ive been working on this for around 4 months now. i do switch up the routine i don't just do the same leg routine every Monday and the same arms and ab routine every Thursday.
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ShareeEmma wrote: »bakiredape wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
I want to look toned and defined, NOT chizzled. ive been working on this for around 4 months now. i do switch up the routine i don't just do the same leg routine every Monday and the same arms and ab routine every Thursday.
Well it's a bit subjective, but the difference would be body fat level (i.e., 18% vs 16%). Changing up your routine is not a good thing. It prevents you from making progress and decreases the adaptations to your central nervous system, causing you to just spin your wheels.
Also, if you aren't losing weight, I'd recommend you look at your logging practices for consistency and accuracy.0 -
rugratz2015 wrote: »Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.
Great, ive obviously adopted my mums genes then!!! as far as i can remember ive never really had much muscle. i think your right I'm going to have to stop being tight and get a PT
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rugratz2015 wrote: »Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.
I'd make the argument, that not everyone is willing to put in the time or effort to achieve those results, which is why people can't get toned. If a person doesn't have an adequate base of muscle, that might mean they will have to build some, which makes it take longer. Something, not everyone is willing to do.0 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »bakiredape wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
I want to look toned and defined, NOT chizzled. ive been working on this for around 4 months now. i do switch up the routine i don't just do the same leg routine every Monday and the same arms and ab routine every Thursday.
Well it's a bit subjective, but the difference would be body fat level (i.e., 18% vs 16%). Changing up your routine is not a good thing. It prevents you from making progress and decreases the adaptations to your central nervous system, causing you to just spin your wheels.
Also, if you aren't losing weight, I'd recommend you look at your logging practices for consistency and accuracy.
I wish this was as easy as putting a chocolate bar or four in my mouth lol. (i don't really do that lol i have a dairy intolerance so i cant now... but it was easy when i did)
thanks for the info about the changing the routine, ill try to stick to the same routine but lift heavier in future. what do you think about isolating muscles?0 -
rugratz2015 wrote: »Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.
I'd make the argument, that not everyone is willing to put in the time or effort to achieve those results, which is why people can't get toned. If a person doesn't have an adequate base of muscle, that might mean they will have to build some, which makes it take longer. Something, not everyone is willing to do.
Well the information i have gotten today has been helpful, i did feel like i was just wasting my time. I will stick at it and hope i start seeing results soon.
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ShareeEmma wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »bakiredape wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
I want to look toned and defined, NOT chizzled. ive been working on this for around 4 months now. i do switch up the routine i don't just do the same leg routine every Monday and the same arms and ab routine every Thursday.
Well it's a bit subjective, but the difference would be body fat level (i.e., 18% vs 16%). Changing up your routine is not a good thing. It prevents you from making progress and decreases the adaptations to your central nervous system, causing you to just spin your wheels.
Also, if you aren't losing weight, I'd recommend you look at your logging practices for consistency and accuracy.
I wish this was as easy as putting a chocolate bar or four in my mouth lol. (i don't really do that lol i have a dairy intolerance so i cant now... but it was easy when i did)
thanks for the info about the changing the routine, ill try to stick to the same routine but lift heavier in future. what do you think about isolating muscles?
I think your plan is not going to provide you any valuable results that you seek. It's why you should looking into a full body routines like StrongCurves or Thinner Leaner Stronger. By concentrating on the core lifts (overhead press, bench, deadlift, squat), you will activate more muscle fibers than with any other combination of moves. And while isometric moves serve it's purpose, they should be in a complementary way, not used as a primary move. And hitting muscles once a week is very ineffective and does not maximize muscle protein synthesis as all.0 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »rugratz2015 wrote: »Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.
I'd make the argument, that not everyone is willing to put in the time or effort to achieve those results, which is why people can't get toned. If a person doesn't have an adequate base of muscle, that might mean they will have to build some, which makes it take longer. Something, not everyone is willing to do.
Well the information i have gotten today has been helpful, i did feel like i was just wasting my time. I will stick at it and hope i start seeing results soon.
Check the thread linked by psulemon and get on a structured program please.0 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »You don't build muscle from eating - you build muscle from training and you haven't mentioned that at all.
It's also fiendishly difficult to actually measure muscle and fat changes in the short term so how do you know if you are or not?
You need to give far more detail about yourself if you want to resolve your issue. Training plan, current stats, timeline, how you track progress..... All people know abut you from your post is that you are female, 14lbs from goal and eating at maintenance levels.
Your diaries are private BTW.
I do train 3/4 times a week. 1 spin class a week, maybe cutting cardio out all together may help.
I'm saying that I cant tell, I would have thought that I would see some sort of change but if it realllly takes that much time then i may just be being impatient. Cant seem to loose belly fat either, but ill carry on and give it more time and see.
