Muscle gain -womoan

yellowellie

Hi all,
I'm a 26 year old female, 5' 4.25". I joined curves women's gym (circuit training) a month ago at 9stones. I had my monthly measure and weigh in a few days ago. I gained one pound which I am not worried about as I feel more toned and stronger than when I started working out. I lost something like an inch from my waist and hips, bum stayed the same and bust went up by one inch. However, my arms and thighs went up by something like a quarter to a half an inch each. The instructor said this was normal and that they will shrink down again because the muscle has to come out first and then it will go back in and 'attack the fat'. While I'm hoping this is true, I am afraid she may have been trying to make me feel better. Am I likely to gain more muscle bulk?
Oops, thread title should say woman not womoan..

Chucky the tree

sigh...


Jon's not gonna be a happy camper.

g'em

yellowellie wrote:

The instructor said this was normal and that they will shrink down again because the muscle has to come out first and then it will go back in and 'attack the fat'. While I'm hoping this is true, I am afraid she may have been trying to make me feel better. Am I likely to gain more muscle bulk?

well the instructor is sort of right. first off though well done on seeing the size loss otherwise and it's refreshing to see someone who is paying more attention to what the mirror says rather than the scales!!

The size gains you're seeing on your arms and thighs are in reality not very big, although it's probably better to relate them to how much fat you still have on those areas. If you still have oodles of adipose in those areas as you lose it the size will come down again. As you increase your lean muscle mass your metabolism will also increase and this is what the instructor is referring to by 'attacking the fat'. At 5'4" and 9 stone you're not exactly overweight, you're pretty firmly in the normal weight range, but I'm presuming you have problem areas you want to tidy up. Plenty of women respond overly well to weight training around the legs and while you're never going to 'bulk up' you may see that you make muscle gains on your thighs quite quickly. Same will go for your arms. As you shed bodyfat though these areas will begin to look fantastically toned and that lean muscle mass will result in shapely limbs.

Oh and if the measurements were taken at the end of a session it could very well just be a 'pump' that you'll have gotten from increased blood flow to those areas as a result of resistance training.

If you're worried about looking grotesquely masculine and 'bodybuilder-ish', don't. Quite simply women don't have the testosterone required to build mass like that and the women who do have gained their size through years of hard training and chemical enhancement. So enjoy your smaller waistline and firmer legs and arms- you're getting the hourglass figure that most women kill for!!

yellowellie

Wow, thanks for the quick response g'em! Your explaination makes sense alright; I felt like the instructors explaination was a bit 'airy fairy'!!
Chucky the tree, I'd prob have to be a regular on the forum to know what you mean but I'm guessing your response was because of girls being afraid they're going to swell out with bulging muscles! I know guys have to work extremely hard to turn into bodybuilders and by comparison a few girleens going around a curves circuit a few times a week aren't going to get the same results! Thanks again g'em..

Chucky the tree

If you havent seen it already, here it is

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054986892

ronbyrne2005

Curves is crap and is more of a social club for middle aged housewives than a serious fitness establishments, the "system" has many flaws including hydraulic machines than dont give both eccentric and concentric actions in exercises leading to more likelyhood of injury. sports scientists in american university also tested the workout and found it not to be very benefical, for younger people expecially. google curves and you'll find criticism of the method. better to go to gem's gym or a similar gym where inform female instructors will show you the way to go and you wont get muscley because you aint got enough testosterone in your body cos yur a gurl!

t-ha

Curves is crap compared to what though? Lots of women do it - not alot workout in 'serious fitness establishments' - which is better than having them do nothing. It's alot better than nothing, both for physique and just general health & when people progress to a point where they want a harder challenge, then they might go looking for it then?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

ronbyrne2005

Women who keep going to curves see no improvement after first six months, they stay because it turns into a social thing for them ,my mother in here 50's goes and lost a load of "inches" in frst six months and since i've seen no more improvement over last year and a half. There are plenty of better leisure centres/gyms where these women could go and feel comfortable and meet other women and get far better results. Even buying a set of dumbells,an exercise mat ,a swiss ball and decent workout book/dvd would help tham attain better results ,increase their lean muscle mass and hence metabolic rate and reduce chances of osteoperosis etc. Its a scam unless your really really sedentery and even if you are after a few months of doing it 3 or 4 times a week you will plateau and achieve no more,this can be worse for a woman as she will she no more results and may become disillusioned with exercise full stop! plus it doesnt have significant cardio component for a stronger heart and greater fat loss

yellowellie

I'm coming back here for the benefit of anybody wondering about Curves. I've been a member for nearly a year now and I have to say I expected more from it.

