Building muscles?

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  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    hummm..... I am not sure you can not eat at a deficit and not put on muscle. Look at my profile pic, that is 30 days of training, eating at a deficit, there is more muscle.....and less fat !

    Some is possible, if you're new to lifting. But mostly it's revealing the muscle that's already there.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,665 Member
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    No, if you continually eat over your goal and strength train, you will put on some combination of fat and muscle. Building muscle and losing fat cannot be, in the long term, accomplished together. You can lose fat and maintain muscle, so as you lose fat, you will reveal the sexy muscle underneath. For that you need to strength train (or else muscle will be eaten for energy) and eat in a calorie deficit. If you are currently obese, you can probably do a deficit of 1000 cal a day (2 lb per week) if you are by, you should aim for a 500 calorie deficit (1 lb per week). And eat back exercise calories, since mfp is calculating a deficit as if you are (so if you don't, you risk the negative effects of under eating).

    Good luck!
    THIS. Also to add that building muscle will usually take a calorie surplus and not a deficit. Even if you're a newbie, the amount of muscle you can build in small.



    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,665 Member
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    hummm..... I am not sure you can not eat at a deficit and not put on muscle. Look at my profile pic, that is 30 days of training, eating at a deficit, there is more muscle.....and less fat !
    Practically impossible. What you're seeing is what everyone who loses weight and see underlying muscle underneath sees...........muscle that was already there, but never revealed. This is why so many people who lose fat, think they are building muscle when in truth they just reduced their bodyfat percentage.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    You can't build muscle on the elliptical. Cardio does not build up muscle tissue, it actually reduces muscle tissue. Sounds to me like you're underrating,and probably retaining water.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
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    Great answers, as usual sir :-)
    I've myself found a neat spot between losing fat and building muscle. I manipulate my diet during the rest days and the training ones. I knew what to expect by doing such : building, preserving/ slightly losing BUT slightly building. In fact, it takes me hell of a time to build - and if the deficit is too big, nothing moves. It took me around 7 weeks to gain 5 lbs of lean mass (while preserving the body fat) - but mainly guys here are all right : quite hard, and sometimes discouraging (but eh, I've chosen that :) )
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    hummm..... I am not sure you can not eat at a deficit and not put on muscle. Look at my profile pic, that is 30 days of training, eating at a deficit, there is more muscle.....and less fat !
    Practically impossible. What you're seeing is what everyone who loses weight and see underlying muscle underneath sees...........muscle that was already there, but never revealed. This is why so many people who lose fat, think they are building muscle when in truth they just reduced their bodyfat percentage.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    ok... please look at my bicep 30 days comparison shot then under my profile pics and tell me that it is just muscle unveiled.... I think there is growth... I am not arguing with you, just finding it hard to believe
  • AEJhoi
    AEJhoi Posts: 36
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    Okay so what I'll do is eat around my MFP calorie goal, keep doing cardio and add strength training with that?
    Is doing workouts (squads etc) good for that?
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
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    hummm..... I am not sure you can not eat at a deficit and not put on muscle. Look at my profile pic, that is 30 days of training, eating at a deficit, there is more muscle.....and less fat !
    Practically impossible. What you're seeing is what everyone who loses weight and see underlying muscle underneath sees...........muscle that was already there, but never revealed. This is why so many people who lose fat, think they are building muscle when in truth they just reduced their bodyfat percentage.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    ok... please look at my bicep 30 days comparison shot then under my profile pics and tell me that it is just muscle unveiled.... I think there is growth... I am not arguing with you, just finding it hard to believe

    Believe it. When you shed fat you muscle becomes more visible, giving the illusion of gaining muscle.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    Okay so what I'll do is eat around my MFP calorie goal, keep doing cardio and add strength training with that?
    Is doing workouts (squads etc) good for that?

    Yes please do eat your calories that MFP give you... and strength training is the only way to build muscles... Squats is a great exercise, please look up form or have someone help you at the gym, a trainer etc to make sure you don't hurt yourself. Once you get your form/technique down pat you will progress quickly and will learn fast.

    Make sure you eat lots of protein, 1g per lb of lean body mass.... good luck.

    P.S. Sorry for hijacking your thread .... :flowerforyou:
  • mrswinstead
    mrswinstead Posts: 71
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    The simple answer: Your calorie goal is too high. Drop it 200 a day and see what happens.

    This is terrible advice. She's already eating a net of 1000 calories a day. The 800 calories you're suggesting is the caloric needs of a Cocker Spaniel, not a healthy 18 year old woman.


    AEJhoi, it's next to impossible to build muscle on so few calories, especially since you're not doing any strength training, just cardio. What you're experiences is just fluid retention from the increased exercise. A new routine or increase in intensity causes small tears in the muscles, which hold fluid while they heal. It's normal and temporary. Sore or achy at all? That's inflammation.

    That said, you're young and don't have much weight to lose. Be sure to set your goal to ONE pound a week, not two, and be sure to eat most of your exercise calories. When you get within 10-15 pounds of your goal, change it to a half pound a week.

    I agree!!
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
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    ok... please look at my bicep 30 days comparison shot then under my profile pics and tell me that it is just muscle unveiled.... I think there is growth... I am not arguing with you, just finding it hard to believe

    Your bicep looks about the same total size to me but that's from a small picture. Did you measure and if so did the circumference go up over the 30 days.

    As an example, I've been on cal deficit, with 3 strength sessions and three cardio sessions per week and since 17th Jan 2012 to date my bicep has not moved one cm. It is exactly the same as it was three months ago. My chest has gone down 2cm in the same time period. And yet Mrs Aperture_Science thinks I've put on muscle. I haven't it's just what I had before you can now see because over that time I've lost 6.6kg.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,665 Member
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    hummm..... I am not sure you can not eat at a deficit and not put on muscle. Look at my profile pic, that is 30 days of training, eating at a deficit, there is more muscle.....and less fat !
    Practically impossible. What you're seeing is what everyone who loses weight and see underlying muscle underneath sees...........muscle that was already there, but never revealed. This is why so many people who lose fat, think they are building muscle when in truth they just reduced their bodyfat percentage.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    ok... please look at my bicep 30 days comparison shot then under my profile pics and tell me that it is just muscle unveiled.... I think there is growth... I am not arguing with you, just finding it hard to believe
    I know it may be hard to believe, but I'm giving information that is verified by numerous Journals of Science. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
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    Okay so what I'll do is eat around my MFP calorie goal, keep doing cardio and add strength training with that?

    Yep, that will work for what you want to do.

    Is doing workouts (squads etc) good for that?

    Yes squats are good, but before embarking on a strength routine do a bit of reading round the subject. Look into "Starting Strength" and "The New Rules of Lifting for Women".
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    ok... please look at my bicep 30 days comparison shot then under my profile pics and tell me that it is just muscle unveiled.... I think there is growth... I am not arguing with you, just finding it hard to believe

    Your bicep looks about the same total size to me but that's from a small picture. Did you measure and if so did the circumference go up over the 30 days.

    As an example, I've been on cal deficit, with 3 strength sessions and three cardio sessions per week and since 17th Jan 2012 to date my bicep has not moved one cm. It is exactly the same as it was three months ago. My chest has gone down 2cm in the same time period. And yet Mrs Aperture_Science thinks I've put on muscle. I haven't it's just what I had before you can now see because over that time I've lost 6.6kg.

    My bicep has gone up half a inch. Lost inches everywhere else but my arm this past month
  • AEJhoi
    AEJhoi Posts: 36
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    Okay thanks a lot I will do that!

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