What are your fitness goals?

eyaaan
eyaaan Posts: 11 Member
edited September 2023 in Introduce Yourself
Hi 👋🏻, looking for active friends to motivate each other & keeping ourselves accountable to our fitness goals! It took me awhile to realize that working out is one thing but nutrition is the other half of the work.

I’m in my 20s looking to build lean muscle with upper/lower & push-pull-leg strength training (and some cardio/ab work 1-2 a week). Started taking fitness really seriously since February this year and its one of the best things I’ve done :)

Currently on a calorie deficit & maintaining 100g protein on most days - as I’ve gained weight from 68kg last December to maintaining 73kg for the past 2-3 months now.

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Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
    If you're on a calorie deficit, you're NOT going to gain muscle since adding muscle means putting on weight. And you put weight on with a SURPLUS not a deficit. This is a common mistake by newbies who work out and complain that they can't gain.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • eyaaan
    eyaaan Posts: 11 Member
    @ninerbuff thanks for the advice! So what would you recommend for me to do, as I want to build muscle but also avoid putting on fat if I am on a surplus.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,617 Member
    eyaaan wrote: »
    @ninerbuff thanks for the advice! So what would you recommend for me to do, as I want to build muscle but also avoid putting on fat if I am on a surplus.

    Since @ninerbuff hasn't been back yet, I'm going to put down a bet that he says you should go with a small calorie surplus, ample protein, good overall nutrition, and keep up a good progressive hypertrophy program.

    By "small", I'm not sure whether he'd say 250 or 500 calories daily over maintenance, but I'd guess somewhere in that neighborhood. If you've gone from 68 to 73kg in about 6 months, 5kg gain, you've been running a daily surplus in the 200-something calorie range, very rough math (rough since December to 2-3 months ago isn't very precise). If you feel like that's been productive gain, mostly muscle, maybe push it up a little and see what happens?

    I - not speaking for Niner or betting what he'll say, and he knows more than I - would go for somewhat more protein than you're getting. 100g is what I target (minimum) as a 165cm, 59kg li'l ol' lady who doesn't even lift (much).

    Examine.com's research-based recommendation for your weight/goals seems to be "at least 117
    grams/day. Intakes of up to 175 grams/day may provide additional benefit, based on limited evidence."

    https://examine.com/protein-intake-calculator/
    https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

    (They don't sell supplements, they sell research summaries. They're generally regarded as neutral and evidence-based.)

    Niner can speak for himself, though. :D
  • eyaaan
    eyaaan Posts: 11 Member
    @AnnPT77 thank you very much for the advice! :)
  • f7fvvq2hsk
    f7fvvq2hsk Posts: 3 Member
    She’s correct starting out at a surplus to put on Mass is the Key as long you stay consistent that is but before anything you need to figure out how much of a Surplus is needed and that is dependent how your Workout schedule is looking like? If it’s less than 3 days out of the week then a Surplus of 150- 200 will do, anything with 3-5 days then you bump it up to 250-350 now if you are crushing it 5+ days then go for 500+ … Now go out there and get it King! 💪