Anyone else like me trying to gain lean muscle mass??

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Nikkimaxim
Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
I'm 5'3", weighing anywhere from 113-116 lbs right now..I lost about 13 lbs in three months. Im no longer trying to lose weight. I am, however, trying to gain lean muscle mass. In other words, I want to look similar to Jennifer Nicole Lee. Low body fat, nice muscle definition. She is my inspiration. She isn't just skinny, she is strong and very toned!!
I am having a hard time trying to figure out my macros though. How many calories should I be consuming now?..anyone know of an easy step by step process I can follow to figure out how many calories I should be consuming along with my daily macros??? I still have a little layer of fat that needs to shed off from my belly. Lol PLEASE HELP!!
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Replies

  • kaserz
    kaserz Posts: 35 Member
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    Have you set your goals with myfitnesspal? That should tell you how many calories you should be consuming as well as macros.
  • herownkindofwonderfull
    herownkindofwonderfull Posts: 307 Member
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    I'm 5'3", weighing anywhere from 113-116 lbs right now..I lost about 13 lbs in three months. Im no longer trying to lose weight. I am, however, trying to gain lean muscle mass. In other words, I want to look similar to Jennifer Nicole Lee. Low body fat, nice muscle definition. She is my inspiration. She isn't just skinny, she is strong and very toned!!
    I am having a hard time trying to figure out my macros though. How many calories should I be consuming now?..anyone know of an easy step by step process I can follow to figure out how many calories I should be consuming along with my daily macros??? I still have a little layer of fat that needs to shed off from my belly. Lol PLEASE HELP!!

    Continue to eat over your BMR and closer to your TDEE, even after you burn those calories! Look for your "maintenance" calories...
    To build lean muscle, you want to up your protein intake and also make sure you are still getting the carbs and fats you need.
    Make sure you build a program and lift heavy weights with shorter reps.
    But yeah. I cannot push protein and water enough!!!! And of course, eating back what you burn (wear an HRM or log as Calisthenics/Circuit - pending which you are doing!)
    Make sure you stretch, warm up, and cool down (cardio).

    You got this, lady!
  • Taylerr88
    Taylerr88 Posts: 320 Member
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    Heavy compounds + Diet.. sounds like you want to do culking/recomping .. look up those

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703921 -- macros
  • subtractionproject
    subtractionproject Posts: 64 Member
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    Use an online calculator to workout your TDEE, and then aim to eat at it, or at the most, 10% under it. Make sure you're getting lots of protein - try and stick to the 30% carbs 30% fat 40% protein way of eating - you can track this on MFP by changing your goals.

    Strength training is really important for building muscle. Try and combine lots of strength training (half an hour a day plus) with short bursts of high intensity cardio. If you can, avoid workouts that just focus on cardio - it's excellent for blazing through calories, but not so great for muscle.

    Good luck!
  • laxwyo
    laxwyo Posts: 192 Member
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    I'm 5'3", weighing anywhere from 113-116 lbs right now..I lost about 13 lbs in three months. Im no longer trying to lose weight. I am, however, trying to gain lean muscle mass. In other words, I want to look similar to Jennifer Nicole Lee. Low body fat, nice muscle definition. She is my inspiration. She isn't just skinny, she is strong and very toned!!
    I am having a hard time trying to figure out my macros though. How many calories should I be consuming now?..anyone know of an easy step by step process I can follow to figure out how many calories I should be consuming along with my daily macros??? I still have a little layer of fat that needs to shed off from my belly. Lol PLEASE HELP!!

    Continue to eat over your BMR and closer to your TDEE, even after you burn those calories! Look for your "maintenance" calories...
    To build lean muscle, you want to up your protein intake and also make sure you are still getting the carbs and fats you need.
    Make sure you build a program and lift heavy weights with shorter reps.
    But yeah. I cannot push protein and water enough!!!! And of course, eating back what you burn (wear an HRM or log as Calisthenics/Circuit - pending which you are doing!)
    Make sure you stretch, warm up, and cool down (cardio).

    You got this, lady!

    This!

    I don't think women lift heavy enough weights. They are too scared that they will get too bulky! They tend to use tiny weights and lots of reps. Heavier weights need to be lifted to gain muscle! Look at long distance runners, their legs tend to be weak looking but they can go forever, you don't want this. You want fast twitch muscle fibers, not slow twitch. Don't worry you wont be those muscle ladies just from lifting heavier weights. I would say any weight you can do more than 15-20 reps with is too light.
  • herownkindofwonderfull
    herownkindofwonderfull Posts: 307 Member
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    This!

    I don't think women lift heavy enough weights. They are too scared that they will get too bulky! They tend to use tiny weights and lots of reps. Heavier weights need to be lifted to gain muscle! Look at long distance runners, their legs tend to be weak looking but they can go forever, you don't want this. You want fast twitch muscle fibers, not slow twitch. Don't worry you wont be those muscle ladies just from lifting heavier weights. I would say any weight you can do more than 15-20 reps with is too light.

    Finally! Someone who knows where I'm coming from! :D
  • sessalee
    sessalee Posts: 19 Member
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    This!

