Weight gain due to muscle mass?

seerofsorrow
seerofsorrow Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am currently gaining weight and I enter everything super faithfully I excercise 1 hour a day and don't include it in my calorie budget but I'm gaining weight. Is it really true that muscle weighs more than fat? And if so what's the best way to see how much fat I'm burning without a scale
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Replies

  • TeethOfTheHydra
    TeethOfTheHydra Posts: 63 Member
    A pound of each weighs the same, but fat takes up more space than muscle. One option if you're asking these questions and can't tell for yourself through observation is to find a gym, weight loss shop, or other provider who might have a measurement system (like DEXA, InBody, etc) to distinguish between fat, lean, and water so you get a more granular breakdown of what you're made of.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    if you are gaining weight you are also gaining fat. if you are gaining weight you really arent burning fat.so theres no way to tell how much you are burning,even if you were losing there is no way to tell, if you are in a deficit you shouldnt be gaining unless its water retention from too much sodium,waste,that time of the month,increase in exercise ,etc which is not true weight. you can try a measuring tape but if you are gaining the tape numbers will go up. what are you trying to accomplish? just weight gain? or muscle gain? or?
  • seerofsorrow
    seerofsorrow Posts: 6 Member
    This has happened before in the past and I stopped going to the gym/excersising because I couldn't figure out why the scale would t budge
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    seerofsorrow wrote: »
    To answer some of the questions I am trying to slim down. I am doing 2 hours of MMA gym a week and three hours of pole class a week. I'm also doing about 1/2 hour of yoga a day (I don't really count that as excercise though) my pants are starting to fall off but the scale says I gained 7 pounds in two weeks. And yes I am measuring everything I eat very carefully. Mostly I just wanna know if I am gaining weight due to muscle mass how to know the best way to track my progress towards sliming down

    then if you are losing weight you are losing fat but I doubt you are gaining muscle,the weight gain could be water retention for many reasons that I stated above. to gain muscle you need to be in a recomp(eating maintenance calories and following a progressive lifting program) or in a surplus of calories.MMA and pole classes arent really going to build much if any muscle. if your clothes are getting bigger and you are gaining weight its not going to be muscle as you cant lose say 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle at the same time.how many calories a day do you eat?
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    seerofsorrow wrote: »
    To answer some of the questions I am trying to slim down. I am doing 2 hours of MMA gym a week and three hours of pole class a week. I'm also doing about 1/2 hour of yoga a day (I don't really count that as excercise though) my pants are starting to fall off but the scale says I gained 7 pounds in two weeks. And yes I am measuring everything I eat very carefully. Mostly I just wanna know if I am gaining weight due to muscle mass how to know the best way to track my progress towards sliming down

    then if you are losing weight you are losing fat but I doubt you are gaining muscle,the weight gain could be water retention for many reasons that I stated above. to gain muscle you need to be in a recomp(eating maintenance calories and following a progressive lifting program) or in a surplus of calories.MMA and pole classes arent really going to build much if any muscle. if your clothes are getting bigger and you are gaining weight its not going to be muscle as you cant lose say 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle at the same time.how many calories a day do you eat?

    Pole classes might. MMA won't.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    seerofsorrow wrote: »
    To answer some of the questions I am trying to slim down. I am doing 2 hours of MMA gym a week and three hours of pole class a week. I'm also doing about 1/2 hour of yoga a day (I don't really count that as excercise though) my pants are starting to fall off but the scale says I gained 7 pounds in two weeks. And yes I am measuring everything I eat very carefully. Mostly I just wanna know if I am gaining weight due to muscle mass how to know the best way to track my progress towards sliming down

    then if you are losing weight you are losing fat but I doubt you are gaining muscle,the weight gain could be water retention for many reasons that I stated above. to gain muscle you need to be in a recomp(eating maintenance calories and following a progressive lifting program) or in a surplus of calories.MMA and pole classes arent really going to build much if any muscle. if your clothes are getting bigger and you are gaining weight its not going to be muscle as you cant lose say 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle at the same time.how many calories a day do you eat?

    Pole classes might. MMA won't.

