but I don't want to gain TOO much muscle...

[sayfullah]

Hey guys,

I only found out about StrongLifts a few days ago and have been reading tons about it since then. I plan on doing my first workout today.

My question is this:
I'm currently pretty overweight, I have a lot of fat to lose. I want to do this program to lose fat and build muscle, but I don't want to become all big with muscle. The way SL5x5 is made makes it seem like you will keep gaining muscle since the weights keep going up.

[*]Basically I want to look like this in terms of muscle mass - http://www.celluloiddreams.co.uk/images/fightclub2.jpg
[*]But not this: http://www.selfcaremanual.com/wp-includ ... le-man.jpg

You know, I just want to get to a certain point without gaining more muscle that that. Does the SL5x5 method already take care of that problem, or is there some adjustment I can make to get that goal?

Thanks for your help

[muddy]

It is not so easy to gain a lot of muscle, let alone "too much". You're not going to accidentally look like that second picture without a massive, concentrated effort over a long period of time to look like that. Even so, you may not have the genetics and/or chemicals to pull that off.

For the next year, you'll certainly gain a lot of strength. Any muscle you gain will help with the fat loss. It will not be too much. After doing the program for awhile and dropping fat, you'll be in a position to decide what you want longer term.

What will not happen: you will not suddenly swell up to look like that second photo. Don't worry about it. It's hard to emphasize how non-trivial getting yourself to look like that is.

[kali]

what Muddy said is totally true. you have no idea how so many people work extremely hard in the gym, and i still dont look like the 2d photo. genetics plays a large role here, believe it or not, as well as needing many, many years of serious effort as well.
seriously, you cant wake up one morning looking like that by accident, and most people only wish it could be that easy!

[sayfullah]

Thanks Muddy.

I didn't mean that it would happen without me being aware or magically. What I guess I meant was what I should adjust once I'm at a desired physique.

[mjh]

What I guess I meant was what I should adjust once I'm at a desired physique.

Worry about it when you get there. Anything else is just taking energy and focus away from what you need to be doing now, which is lifting hard and eating well.

You absolutely will not accidentally get massive and bulky on stronglifts.

[Shoke]

I agree with all the posters above. Building muscles is not an overnight thing, and you can always tone down your workouts a bit long before you become "too big" for your liking.

[MikeD]

I hope you're a girl. Or more likely a male from California.

[atypical1]

I hope you're a girl. Or more likely a male from California.

I'm a male from California....

james

[MikeD]

Well, f--k me sideways, that's unexpected. I guess I can't talk as I've lived in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and reside in a State that liberal hipsters dominate some parts of.

[killerdude494949]

You absolutely will not accidentally get massive and bulky on stronglifts.

Not only on stronglifts, more like period. Gaining muscle is such a (relatively) slow and diffucult process you will never end up "too big." You'd see it coming from light years away. Most people think you can do lift weights 3-5 times a week and eat whatever you want and somehow wake up one morning with massive bulk. If this has ever been the case with someone with average genetics, contact me immediately becaise I want to know what the hell you are doing.

[Jiggy]

If you did get to the stage where you felt you were getting too bulky (which is liekly a long way off). You could emphasise more conditioning workouts, press ups, sit ups, pull ups etc and maybe scale back a bit on the strength training to once or twice a week.

[FilthyMcNasty]

Dude, if it was easy to be massive all the frat boys would be built like Arnie.
Stop being a wuss and train. Else go to Bodypump.
Harsh? Absolutely. You are setting limitations and therefore setting yourself up for failure before you begin.
Do something or do nothing and stay are you are now.Carrying muscle will always be better than carrying a fat ass.

[MazdaMatt]

We see this question now and then on this forum. In a way it is rather insulting to the large person because you're discrediting the YEARS of extreme effort and controlled dieting (and possibly drugs) that were required to look like that. I'd be surprised if more than 5 people on this forum were that large and ripped.

Your size is determined by your food, not your weights.

[mastrbrewr]

I gain mass just thinking about weights. On the flip side there are guys I knew who were wicked strong, but their physique was barely more than knots on a bean pole. It's genetics. An ectomorph might be a large, strong ectomorph but will be hard pressed to meet the mass of a mesomorph or endomorph with the same amount of effort.

[FilthyMcNasty]

To turn your original question on its head, if you only have 2 choices would you rather look like

[*]But not this: http://www.selfcaremanual.com/wp-includ ... le-man.jpg
or this
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:-mJD ... at_Man.jpg

You cannot govern what your individual physical reaction to training will be and say I wanna look like this but not that. You do not know your genetic potential because you have never realised it.

Stop eating crap, do something.