    I don't think women lift heavy enough weights. They are too scared that they will get too bulky! They tend to use tiny weights and lots of reps. Heavier weights need to be lifted to gain muscle! Look at long distance runners, their legs tend to be weak looking but they can go forever, you don't want this. You want fast twitch muscle fibers, not slow twitch. Don't worry you wont be those muscle ladies just from lifting heavier weights. I would say any weight you can do more than 15-20 reps with is too light.

    Yes, this exactly. Don't be afraid of heavy weight, you're not going to bulk up because you are female. I recommend the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. It explains how to lift, why lifting is important, and gives you a clear workout plan.
  • guapogringo
    guapogringo Posts: 201
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    I would disagree with many posts here. I would switch to a combo of circuit training, core work, and do stuff that uses your own body weight. (Burpees, pullups, core pushups, tridips, walking pushups, etc.) There are 100's of variations. Bulk isn't attractive to me, hard to maintain, makes you slow and doesn't show a high level of fitness.
  • epmck11
    epmck11 Posts: 159 Member
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    I would disagree with many posts here. I would switch to a combo of circuit training, core work, and do stuff that uses your own body weight. (Burpees, pullups, core pushups, tridips, walking pushups, etc.) There are 100's of variations. Bulk isn't attractive to me, hard to maintain, makes you slow and doesn't show a high level of fitness.

    This is nonsense. Body weight exercises will only get you so strong, once your body gets comfortable with that weight you won't grow any more muscles, no matter how many pushups you do. The fear of being bulky is irrational for women. Women, without taking steroids or some type of drugs, simply do not have a high enough testosterone level to get a bulky look. It's really not that easy to get bulky anyway -- ask any guy who tries to gain muscle mass. It takes a lot of work and time, and we have the testosterone to build it. So women's fear of becoming bulky from lifting heavy is unfounded. But having a fit look is attractive. Extremely skinny models aren't as attractive as women who have a fit look. The women who look the most fit at the gym to me aren't the ones who use the treadmill for an hour straight, but the ones who aren't afraid to do heavy squats.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
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    I'm 5'3", weighing anywhere from 113-116 lbs right now..I lost about 13 lbs in three months. Im no longer trying to lose weight. I am, however, trying to gain lean muscle mass. In other words, I want to look similar to Jennifer Nicole Lee. Low body fat, nice muscle definition. She is my inspiration. She isn't just skinny, she is strong and very toned!!
    I am having a hard time trying to figure out my macros though. How many calories should I be consuming now?..anyone know of an easy step by step process I can follow to figure out how many calories I should be consuming along with my daily macros??? I still have a little layer of fat that needs to shed off from my belly. Lol PLEASE HELP!!

    Continue to eat over your BMR and closer to your TDEE, even after you burn those calories! Look for your "maintenance" calories...
    To build lean muscle, you want to up your protein intake and also make sure you are still getting the carbs and fats you need.
    Make sure you build a program and lift heavy weights with shorter reps.
    But yeah. I cannot push protein and water enough!!!! And of course, eating back what you burn (wear an HRM or log as Calisthenics/Circuit - pending which you are doing!)
    Make sure you stretch, warm up, and cool down (cardio).

    You got this, lady!

    You want fast twitch muscle fibers, not slow twitch. Don't worry you wont be those muscle ladies just from lifting heavier weights. I would say any weight you can do more than 15-20 reps with is too light.

    Wait just a minute! You can't change slow twitch to fast twitch fibres! You may well want fast twitch ones but if you have more slow twitch then too bad

    Of course you can strngthen the fast twitch ones, but you can't make a slow twitch fibre become a fast twitch fibre.

    At least, that's my understanding and I will hapily stand corrected
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
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    lift heavy!! and eat a surplus, how much of one is up to you. Meet your macros and you will over time gain what you want. You'll need to figure out your BMR and adjust your diet overtime to meet any differences it goes through
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
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    I wouldn't really consider jennifer nicole lee as bulky, but very toned..which is what im trying to get at..i do not want to look like a bodybuilder.ive been doing The Brazil Butt Lift dvds for the past month and my entire body has seen nice improvements!..its mainly calisthenics though, like different variations of squats, lunges, plies, etc. at fast tempos, using dumbbells..and my dumbbells are only 5lbs lol..how often should I do cardio if im trying to gain lean muscle mass but NOT FAT?..what is the correct way to figure out bmr and tdee?..im going to start going back to my gym in a few weeks..I've just been testing out the Brazil Butt Lift Dvds..because since I lost all of my weight, I lost my butt lol..only one person responded about how much my macros should be..they said 30%carb, 30%fat & 40%protein...do you think this will be good??
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
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    http://www.stack.com/2011/01/12/how-to-calculate-your-daily-fueling-needs/

    Unless you are pushing out abnormal amounts of testosterone you won't get bodybuilder "bulky". The only way to build muscle is to work them, heavy. You can lose bodyfay% and have more muscle show, thats not building mass or strength.

    If you want to gain muscle eat a surplus, you will gain some fat with it, but if you eat healthy and keep the surplus reasonable, and exercise, you won't get "fat".

