Am I Doing Something Wrong??

[deajes]

Ok, I decided to make the plunge and start working out pretty hard about a month ago. I'm working out three times a week for an 1hr and a half lifting weights. In addition to that I walk/jog around 2 1/2 miles a day.

Here's my problem, I'm not losing or gaining any weight. Granted I started off with a fairly high fat to muscle ratio, but after a month of this I figure I'd see some kind of results. About the only thing that I can tell a huge difference on is my arms. They are definitly starting to show some muscle growth, and I've gone from being around 20 to 30 lbs behind my workout partner in weight lifted to being equal to him or passing him.

I know if I really want to put on the muscle I will have to devote more than 3 times a week, but right now I'd just like to see results. Am I being too impatient?

[Buffling]

You are probably being a little impatient, but that's okay -- we all are! Since you're doing some serious training, you should be seeing results, but if you're doing cardio AND lifting weights, you're seeing lean body mass being increased at the same time that you're losing body fat. The net result appears as "no change", but you can be sure that good things are happening. Keep working hard.

You should be taking measurements in addition to weighing yourself weekly. I only do measurements about every two weeks, and sometimes less often, because the changes are small, but often the shift in inches will tell you where things are improving. You can also use your strength gains as a measure: if you're always able to lift as least as much as last week, you're always improving. Keep a detailed workout log and you'll see how being able to get one more rep each week eventually adds up.

I use MyBodyComp.com to keep track of my body measurements. The site will let you keep a series of measurement profiles for free and it will estimate your body fat % as well.

Finally, NEVER underestimate the diet part of the equation. You can't build a brick house out of lumber. Make sure you're getting lots of protein so your body has the building blocks it needs to build muscle. If you can muster it, keep a food log for a few weeks - you may be surprised to learn that there are problems with your food intake that you didn't know you had.

Bottom line: Record everything! Over time, you'll have hard proof of your transormation that no amount of mental self-mutilation can defeat

[hulkmuscle]

Just to chime in quickly: Buffling is absolutely right about diet, especially about your protein intake. Keep it steady throughout the day.

[deajes]

Ok this is starting to make a little more sense then. The reason why is that, well I'm a college student so I kind of exist on a college students diet, i.e. ramen noodles and anything under $5. So, I guess the question is now anyone got any ideas for how to do a diet on a budget?

P.S. Ironicly after I posted this, I went to work and my boss actually said something to me about how I looked like I was slimming down.

[buffdoc]

To optimize muscle growth, you better minimize the cardio. You are doing way too much. You also may be overtraining a bit--keep gym time to less than 1 hour. Muscle building and cardio don't mix well--there is well known principle called interference where activation of Type I muscle cells (cardio, endurance) actually inhibits the hypertrophy ability of Type II muscle cells. Type I cells cannot hypertrophy to any appreciable degree while Type II can. But to induce hypertrophy in Type II muscle, you need fuel--high quality carbs and protein (roughly approx 1g of desired body weight). You lack of weight gain probably reflects a) loss of fat relative to muscle b) inadequate protein intake and c) excess cardio.

You want to drop fat and gain muscle. Those are opposing goals. It is hard to do both simultaneously. You are lucky as you are essentially untrained so this can occur for a limited period of time. Clean up your diet. Drop cardio and switch to circuit weight training--you goal is to add muscle because muscle burns fat. By minimizing rest between sets, you will also burn additional excess fat. This style of weight training works when your body fat percentage is over the mid-20's. After you lean out , you will then plan out periods where you bulk up (generally in the winter) and the lean yourself out (generally in summer) and go from there.

[glammaman2000]

...in an empty gym!Hate to contradict the doc;but you CAN build muscle&lose fat at the same time(t'ain't easy,but it sounds like you're doing it!)I once went from 190lbs.with a 31"waist to 190lbs.with a 28"waist.Expect major changes every 3mo.Anything else is unrealistic.

[Buffling]

Originally Posted by buffdoc

To optimize muscle growth, you better minimize the cardio. You are doing way too much. You also may be overtraining a bit--keep gym time to less than 1 hour. Muscle building and cardio don't mix well--there is well known principle called interference where activation of Type I muscle cells (cardio, endurance) actually inhibits the hypertrophy ability of Type II muscle cells. Type I cells cannot hypertrophy to any appreciable degree while Type II can.

This is cool info, buffdoc. Re the weight/cardio conflict, surely there is a sweet spot where some cardio mixed with weight training is not harmful if the overall goal is fat reduction -- say, a couple of sessions per week instead of every day? I agree that one's goal should be either to get lean or to bulk up, but is totally shunning cardio or weights to achieve either aim a good idea?

I was going to highlight the weights-for-less-than-an-hour thing, too, but I also know that the kind of workout that takes me an hour now, took me a while longer when I was first starting because I was being ultra-careful about form, and hadn't yet learned how to make gym-time efficient.

[deajes]

I'm really going to take what all of you said to heart...although I don't know if I can do the circit training because of the time of day I have to work out (4 in the afternoon at my campus rec center). So far as the cardio...well I guess I can tone down the jogging part...the distance though I'll have to do because it's what I have to walk to get to campus each day. I've really just been jogging/walking to class so I guess I'll just walk now.

[buffdoc]

Nothing in real life is all or nothing...and glam is right, you can build muscle and loose fat at the same time typically when u just start out training. After that, it becomes really difficult because you can't make something from nothing. To build muscle, you need an anabolic environment and that generally means slight caloric excess. But as you build muscle, you do tend to burn more fat because muscle is metabolically expensive. Thus, your metabolic caloric requirements increase. If your increasing baseline metabolic requirement are not meet by diet, you will continue to loose fat but building muscle will be really hard because there isn't enough raw products to synthesize new muscle. This is the so-called tipping point between an anabolic vs catabolic nutritional environment.

Ideally, to maximize growth, you really want to minimize cardio because of Type I/II interaction I spoke of earlier. To give an extreme example, look at the builds of competitive bicyclists and triathletes--they all look like sticks because they have essentially maximized Type I muscle performance over the Type II. Compare that to a build of a gymnast, the physique is greatly more muscled--here anaerobic explosive strength performance is favored (Type II) at the expense of Type I performance. These are extremes so cardio can be a part of training--it just cannot be done with a very high frequency. Some studies have suggested interference can be minimized by circuit weight training, restricting cardio to days when u do not lift, and shooting for a heart rate 65% of you age predicted max aerobic heart rate when doing purely aerobic activities.

[glammaman2000]

Cardio that causes a lot of bouncing is a bad idea for bodybuilders.(aerobics,jogging,jump rope,etc.)It literally"shakes down"muscle mass.Stationary bike,stairmaster or rowing machine are best.

[Mdlftr]

Buffdoc and Glam,

You guys are doing a GREAT job of explaining this stuff, tag-team style.

BuffDoc is giving the scientific explanation:
"...These are extremes so cardio can be a part of training--it just cannot be done with a very high frequency. Some studies have suggested interference can be minimized by circuit weight training, restricting cardio to days when u do not lift, and shooting for a heart rate 65% of you age predicted max aerobic heart rate when doing purely aerobic activities."

...whereas Glam boils it down:

"Cardio that causes a lot of bouncing is a bad idea for bodybuilders.(aerobics,jogging,jump rope,etc.)It literally"shakes down"muscle mass.Stationary bike,stairmaster or rowing machine are best."

Between the two of you, you're doing a GREAT job of explaining this!

[Can you come to my job? I have some people I'd like you to explain something to! ]

Great posts, and thanks for the information! I'm learning something here!

Mdlftr