Am I gaining weight from weight lifting?

[Anonymous]

I am into my fourth week of a four-day/week weight lifting program. I am only 5’ and weighed 104 four weeks ago. I’ve gained two pounds. I know it’s not much but could I be gaining weight from this program? I know muscle weighs more than fat but I didn’t expect to see it on the scale. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi muscles take two solid months to gain 2lb. Your weight gain seems to be from eating salty food and heavy carbs.

[Anonymous]

This is common for women who start strength training. I was 125, then ended up staying at 130 after strength training - despite my clothes fitting better. My waist is definitely smaller (my butt may a tad bigger, but I'm ok with that!). I can tell you that I didn't gain 5lbs of fat.

Yet another reason why the scale doesn't tell you the full picture. I suggest staying in tuned to how your clothes fit, and at least stop weighing yourself often. After getting annoyed with seeing a new higher number on the scale despite better fitting clothes, I chose to stop weighing myself entirely. When you workout regularly, the scale is just not the best indicator of fitness.

[Anonymous]

How do your clothes fit?
Take measurements. Step away from the scale. I find that when I’m focused on lifting weights, I can’t use the scale as reliably as I’ve done at other times.

[Anonymous]

When you start weight lifting, your body retains extra water to repair the muscles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you start weight lifting, your body retains extra water to repair the muscles.

This. I am your height and also gained about 2 lbs my first month of heavy lifting. After that first month it went away.

[Anonymous]

You did not expect too see it on the scale? If you knew muscle weighed more , where did you expect to see it.

Given you weigh so little, you may actually find that some of your clothes start to feel tight in certain areas as you gain a little muscle mass. Do not worry, you will not bulk up. Ypu will look better. But when I was at a lighter weight for my body, weight lifting made me need to buy bigger clothes. It was not that I looked bigger or bulkier. I looked great. I looked thinner. Clothes just fit different. Since you seem anxious about 2 pounds, I wanted to warn you.

[Anonymous]

There is so much silliness in this thread already which should be ignored. Retaining water? Two solid months? Salty food? What?????


Here’s the bottom line: a weight lifting regimen will make you gain weight. You will add muscle. Working out can lead to a gain of 5-20 pounds over a single summer for men or also for women.. Your clothes will probably fit better. Don’t be afraid of gaining 5 lbs of muscle. 4wks into a program can easily put on two pounds.

That said it depends on your weight lifting program. To gain 20lbs over 3 months you’ll need to do a maximal gainer program (deadlifts, squats, mixed in high rep and low rep high weight sets) and eat a lot.

Describe your program, beyond just 4 days a week. What exercises, how many sets, how many reps, and how tired are you at the end of each set?

[Anonymous]

It’s a myth for people to think that muscles gain a lot of weight through muscles building and strength training. It takes three solid months just to gain 5lbs of muscles unless you start loading up on steroids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a myth for people to think that muscles gain a lot of weight through muscles building and strength training. It takes three solid months just to gain 5lbs of muscles unless you start loading up on steroids.

Not sure what your goals are, but you certainly can gain 5 pounds of muscle in a few weeks.
If your goal is to get big and strong, you can go on a program like Starting Strength https://startingstrength.com/
and eat (male) 4000+ calories a day. For someone just starting lifting, you should expect on that regimen to gain at *least* a pound a week.

I doubt anyone in this thread wants to go through the "novice phase" of a Starting Strength style program. But maybe?

Anyway, bottom line: if you lift weights in reasonable volume, and eat enough, you will gain weight. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a myth for people to think that muscles gain a lot of weight through muscles building and strength training. It takes three solid months just to gain 5lbs of muscles unless you start loading up on steroids.

Not sure what your goals are, but you certainly can gain 5 pounds of muscle in a few weeks.
If your goal is to get big and strong, you can go on a program like Starting Strength https://startingstrength.com/
and eat (male) 4000+ calories a day. For someone just starting lifting, you should expect on that regimen to gain at *least* a pound a week.

I doubt anyone in this thread wants to go through the "novice phase" of a Starting Strength style program. But maybe?

Anyway, bottom line: if you lift weights in reasonable volume, and eat enough, you will gain weight. Full stop.

You're talking about males trying to get swole. I'm a female who does a lot of weightlifting (free weights, max 30 lbs weight each hand which is a lot for a woman). I am on the skinny side and haven't gained any weight. Inalso usually eat less than 1700 calories per day, and I wouldn't want to gain a pound a week. Women weightlifters want to be strong and svelte, not like swole beefeaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a myth for people to think that muscles gain a lot of weight through muscles building and strength training. It takes three solid months just to gain 5lbs of muscles unless you start loading up on steroids.

Not sure what your goals are, but you certainly can gain 5 pounds of muscle in a few weeks.
If your goal is to get big and strong, you can go on a program like Starting Strength https://startingstrength.com/
and eat (male) 4000+ calories a day. For someone just starting lifting, you should expect on that regimen to gain at *least* a pound a week.

I doubt anyone in this thread wants to go through the "novice phase" of a Starting Strength style program. But maybe?

Anyway, bottom line: if you lift weights in reasonable volume, and eat enough, you will gain weight. Full stop.

I’ve known guys who did SS (or similar) while eating 4000+ calories a day. They don’t look good.

[Anonymous]

It is also common to retain a bit more water after lifting heavy weights. But, overall, unless you are eating excess calories it is unlikely you gained 2lbs of fat or muscle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a myth for people to think that muscles gain a lot of weight through muscles building and strength training. It takes three solid months just to gain 5lbs of muscles unless you start loading up on steroids.

It's not a myth that you need to load up on steroids to gain 5lbs of muscle in three months--especially if we're talking about noob gains. But it's a myth that people will think they'll gain "a lot of weight" if they start weight lifting. Gaining "a lot of" solid muscle (i.e., "clean bulking") in three month requires dedication and a support crew (like personal trainer and dietician). But two pounds in four weeks as a result of weight lifting, assuming OP is eating at a proportionaltely high calorie intake, is not out of the norm (if OP is a noob and started lifting seriously).

[Anonymous]

Are you just really hungry after your exercise?