strength without adding muscle?

[samIam11]

Hello Cathe and educated crowd
Ok...this may be a "blond" question-but here goes..

I have read that to gain muscle you must be exceeding your caloric requirement...where as, to lose weight you must eat less than your caloric requirement (or burn it off with excercise) to create the deficit....so basically, putting on muscle and losing weight would seem to be mutually exclusive...so heres my question

I am eating at a deficit per my journal..as well as, excercising to lose weight. Although, while excercising with your wonderful tapes, I am making strength gains...ie able to lift heavier...so I would assume, that it isnt from "new" muscle, but from conditioning (maybe in my case...more like wakeing up) the muscles I already have..
Is this your experience with some of your clients or does this even sound right?

Thanks so much...and looking forward to your hardcore series..
Samantha

 

[samIam11]

Hello Cathe and educated crowd
Ok...this may be a "blond" question-but here goes..

I have read that to gain muscle you must be exceeding your caloric requirement...where as, to lose weight you must eat less than your caloric requirement (or burn it off with excercise) to create the deficit....so basically, putting on muscle and losing weight would seem to be mutually exclusive...so heres my question

I am eating at a deficit per my journal..as well as, excercising to lose weight. Although, while excercising with your wonderful tapes, I am making strength gains...ie able to lift heavier...so I would assume, that it isnt from "new" muscle, but from conditioning (maybe in my case...more like wakeing up) the muscles I already have..
Is this your experience with some of your clients or does this even sound right?

Thanks so much...and looking forward to your hardcore series..
Samantha

 

[MadnNatsmom]

Hi there,

If you are able to lift heavier than you were previously, you are building muscle. (When you lift weights, you are causing microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. As your muscles repair, they become stronger.) As far as I know you do not "condition" (or that other word, "tone") existing muscles. You either build muscle or you don't.

The reason it is so important to lift weights when you are trying to lose weight (fat) is because when your body is in a caloric deficit it will lose tissue which consumes the most calories (your muscles) to compensate for the lack of calories.

So, if you are in a caloric deficit, you may not be building more muscle, but are keeping the muscle that you have.

 

[MadnNatsmom]

Hi there,

If you are able to lift heavier than you were previously, you are building muscle. (When you lift weights, you are causing microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. As your muscles repair, they become stronger.) As far as I know you do not "condition" (or that other word, "tone") existing muscles. You either build muscle or you don't.

The reason it is so important to lift weights when you are trying to lose weight (fat) is because when your body is in a caloric deficit it will lose tissue which consumes the most calories (your muscles) to compensate for the lack of calories.

So, if you are in a caloric deficit, you may not be building more muscle, but are keeping the muscle that you have.

 

[Mariela]

While you wait for Cathe's answer, here is something I once read: That if you change your workout constantly, instead of doing the same workout over and over for a period of time (adding resistance each time in both cases), you gain strength but not size. Also, I have read, if you work a muscle very often and very much, it will get harder but it won't grow more. Conversely, if you work your muscle intensely for only one session a week in a short amount of time, it will get bigger. So, according to that, if you want to stop growing, cutting back (on volume and days per week) might not be the answer. Surprisingly, the answer might be adding more.

I hope this helps. I only read that once or twice and it seems that nobodyelse talks about it. Don't know if it's true. Can't talk about my own experience since I didn't use to keep a log.;(

 

[kathryn]

You're right about the conditioning or "waking up" aspect. If you're just starting out with weight training, it's possible to get stronger without adding more muscle, at least for a while. These first strength gains are due to neuromuscular adaptations (your body is learning to use more of the muscle tissue it has and to fire it at the right time).

 

[CathydsRNA]

You can indeed gain strength without gaining any muscle. This can happen by training your muscles to recruit more muscle fibers per contraction. You can generate more force that way without the need to develop more muscle. Women tend to gain strength this way initially but can also gain strength by adding muscle but it is a slow process...typically a pound/month initially if you are working very hard. The rate tapers off significantly after a few months. You are right about calorie excess and deficit.

 

[samIam11]

Thanks everyone for replies...I was not sure what was happening, and I was curious for the information.

Thanks again!!!
Samantha