Building Muscle, Increasing weight

[m4ntis]

Hey guys! I've just started the StrongLifts program last week. I am 5'7" and weigh about 67kg (around 150lbs) at 16.9% BF. I have read all the articles, information and eBook as well and am a little confused about one thing. If I want to build muscle (and increase strength), do I need to eat excess calories? And if I do have to eat excess calories (which from what I understand, I do) how do I lose the fat or reduce the gain of fat so I gain minimal amounts of fat. I'd like to be around 75kg weightwise, I don't look fat at all, but I don't look that muscular either.

Thanks a lot!

[itsbruce]

If you're not already fat, it's hard to put on muscle - enough to keep making progress - without adding a little weight. I was your weight (and an inch taller) for most of this year but was 72.5kg when I started this course (my routine and diet was interrupted by several changes of location in a month); not fat or even overweight by any healthy standard, but a few pounds heavier than I wanted to be. When I started the program, I decided I wasn't going to try and lose that weight, because the strength gain is more important, but I didn't want to get any fatter. So while I did increase my intake (to about 2750 calories) and dramatically shifted the balance towards protein, I didn't do GOMAD or any kind of bulking up. I've shifted between doing no cardio at all to doing as much as 45 minutes at the end of a session, depending on how I'm feeling.

9 weeks in, My weight has increased by about 1 kilo, 9 weeks into the course, and my body fat has gone down slightly (unreliable measure as that is). I have made very measurable strength gains and I do look more muscular. That said, I am sure I would be further ahead if I had just gone for bulk; personal vanity is undeniably holding me back to some extent. Not bulking up means that it's even more important to concentrate on technique, which is not easy when you are doing this on your own. I feel that I am hitting limits earlier than I would have if I had gone all out for growth.

So how much do the potential strength gains matter to you? Doing it the minimal-weight-gain way is much the harder route for most people, I think.

[m4ntis]

Well, I don't want to get any fatter and personal vanity does matter but so does strength gain. The detail I gave you were that of about a week ago. Now I am 67.9kg (I was 66.4kg before, not 67kg as stated in the previous post - just checked in my diary) and 17.5% BF so thats about a 1.5kg gain and 1kg muscle, 0.5kg fat. I think I will just do cardio after the session to encourage fat loss I think (I have neglected cardio due to being a uni student and not having much time as my course is very intensive!). But a 2:1 ratio of muscle gain to fat gain isn't too bad in my opinion. Just need enough cardio to offset the fat gains I guess, although when I get to heavier weights it will burn more calories so will be much more intensive and I can reduce cardio.

Thanks a lot! Good info you got there!

[itsbruce]

If you're choosing to do it the hard way like that, then it's really important to get enough rest - both in terms of sleep and in terms of rest between sets, when the weights become hard to lift. Makes all the difference.