Gaining Muscle is NOT that easy.

I just officially switched to muscle gain mode! Kind of scared of the fat gain that will come with it but excited at the same time.

When you gain more muscle, the fat comes off faster. Just stay 500 calories over maintenance.

I want to start off by saying that both men and women can't bulk up fast, but both can get muscular arms fast. In my opinion, when a woman says that she doesn't want to lift weights, because she doesn't want to bulk up, she's meaning she doesn't want muscular arms. I don't lift heavy, because I don't want muscular arms. I hate that look.

There's a difference between Jillian Michael arms and the wrestler Chyna's arms. Chyna is a body builder and she has bodybuilder arms. Jillian Michael just has muscular arms.

Women can develop muscular arms in a short period of time. Every woman's body is different. Some females have a muscular body at a young age, prior to ever lifting weights. A person doesn't have to lift weights to get a muscular body. A person can get a muscular body by doing body weight exercise. Think about gymnasts and ballerinas.

It's not easy to gain muscle or even lose fat. That's why tracking your body fat percentage is a very good thing. Well, for people that's tracking their fat loss. Scale weight loss and fat loss aren't the same thing. A person can lose 5 pounds of scale weight in an hour, but they can't lose 5 pounds of fat in an hour.

Scale weight is broken down into pounds of fat and pounds of lean body mass. When a person's lean body mass goes up that's a sign they have gained lean body mass or some people say muscles. Lean body mass includes muscles, organs, etc weight. People see abs, muscular arms, muscular legs, etc. and and they have gained muscles.

I can't really speak for calipers, although I have one. But, I can speak for my 6 year old scale and 2 month old Omron Handheld
body fat monitor. They both give me the same body fat percentage reading.

I've read where one man had the dunk test done and then used a Omron handheld body fat monitor and the reading was the same. Some people swear that the dunk test is the best way to go.

Is it possible that a person can lose pounds of fat or gain lean body mass one month and the next month gain pounds of fat or lose pounds of lean body mass? Yes. Why? The healthy weight loss is to lose 1 to 2 pounds of fat a month. This is not scale weight. It's fat loss. These results would be a lost of 4 to 8 pounds of fat loss a month. Anyone can lose 4 pounds of scale weight in a week, but without knowing your body fat percentage and working the formula, you don't know what you have lost. You could have lose 4 pounds of lean body mass.

I do my weigh in every month and my goal is to lose between 4 to 8 pounds of fat a month. I might lose under 4 pounds of fat in 30 days and I'm okay with that. This month weigh in showed a 3 pounds of fat loss. That was good news to me. I'm on the fat loss journey and a slow one at that. I have time to make it to my finish line. I know that it will take a year for me to lose the pounds of fat that I have to lose to get to my body fat percentage goal.

Fixed

You haven't fixed anything. Just because someone is a bodybuilder it doesn't mean they are taking anything. The same thing goes for people that just have muscular arms. How do you know they aren't taking anything?

Fixed

You haven't fixed anything. Just because someone is a bodybuilder it doesn't mean they are taking anything. The same thing goes for people that just have muscular arms. How do you know they aren't taking anything?

Are you saying that other than the arms, Chyna looks just like every other non-using natural lady to you?

Pointing to assisted body builders is seriously a big part of the problem. Women are probably out there afraid to lift because they think it will give them facial hair and thickened vocal cords, too.

It makes me sad that women don't want "muscular arms" but to each her own I guess. I love my muscular arms and thing muscles are damn sexy.

Agreed. muscles = strength

Are you saying that other than the arms, Chyna looks just like every other non-using natural lady to you?

Pointing to assisted body builders is seriously a big part of the problem. Women are probably out there afraid to lift because they think it will give them facial hair and thickened vocal cords, too.

Why do you think that Chyna used anything? Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. But a lot of bodybuilders don't use anything to get their body. Bodybuilding doesn't come overnight. No one will get a bodybuilders body in a month.

A lot of woman don't have to look at a bodybuilder to say they don't want to bulk up. They can look at Jillian Michaels. Serena Williams, etc. and not want to look like that. Some women, like myself want a tone look and there's nothing wrong with that.

Agreed. muscles = strength

A person doesn't have to lift weights to have strength.

You know what.....never mind

So in 6 months of heavy lifting, eating at a surplus, I as a woman should expect about 5-6 pounds of muscle and 1.5-2 pounds of fat?

6 lbs of muscle still seems a bit high. As stated above 12lbs in a years time is for people getting the newbie effect

I took the 2-3lbs in 12 weeks and just doubled it. Blargh. Where's my roids? This is going to take forever...

So in 6 months of heavy lifting, eating at a surplus, I as a woman should expect about 5-6 pounds of muscle and 1.5-2 pounds of fat?

6 lbs of muscle still seems a bit high. As stated above 12lbs in a years time is for people getting the newbie effect

I took the 2-3lbs in 12 weeks and just doubled it. Blargh. Where's my roids? This is going to take forever...

Yeah, but you feel like such a badass! DO IT GIRL!