Reading the previous posters' opinions about Curves, ye are all correct really. Here's my slant on things, which just about re-inforces everything that has already been said..

I'll be honest, I haven't been going religiously three times a week for the past year BUT for the periods of about 2 months at a time where I have been disciplined with it, I don't find it that great.

It's just not enough for somebody of a healthy weight to lose some lbs and get definition. 30 mins x 3 times a week doesn't cut it. I feel that if I'm going to make the effort to work out 3 times a week, it may as well be in a gym where there are also cardio machines to use (and showers, sauna etc).

Theoretically, you could stay longer and go around the circuit an extra time or two but it's boring tbh and they play the same music CDs over and over again.. the staff must go demented with it!

A regular gym has a more motivating atmosphere and there are people around you who are really pushing it so it makes you work all the harder unknown to yourself. Honestly, you only have to look at the staff and clients of Curves - there's not too many people in there with a body I'd prefer to have than my own!

As previous posts have said, it IS better than doing nothing. You do feel stronger and a little tighter for doing it BUT I would suggest that it's only really good for older ladies to keep the bone density up and keep the muscles working and for younger/middle aged ladies who wouldn't dream of going to a gym. For anyone else who's wondering GYM IS BEST!


FYI: Overall I've gained 8lbs and I'd say probably only one or two pounds of that is muscle at this stage! I can't blame Curves for my weight gain but it's not much good for taking it off again. It's probably good for women who have a LOT of weight to lose and have no level of physical exercise at all.

For other 20-somethings, 3 x 30 mins of power walking a week will probably get you (us!) the same results as Curves and financially is a lot more pleasing! Curves is e35 a month, I forget what the joining fee is but it's probably something like a hundred euro.

I think I've just convinced myself that I need to quit Curves and join a gym!

cowzerp

Measurements are very innacurate especially when done by people in curves-to do the assesments in curves you dont even need to be qualified-my friend with basic qualifications was told they where too experienced! woman very rarely build muscle anyway unless they 1, have the genetics-usually obvious due to how butch they look, 2, they overeat and get lucky as most woman who overeat will just gain fat, 3, your muscles are bigger due to carb storage which still means your eating to much-if your goal is to lose fat i would suggest you go on a negative calorie diet-you are not on 1 at the moment or you would not have gained weight, your waist and bum been smaller is more to do with your muscles getting tighter which happens easily once a muscle is challenged-it takes about 1 month to get used to curves and then your results will be severely reduced due to plateux..hope this helps

yellowellie wrote:

FYI: Overall I've gained 8lbs and I'd say probably only one or two pounds of that is muscle at this stage!

i doubt you gained 1-2 pounds of muscle, people think muscle is so easy to obtain-i'd say you gained 6 pounds of fat and 2 pounds of water within your muscles-this is carb storage which is better than fat storage..

yellowellie

Yep, that helps. I definitely have to sort out the diet in the long-term. When I started in Curves I was told 'you don't need to change your diet, just try to eat more protein'.

Ya, I know from experience the measurements can be all over the place. One time when I was measured I knew for a fact that my waist had gone down from the previous measurement as I had been good with my diet and exercise and it always goes off my waist first.

I was waiting to hear the good news from the woman who measured me. She measured it, looked at my previous measurements, mumbled something about 'must have been measured lower down' and told me I was the same as the last time. I just thought to myself 'does she know what she's doing at all?'. I didn't even bother telling her it was measured at the narrowest point the last time, didn't see the point..

Arah, I'm not blaming Curves for my weight gain, I would be bigger if I hadn't been going at all! There are a number of factors that have contributed to my gain, some out of my control, most within it! However, it just seems that Curves isn't the answer to me achieving my long-term goals and I need to re-evaluate my diet and exercise.

cowzerp

join a real gym and get on top of your diet and you will be flying in no time-best of luck..

yellowellie

Cheers!