    But definitely nowhere in the range of 7 lbs in 2 weeks

    True, I overlooked the time scale, You're correct, as is @CharlieBeansmomTracey
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Yes and no. 1lbs of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1lb of fat. But, 1lb of muscle is much smaller than 1lb of fat. So, if you are gain 1lb of muscle and lose 1lb of fat, you will get leaner even though your weight stays the same. I doubt that much gain is muscle and/or fat, it is most likely water and is normal. If you want a more accurate measurement, measure yourself (hips, waist, arms, thighs, calves). If your measurements go down you know you are losing fat, regardless of what the scale says, the waist is usually the most accurate as it's very hard to increase waist size with muscle gains (certain bodybuilders do, but that's usually due to anabolic steroids and extreme training).
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    It would be incredibly difficult to gain that amount of fat in just two weeks and impossible to gain that much muscle in two weeks. To have gained that much fat you would need to have eaten an excess of around 24,500 calories over your maintenance over those two weeks. More likely it is mostly water retention and possibly a little fat depending on how accurately you are weighing your food and logging.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    Wish I could gain a pound of muscle that easy

    Same here!!!! Which I why I find it rather funny when people try to tell me that I'm going to "bulk up" or "look like a man" because I lift. They have no idea how hard it is to just gain 5lbs of muscle - for a man, who has a lot of testosterone (unlike me).
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,315 Member
    seerofsorrow wrote: »
    To answer some of the questions I am trying to slim down. I am doing 2 hours of MMA gym a week and three hours of pole class a week. I'm also doing about 1/2 hour of yoga a day (I don't really count that as excercise though) my pants are starting to fall off but the scale says I gained 7 pounds in two weeks. And yes I am measuring everything I eat very carefully. Mostly I just wanna know if I am gaining weight due to muscle mass how to know the best way to track my progress towards sliming down

    So, stop using a scale to measure your progress. Instead get a measuring tape and take your measurements. Also take a photo. Then in 3-5 weeks take your measurements again and take a new picture. If your clothing is getting loose, then you are likely losing fat, even if the scale isn't showing it. It is highly unlikely you are gaining muscle. It is far more likely you are retaining water. Frankly, who cares what the scale saying if you are getting smaller.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    BabyBear76 wrote: »
    Yes and no. 1lbs of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1lb of fat. But, 1lb of muscle is much smaller than 1lb of fat. So, if you are gain 1lb of muscle and lose 1lb of fat, you will get leaner even though your weight stays the same. I doubt that much gain is muscle and/or fat, it is most likely water and is normal. If you want a more accurate measurement, measure yourself (hips, waist, arms, thighs, calves). If your measurements go down you know you are losing fat, regardless of what the scale says, the waist is usually the most accurate as it's very hard to increase waist size with muscle gains (certain bodybuilders do, but that's usually due to anabolic steroids and extreme training).

    A lot of people say that, but it's not as true as many think. From a recent article by Bret Contreras:

    00hoci3uooop.jpg



    [ETA:] And no, the OP didn't gain 7 pounds of muscle in 2 weeks. Not even on a heavy weightlifting routine with anabolic steroids involved.



    .

    I never said how much more room muscle takes up than fat. I didn't know the exact amount, but I do know that it is denser. That why I also said that it is most likely water retention, which is perfectly normal. There's also the issue of being a woman, and every woman knows that her weight can easily swing 5lbs depending on what day of the month it is.

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    edited August 2017
    seerofsorrow wrote: »
    To answer some of the questions I am trying to slim down. I am doing 2 hours of MMA gym a week and three hours of pole class a week. I'm also doing about 1/2 hour of yoga a day (I don't really count that as excercise though) my pants are starting to fall off but the scale says I gained 7 pounds in two weeks. And yes I am measuring everything I eat very carefully. Mostly I just wanna know if I am gaining weight due to muscle mass how to know the best way to track my progress towards sliming down

    To gain weight, you are eating more than you burn. This applies to both muscle and fat.
    Now, to gain 7 lbs of muscle in 2 weeks .... just no. Especially as a woman, and with no serious weight training, I doubt this would be possible in 2 years.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    It's possible to gain that much in a short time, but only in extremely unlikely circumstances, like if you go from an extremely sedentary/minimal caloric intake situation like being bedridden in a hospital to a heavily active/surplus caloric intake situation. But in this case you're regaining the muscle lost during the hospital stay (and most likely some fat as well).

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