Building Muscle = no weight loss?

sbremner35 · September 2011

Have started to go to the gym regular doing 30 minutes various weights and then an hour cardio.

I have stuck to my diet for past week or two (apart from today :O() but have been on target or under and have remained the same weight. Is it true that when you first start to exercise you build muscle, so therefore although the scales may not show a loss judge it by your clothes?

If not then I need to have a drastic look at what I am doing as do not seem to be getting anywhere!

:O)

hnpervert · September 2011

You have to give it more than a couple of weeks to see real gains.

But yes, muscle weighs more than fat. Its always best to go by the mirror rather than scales if you're lifting weights (unless its a gym mirror. Which are warped to make you look thinner

)

SpaceMarkus · September 2011

In a lot of cases if you going really hard, like with P90X, you'll actually gain weight when you first start out.

SergeantSunshine_reused · September 2011

It is difficult to actually gain while in calorie reduction. you will not see huge gains every week. You dont put on muscle as fast as half the people on here seem to think

MikeSEA · September 2011

That seems like a lot of cardio to combine with your weight training, especially on the same day.

EDIT: and yeah, as people have noted, building muscle is rather slow. If I really work at it and limit my cardio, I might be able to put on .5 to 1 lb of muscle /week with a proper caloric surplus...and I'm a guy.

leilani♥ · September 2011

It takes time to build muscle. I've been using weights consistently a little over a month now and continue to lose weight regularly.

sbremner35 · September 2011

Thanks - weight is just remaining the same, was getting a little despondent about it !

I do:

Chest press 3 reps of 12 at 1O
Bicep Curls 3 reps 12 at 10
Shoulder press 3 reps 12 at 10
Tricep curls 3 reps of 12at 10
Concentration Curls 3 reps of 12 at 14
Lap pull down 3 reps of 12 at 10
Shoulder raises 3 reps of 12 at 3kg
Squat - 10 then pulse for 10 3 reps of this
Various ab crunches total about 100

5 min row (warm up before start above)
20 mins on stationery bike
20 mins on x-trainer
20 mins on treadmill

Do about 2/3 a week, then one night swimming for 30 mins, then 40 min squash once or twice a week .

That is my total workouts a week.

:ohwell:

8rules · September 2011

Likely you are gaining weight cause you are hydrating correctly.

You can lose 2 pounds of fat a week easy.

You are lucky, as a man, if you can gain 2 to 4 ounces of muscle in a week, and that is killing yourself and eating HUGE.

As a lady, good luck approaching that.

If you can find the magic formula that lets you build muscle at the same rate you shed fat, you will be a billionaire, I promise.

ChrisStoney · September 2011

If you are religiously lifting it is a good idea to measure your calf, thighs, butt, waist, stomach, chest, neck and bicepts once a month or every 2 weeks. You should see some positive results. I record them on my schedule book, then I can go back and compare.. And weight of course.

I have taken about 3 months to lose 10 lbs, but have increased in good ways, and my abd and waist have gone down. I am not in a huge hurry to lose the rest, as I don't want it to come from the little bit of muscle mass I have built up. :-)

bllowry · September 2011

I would take your measurements and ignore the scale for a few weeks. A pound of fat and a pound of muscle weight the same: a pound. But, muscle is denser and smaller and I suss you'll see a reduction in size even if the scale isn't moving.

kmorrison21 · September 2011

Yep! Honestly, I don't even weigh myself, because strength training is so vital (and awesome), I go by the way my clothes fit / body looks. The scale is very discouraging. It's way more fun to measure yourself or go by progress pics.

I did something the other day and caught a glimpse in the mirror of my tricep / shoulder and it felt soooooooooo good to see some definition and toning. Everyone kinda has their own thing that works for them, but yeah, and I don't even know if it's just at first that it happens, I've been doing pretty consistent weight lifting / cardio for awhile now, and it still seems to be the same.. weight on the scale isnt moving much, and sometimes goes up higher, but my body is changing for the better. I dunno, I'm sure some of these more seasoned ones can give you some more insight too!

ps... when you start noticing that you're having to lift more weights to get the burn.. it's very empowering.. I love that "Holy crap I'm getting stronger" feeling.

PlunderBunneh · September 2011

I haven't been lifting weights (yet!), but going from 0 cardio a day to at least 60 minutes of cardio every day slowed my weight loss down. I lost 9 pounds in a week (mostly water weight I'm sure) and then didn't lose again for a month. I lost a total of three inches during that month though. I'm back to losing pounds again, which relieves me a whole bunch. Slowly, one pound at a time, but I'm trying to focus on what is really important, which is being a healthier me, not a thinner me.

sbremner35 · September 2011

THANK YOU everyone feel much better and going to ignore those scales and go on my clothes which are fitting a little better and going to get the tape measure out.

:flowerforyou:

ninerbuff · September 2011

Have started to go to the gym regular doing 30 minutes various weights and then an hour cardio.

I have stuck to my diet for past week or two (apart from today :O() but have been on target or under and have remained the same weight. Is it true that when you first start to exercise you build muscle, so therefore although the scales may not show a loss judge it by your clothes?

If not then I need to have a drastic look at what I am doing as do not seem to be getting anywhere!

:O)

It's practically impossible to build muscle on a calorie deficit. The culprit here is water retention or you're probably not eating enough.

ninerbuff · September 2011

Thanks - weight is just remaining the same, was getting a little despondent about it !

I do:

Chest press 3 reps of 12 at 1O
Bicep Curls 3 reps 12 at 10
Shoulder press 3 reps 12 at 10
Tricep curls 3 reps of 12at 10
Concentration Curls 3 reps of 12 at 14
Lap pull down 3 reps of 12 at 10
Shoulder raises 3 reps of 12 at 3kg
Squat - 10 then pulse for 10 3 reps of this
Various ab crunches total about 100

5 min row (warm up before start above)
20 mins on stationery bike
20 mins on x-trainer
20 mins on treadmill

Do about 2/3 a week, then one night swimming for 30 mins, then 40 min squash once or twice a week .

That is my total workouts a week.

:ohwell:

Weights are light especially on chest and lat pull downs. If you can use that weight for arms (which are much smaller muscles) then you're not using enough weight.

Kolohe71 · September 2011

Couple of things to keep in mind:

1) In order to build muscle, you have to break muscle. Breaking muscle (micro tears, in simple terms) is what you are causing by lifting weights. Once the muscle is torn, your body floods these areas with water in order to repair (build new muscle) the damage. So initially the weight gain, or lack of loss, you are seeing is your body retaining water.

2) Like ninerbuff noted, you may want to increase the amount of weight you are lifting. For muscle building, the general rule is to lift as much weight as you can and complete 3 sets of between 8 & 12 reps with the last 2 reps being very difficult to complete. If you can complete 12 reps and still feel like you could do a couple more, increase the amount of weight.

3) Don't worry about lifting too much and becoming "big & bulky". With very rare exception and/or heavy supplements, women typically do not have enough testosterone to build large muscles.

Building Muscle = no weight loss?

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