Muscle Development vs. Fat Loss

[catwoman]

I'm experiencing something kind of strange now that I've gotten full bore into Cathe'w workouts.

Used to be that muscle development didn't come very easily to me except in my legs. I've always known that I have a disproportionately high mass of muscle in my body compared to most women (I know this because I've always weighed about 30-40 pounds heavier than I look -- in other words, you'd all be surprised, if not shocked, at my weight if if you saw me in person). Muscle weighs more than fat, so this makes sense. Still, developing muscles in my arms and abs was always especially challenging for some reason. Who knows, maybe I just didn't notice it or maybe I wasn't doing it right.

Anyhoo, weight loss always came easily to me when I tried to lose weight. Engaging in moderate levels of cardio regularly was all it took.

Well, now things seem to be reversed. Weight loss is not coming very easily, but muscle development is (even though I'm still not getting the definition I want - the muscles are building, but they're not "sculpted", yet). I've really noticed this in my abs and arms, more than in my legs recently, too. And, that's strange.

So, maybe I'm not seeing the weight loss because I am building muscles so quickly all over my body. So, the muscles that weigh more than fat are keeping me from seeing much of a difference on my scale. At least, that's my deduction.

At any rate, I hope I reach a turning point soon, where the more metabolic muscle starts to chew away at the layer of flab coating my body right now. This, in conjunction with my continued high cardio activity, will hopefully start producing the weight loss results that have eluded me so far.

Anyone else having this problem?

 

[naughtoj]

I have this problem! I am exactly like you....having tons of muscle, weighing 20 or so pounds more than people would guess. They are always shocked when I tell them my weight.


I really do believe that the more muscle you carry (or manage to put on) the more fat you carry too. I know it does not make sense, but building muscle is usually very hard to do without gaining a bit of fat at the same time. Recently, I have ceased weight training and my workouts have decreased dramatically. I have dropped over 10 lbs, of course some muscle, but my total body fat is lower now than it was when I was buff lady! Of course, I feel like crap and in no way intend to go on with this layoff, but it is true! I wear a smaller size and carry less fat when I don't workout. Now, if I did not get back to it, surely this would NOT be the case in five years but it is in the short term.

I think the only way to really look "cut" is to eat extremely clean. Odds are this way you will also lose a bit of muscle. I think when you have the type of body we have you have to sacrifice a bit of that muscle to trim the fat layer. It is very hard to lose ONLY fat, too. Also, when you say it was easy for you to lose weight, that "moderate cardio is all it took", it is most likely because you were losing some muscle with the fat. When you lift, you lose A LITTLE fat with no muscle, so logic tells you if you are putting on muscle faster than losing fat you won't look any thinner. Atleast not for a while. If you have a very muscular body you are very lucky. However, if you eat a diet that is not very clean you will carry more fat......BUT you won't lose your muscle. You can't have it all!!


I say to hell with it!! For awhile I really liked the comments from the "girlie" girls about how great I looked when I quit working out. They all thought I had started a cool new diet! LOL! It took NOT working out to make them jealous! But, it is not me, I much prefer the bulked up buff girl that feels really strong and powerful......and good about herself. I know if I was extremely disciplined I could get the nutrition together and see a bit of a difference in the definition dept, but I don't know if I want it that bad, you know?


Hey, if you can't fight it.......make the absolute best of what God gave you! That is what I intend to do (LOL, as soon as I get my HC's)

 

[gogigi]

You are my hero Janice...loved this post and I've been following some of your previous posts regarding this dilemma. Enjoy the HC's. Mine came when I was sick so I've only done two of the workouts...Low Max and Muscle Max. I loved them both!
Angela:7

 

[fitness queen]

Hi,

I think the best way to lose the fat is to run,either outside or on the treadmill or if you don't feel comfortable doing it outside or on the treadmill then just stick to Cathe's aerobic Videos/DVD's 4 days a week and weight training 2 days a week. Remember that when you weight train it cannot be days in a row, it has to be every other day or every two days. Basically you just have to space out the days.

Fitness Queen

 

[Dml]

I'm right there with you. I'm 5'4", 170 pounds and wear a loose size 10. Go figure. I gave up on the scale. According to my BMI I'm in the obese category. It is very frustrating. I know I have to have a lot of "unseen" muscle in there. I just wish it would show itself!!!x( I'm healthy, I feel good, and that's what is important. Maybe one day I'll look "sculpted", maybe I won't. But I know regular aerobic exercise and weight training has made me a much healthier person.
Isn't that the important part?

 

[MarianneG2]

This is interesting! I actually just had an interesting experience myself as far as weight/body fat are concerned. I've been training very hard with a trainer for over a year (3 times a week). We did my body fat in May last year and again on Monday. It turns out I gained 12 pounds of muscle, but I only lost 4 pounds of weight. I also only lost about 1 dress size, but I can tell that I'm much firmer and I actually have some shape to my body that I never had.

What may be a factor is that from September through December I only did my weight training. I was suffering with my thyroid and was too fatigued to do cardio. I wonder if this made me really put on the muscle?!

At any rate, I've started doing cardio again in January (6 times a week) and am hoping to lean out some.

We calculated that when I'll be at 20% body fat I'll be 160 pounds, which most people would say is overweight for someone 5'6".
I don't care about that number, though, I'm focussing on the BF%.

Marianne

 

[Amy Steppe]

I am 5'1" and weigh 125. I wear a size 1 to 4 in clothing.

I saw where somebody said muscle really does not weigh more than fat.

Well, the tissue is denser because most women my height and weight wear a size 10 to 12 in clothing.

I tend to bulk easily in the thighs too, but I really don't mind it.

 

[Trevs_mom]

Technically speaking 1 pound is 1 pound .. and 1 pound of fat = 1 pound of muscle ... but the volume of the 2 tissues is dramatically different.

I'm in this category as well - when I was my most recent 'fittest' I weighed 150 (at 5'4") and was wearing a 6-8. People always guess me at weighing 20 lbs less than I actually do.

My current 12 week rotation is heavy on the lifting and light on the cardio (3 days a week lifting, 2 days cardio .. and that is optional if I need a rest day I take it.) After these 12 weeks, I'm going to a more cardio intensive rotation.

I've been thinking about getting a treadmill to run on - is that really the best cardio over Cathe's tapes as well?