Sorry, maybe its just people who i am friends with that can view my diary then, sorry didn't realise.
When I say detail it's far more than frequency!
My training day might be an hour of heavy weights or six hours of cycling for example - very different.
Expand!I do train 3/4 times a week.
No cutting out cardio doesn't help - horrible old myth and one that's going to tip your energy balance the wrong way. It's not what you exclude it's the training you include.
But how? What method exactly. The professionals in my gym use a BIA device which is comically inaccurate.I now also attend a body fat measuring class where it is done by a professional and my body fat (27%) never seems to change.
Your profile page says you have 14lbs to lose so any changes could well be hidden. When you are lean even small changes pop out.
You are eating at maintenance (not losing weight) and doing an unspecified exercise routine. Not so far seeing why your body would change. I've been using gyms for four decades and see hopelessly inefficient routines all the time with people just wasting their time - that's why detail is important.
My aim was to loose weight get down to around 8st3 then start building muscle because at 9stone I didn't want to be bigger, the reason I'm asking on here is because people seem to have a lot of person experience which I feel is far better than trying to google my answer. I don't just want to loose weight and have no muscle that's why my I want to change my fat to muscle (it all makes sense in my head, but maybe I'm delusional)
my body fat is measured by a caliper... I generally lift weights when I'm at the gym, Monday - legs, Tuesday spin, Thursday, abs and arms and Sunday IF I can make it is cardio. maybe including an extra weight lifting session in may help.
that's exactly how I'm feeling like I'm wasting my time AND energy. its just not motivating I'm not going to give up because I really enjoy going to the gym I'm not forcing myself or anything
You can't turn fat in to muscle. They are different things. You can maintain weight, lose fat and gain muscle by eating at maintenance and doing recomp - more advisable when you're close to your goal weight I think. If you are 27% bf you're probably better off losing fat by eating in a deficit, but weight training to try and retain the muscle you have.
Your training is severely lacking. You do legs, and abs/arms. What happened to chest, back and shoulders? You'd be better off finding a proper training program that focuses on your whole body. (for what it's worth, I don't train abs on their own very often - I've got the best growth there from other lifts.)0 -
rugratz2015 wrote: »Not everyone has the biological make up to have a toned body. Have you been toned and muscled before? The body will remember this and start to develop, with the right exercise. If not it does take time and I would suggest you invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to discuss the best exercises for you.
Completely disagree. I spent most of my life chunky, overweight, "curvy", "big boned", yada yada.... But started dieting and training, developing a physique that's stood on stage in bodybuilding comps. I wouldn't have believed it was possible if you'd told me 10 years ago either.0 -
I really think you actually do need to change.
It sounds like, at very best, a sub-optimal routine based on if you can't describe it then it's probably not that good!
The only reason to stick to your program would be if you enjoy it so much you are prepared to make no progress. Just doing a poor routine heavier only addresses a tiny part of the problem.
Get on a properly designed program suitable for a beginner which will hit your main muscle groups more often per week. It will be most likely based around the big compound lifts.
Isolation lifts are not probably that useful for you right now and certainly shouldn't be the core of your program.
As for weight loss... 99% of people not losing (OK I made up that number) will be eating more than they think.
Invest in a food scale and double check the entries you select from the food database.
Callipers in the hands of someone who knows what they doing can give you a reasonable estimate or at least a trend.
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ShareeEmma wrote: »bakiredape wrote: »ShareeEmma wrote: »...Basically as the title says, i seriously struggling to build muscle. I have an open diary for people to view...
I know there may be similar threads but ive gotten to like page five and not found the answer i am looking for...
I have my calories set at 1200, i often eat over this amount, why arent i building muscle, im not loosing any weight either... when i upped my calories to 1400 i just gained fat and didnt notice any muscle definition. Somebody pelase give me advice on personal experiences.
What type of look are you trying to get
I want to look toned and defined, NOT chizzled. ive been working on this for around 4 months now. i do switch up the routine i don't just do the same leg routine every Monday and the same arms and ab routine every Thursday.
It takes longer than 4 months.Muscle wont happen at calorie deficit, rather at maintenance with good protein intake. Its a very slow process. It takes lifting heavy along with good protein to gain true muscle but on us women it takes a long, long time. Be patient.0 -
I've been lifting heavy for 3+ years, bulked for a full year...and finally started to build appreciable muscle. You need progressive overload, food, protein, and time!1
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I'm sure this has been stated already, but building muscle is not possible (past initial or newbie gains) with a calorie deficit.
Bodybuilders alternate between bulking and cutting. They eat a little over the limit with high protein and lift to build then cut by eating at a deficit trying to keep gains made on the previous cycle. Bodybuilding.com forums is a great spot to learn this or get advice if you continue having trouble.1
This discussion has been closed.
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