Weight gain with lifting

Muscle weighs more than fat. So, yes your weight will increase.

I would also like to know. I like to do squats and pushups and stuff of that nature. I like to look good, not like the typical scrawny runner. I run 60+ miles a week and I always end up gaining weight if I lift.

bump

Me2 wrote:

Muscle weighs more than fat. So, yes your weight will increase.

A pound of muscle weighs the same as fat.

OP, weight gain is a function of diet, unless you're taking certain supplements that increase water retention or doping.

The biggest misconception by people that dont lift is that if you touch a weight you blow up. This is simply not at all true. All the "big guys" you see got that way over a number of years, with daily lifting, heavy weights, and specialized programming. If your putzing around in the weightroom you wont see any appreciable gains in strength or size. Youll basically just make yourself sore. There are plenty of lifting and prehab/rehab routines that can be done without apprciable weight gain.

1. If you run enough you will not gain any noticeable amount of bodyweight. Running is a very catabolic activity. Gaining muscle mass requires lots of calories, lots of protein. Most of your protein intake is going to be used just to maintain equilibrium.

2. You can gain strength without gaining mass. Happens all the time. You can gain strength through increase in muscle fiber size OR improvement in neuromuscular coordination.

3. Choose a goal. Do you want to look good, be strong, and also run? Or, do you want to run fast, be strgon, look good but lift in a way that helps your running?

If you want to focus on the running then lift in a way that will improve your running:

1. Reduced lifting volume. Increased lifting intensity.

2. Focused on lower body lifts for max strength and lower body lifts for max speed (plyos). Secondary are pushups/pullups or any sort of uppery body pressing.

Example:

1. Lift 1-2 times per week. Lift on your hard run days preferably hours after your hard run.

2. Do 1 plyometric or explosive lift. 3-5 sets. 3-5 reps.

3. Do 1 heavy lower body lift (squat or split squat aka lunge). Warm up, ramp up to a max lift of 3-5 reps.

4. Do supplemental upper body work. Pullups and Dips: 3-5 sets to max reps OR overhead pressing (I like the split jerk for this) plus pullups. Pullups are a great exercise because you will likely fail way before 10 reps if doing correct form.

Alan

Sound advice. It is of course simplified, but definitely a great starting point for the OP. I would add that the OP should be careful about integrating plyos. Wait on plyos until you have done a cycle or two of lifting and have built some strength and stability.

Also absolutely ensure your plyos are done with impeccable form. Plyos are very high risk by nature if done wrong. If done right, they are still not low risk.

runningart2004 has it right.

drop the routines of lifting 8-12 reps of low weight. all this is doing is introducing hypertrophy, but not creating any strength. start lifting 3 sets of 3-5 reps of heavy effort. this combined with proper diet and sleep will lead to dense, powerful muscle. examples:

3x5 squat

3x5 bench

3x5 deadlift

or

3x5 squat

3x5 pendlay row (or interchange overhead press)

3x5 deadlift

Obviously, start with low weight to warm up, then work your way up into your 3x5 working sets. Make sure your form is impeccable before you go increasing weight. When your form is impeccable, and you have several sessions under you, you can then increase weight. During your workouts, you'll know youve had enough when your form starts failing under the weight during the working sets. Look up rippetoe starting strength, or madcow 5x5 for more details. Just ignore the part where they advise you to eat everything you can find. Realize that by consuming less, your weight increases will be DRAMATICALLY slowed. Just sleep well, eat reasonably, and increase weight only when your body is ok with it.

Great, thanks everyone for the advice

Alan...thank you for the info. I always appreciate your contributions.

A couple of quick questions:

1) What would be some example of a plyometric/explosive lift? Would a jump squat holding dumbbells qualify? Trying to keep it simple because I only have a few years experience with a barbell.

2) If you can do more than 10 strict pull-ups...should you weight the pull-ups...or maybe do them slower and stricter...or does it matter? Just not sure what the reference to 10 pull-ups implies.

Many thanks...

Paul

1. Box Jump. Squat Jump. Split Squat Jump. Split Squat Box Jump. Lateral Jumps. Frog Jumps. Plyo Pushup. Work from no weight to weighted. I'd suggest no weight at all until you are a go on the non-weighted. 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps. Focus on speed and power

2. Add weight on pullups if need be. If you can do 10 strict pullups you are either pretty strong or very light....probably the latter..:) Hold a 10-20lb dumbbell between your legs.

Alan

I've found that I gain 3-4 pounds if I'm lifting seriously, even following the high weight/low rep regime. Granted I'm not running 100 miles a week, more like 50, but I disagree with the idea that you won't gain weight if you aren't trying to.

Charles' Atlas wrote:

I've found that I gain 3-4 pounds if I'm lifting seriously, even following the high weight/low rep regime. Granted I'm not running 100 miles a week, more like 50, but I disagree with the idea that you won't gain weight if you aren't trying to.

You must eat more calories to gain weight....

in fact lifting makes your metabolic rate increase, thus you burn even more calories at rest, if you weren't lifting.

Again, in order to gain weight from lifting vs. not lifting, your caloric intake must increase...

Charles' Atlas wrote:

I disagree with the idea that you won't gain weight if you aren't trying to.

Huh?

Randy Oldman wrote:

[quote]Charles' Atlas wrote:

I disagree with the idea that you won't gain weight if you aren't trying to.

Huh?[/quote

There is a commonly held idea that one may not add muscle without intentionally training and eating to do so. I do not hold said opinion. Hope this helps.

Longrunner wrote:

Charles' Atlas wrote:

I've found that I gain 3-4 pounds if I'm lifting seriously, even following the high weight/low rep regime. Granted I'm not running 100 miles a week, more like 50, but I disagree with the idea that you won't gain weight if you aren't trying to.

You must eat more calories to gain weight....

in fact lifting makes your metabolic rate increase, thus you burn even more calories at rest, if you weren't lifting.

Again, in order to gain weight from lifting vs. not lifting, your caloric intake must increase...

Most of us don't follow a strict diet and just eat as we're hungry. I'm telling you that I gain weight when I lift despite not intentionally eating more, and have seen the same thing happen to other people. If you want to look at pros, I believe Alan Webb has talked about putting on excessive muscle when he was doing a lot of weight training.