    I'm at about 40 carbs/ 30 fat/ 30/ protein. usually I come is with more carbs and less protein.
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
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    So according to mfps calculations to maintain my weight, I consume 1690 calories a day. I did 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat..lets see if I gain muscle and lose body fat off of this. I calculated my body fat percentage as 21.3%..my first goal is to get at 18% body fat..my overall goal is 15% body fat...does this sound attainable with my calculations for calories and macros? And I thank you all for your advice and input:))
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
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    My bmr is 1340, tdee is 2077..im going to try for 1900 calories a day, 45%protein, 35%carbs, and 20%fat..if this seems alright, let me know!..im going to be doing mainly calisthenics for about a month, especially since I cant make it to my gym until my car is fixed, a hail storm damaged the crap out of it!..but until then, im going to do my brazil butt lift dvd which is a lot of calisthenics and strength training, and about 20 minutes of cardio three times a week..
  • herownkindofwonderfull
    herownkindofwonderfull Posts: 307 Member
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    My bmr is 1340, tdee is 2077..im going to try for 1900 calories a day, 45%protein, 35%carbs, and 20%fat..if this seems alright, let me know!..im going to be doing mainly calisthenics for about a month, especially since I cant make it to my gym until my car is fixed, a hail storm damaged the crap out of it!..but until then, im going to do my brazil butt lift dvd which is a lot of calisthenics and strength training, and about 20 minutes of cardio three times a week..

    Perfect! Once you start getting used to home calisthenics, try to switch to free weights. They will help you SO MUCH MORE. If you can't get to a gym, maybe look on craigslist to invest in some. Sometimes they go pretty cheap when they're used on there! :)
  • laxwyo
    laxwyo Posts: 192 Member
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    I'm 5'3", weighing anywhere from 113-116 lbs right now..I lost about 13 lbs in three months. Im no longer trying to lose weight. I am, however, trying to gain lean muscle mass. In other words, I want to look similar to Jennifer Nicole Lee. Low body fat, nice muscle definition. She is my inspiration. She isn't just skinny, she is strong and very toned!!
    I am having a hard time trying to figure out my macros though. How many calories should I be consuming now?..anyone know of an easy step by step process I can follow to figure out how many calories I should be consuming along with my daily macros??? I still have a little layer of fat that needs to shed off from my belly. Lol PLEASE HELP!!

    Continue to eat over your BMR and closer to your TDEE, even after you burn those calories! Look for your "maintenance" calories...
    To build lean muscle, you want to up your protein intake and also make sure you are still getting the carbs and fats you need.
    Make sure you build a program and lift heavy weights with shorter reps.
    But yeah. I cannot push protein and water enough!!!! And of course, eating back what you burn (wear an HRM or log as Calisthenics/Circuit - pending which you are doing!)
    Make sure you stretch, warm up, and cool down (cardio).

    You got this, lady!

    You want fast twitch muscle fibers, not slow twitch. Don't worry you wont be those muscle ladies just from lifting heavier weights. I would say any weight you can do more than 15-20 reps with is too light.

    Wait just a minute! You can't change slow twitch to fast twitch fibres! You may well want fast twitch ones but if you have more slow twitch then too bad

    Of course you can strngthen the fast twitch ones, but you can't make a slow twitch fibre become a fast twitch fibre.

    At least, that's my understanding and I will hapily stand corrected

    Who said anything converting muscle fibers? Toned muscle is fast twitch. You don't get fast twitch by running on treadmills and lifting 2lb weight over and over and over again.
  • laxwyo
    laxwyo Posts: 192 Member
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    http://www.stack.com/2011/01/12/how-to-calculate-your-daily-fueling-needs/

    Unless you are pushing out abnormal amounts of testosterone you won't get bodybuilder "bulky". The only way to build muscle is to work them, heavy. You can lose bodyfay% and have more muscle show, thats not building mass or strength.

    If you want to gain muscle eat a surplus, you will gain some fat with it, but if you eat healthy and keep the surplus reasonable, and exercise, you won't get "fat".

    I'm at about 40 carbs/ 30 fat/ 30/ protein. usually I come is with more carbs and less protein.

    This. A woman would have to be completely serious about lifting extreme weights before she would ever look bulky. 5lbs probably isn't enough unless you can't lift it more than 10 times, but then again, I'm not sure what kind of exercises you are doing with it. If you are doing curls, you shouldn't be able to do more than 10-12 curls without wanting to put it down. If you can only do 1 or 2, it's too heavy.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I would disagree with many posts here. I would switch to a combo of circuit training, core work, and do stuff that uses your own body weight. (Burpees, pullups, core pushups, tridips, walking pushups, etc.) There are 100's of variations. Bulk isn't attractive to me, hard to maintain, makes you slow and doesn't show a high level of fitness.

    OP stated her own goals quite clearly. How is what you find attractive relevant here?
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Nikki, you might find this group useful: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/771-women-strength-training

    As far as I understand it, if you want to gain serious muscle mass (not as in "bulky", but gaining a few pounds of muscle), you will need to eat above your TDEE for a while and then switch to a deficit again to lose the little bit of fat that you will inevitably gain with the muscle.