Fact or Fiction? You gain weight when you gain muscle

i lost 6 lbs my first week on MFP and then i just started the shred this past sunday and now the scale is telling me that i gained 3 lbs....and i have eaten the same thing so i am thinking that we are gaining muscle from the shred (@ least i am hoping that )

You may be losing 'pounds' of fat and replacing them with 'pounds of muscle. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, however. If you're looking better and feeling better then you must be doing something right! I hope this helped you [=

I don't mean to seem rude...but this is inaccurate. It takes a substantial amount of time, with a high protein diet and dedicated strength training to actually 'gain' muscle...and it's quite difficult when on a calorie deficit. I will add, it's pretty much impossible when doing only cardio, Jillian, and on a calorie deficit.

The part not in bold however, I agree with completely =D.

I gained quite a bit of muscle on 1200 calories, but always ate back my exercise calories.
Also when you are doing Cardio... You are using muscles, so this person probably never truly utilized the muscles except for typical day to day things, therefore building muscle..

You can strengthen muscles without gaining muscle mass (this is what happens when a person begins exercising for the first time, or begins a new activity...even without strength training). Strengthening muscle does not add to their weight by any measurable amount, even though the muscles can 'swell'...making them look bigger.

I know that this is something that's commonly misunderstood, but unless you're quite overweight, and actually strength training (whether with intense bodyweight or with weights), you won't gain muscle on a deficit.

:flowerforyou:

I can understand looking bigger, but I am talking about stepping on the scale. In fact that is why I no longer weigh myself, because even though I lost several sizes my weight didn't really go down untill recently and at first I did actually gain some weight.
When you say not by any measurable amount, to me as a woman, 1lb or 5lb not something to shurg at.

I hate weighing.

See though, now we're stepping into a whole other realm of discussion. How long of a period of working out are we discussing here? How overweight were you? What kind of exercises? If you lost several sizes...we aren't talking over a two week period.

If you are gaining 1-5lbs over a two week period, on a deficit, it's NOT muscle, it's water. Over 2mos? If you're eating enough protein (and were overweight enough to begin with)...some of it could be muscle, but certainly not even 2 of the 5lbs (maybe 2lbs or a little better with dedicated strength training). Muscle simply does not grow at the astronomical rate people who are newer to exercise want to believe it does =(.

I do have to admit it was longer than a two week period. I wouldn't say overweight, more like a chunky monkey..

You may be losing 'pounds' of fat and replacing them with 'pounds of muscle. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, however. If you're looking better and feeling better then you must be doing something right! I hope this helped you [=

I don't mean to seem rude...but this is inaccurate. It takes a substantial amount of time, with a high protein diet and dedicated strength training to actually 'gain' muscle...and it's quite difficult when on a calorie deficit. I will add, it's pretty much impossible when doing only cardio, Jillian, and on a calorie deficit.

The part not in bold however, I agree with completely =D.

I gained quite a bit of muscle on 1200 calories, but always ate back my exercise calories.
Also when you are doing Cardio... You are using muscles, so this person probably never truly utilized the muscles except for typical day to day things, therefore building muscle..

You can strengthen muscles without gaining muscle mass (this is what happens when a person begins exercising for the first time, or begins a new activity...even without strength training). Strengthening muscle does not add to their weight by any measurable amount, even though the muscles can 'swell'...making them look bigger.

I know that this is something that's commonly misunderstood, but unless you're quite overweight, and actually strength training (whether with intense bodyweight or with weights), you won't gain muscle on a deficit.

:flowerforyou:

I can understand looking bigger, but I am talking about stepping on the scale. In fact that is why I no longer weigh myself, because even though I lost several sizes my weight didn't really go down untill recently and at first I did actually gain some weight.
When you say not by any measurable amount, to me as a woman, 1lb or 5lb not something to shurg at.

I hate weighing.

See though, now we're stepping into a whole other realm of discussion. How long of a period of working out are we discussing here? How overweight were you? What kind of exercises? If you lost several sizes...we aren't talking over a two week period.

If you are gaining 1-5lbs over a two week period, on a deficit, it's NOT muscle, it's water. Over 2mos? If you're eating enough protein (and were overweight enough to begin with)...some of it could be muscle, but certainly not even 2 of the 5lbs (maybe 2lbs or a little better with dedicated strength training). Muscle simply does not grow at the astronomical rate people who are newer to exercise want to believe it does =(.

I do have to admit it was longer than a two week period. I wouldn't say overweight, more like a chunky monkey..

A pound is a pound! You may be losing 'pounds' of fat and replacing them with 'pounds of muscle. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, however. If you're looking better and feeling better then you must be doing something right! I hope this helped you [=

i lost 6 lbs my first week on MFP and then i just started the shred this past sunday and now the scale is telling me that i gained 3 lbs....and i have eaten the same thing so i am thinking that we are gaining muscle from the shred (@ least i am hoping that )