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Building muscle without getting bigger. At all.

post #1 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 
SF is the only possible place in the world that I could pose this without getting laughed at.


I'm interested in things I can do to increase my muscle mass but not gain ANY size. Basically, I just want to displace some fat with muscle. When I say I don't want to gain ANY size I'm pretty serious, too. A tiny little bit of extra mass would be OK, but I am deathly afraid of affecting the way my, predominantly MTM, dress wardrobe fits. I've spent a lot of time and money getting it to fit just so and I'd be loath to let it all go to waste and have to start over again.
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post #2 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:24pm
the only way to gain mass, be it fat or muscle is by eating more calories (and resistance training in the latter case).

if you do weights and and maintain your calorific intake you will lose some fat and gain some muscle. in addition if you keep to heavy weights for lower sets you should gain strength without a great deal of hypertrophy.

also if you are worried about your clothes i would avoid doing too much chest or shoulder work as tailored jackets wont take too much extra shoulder mass very well.

its not really a stupid question, male gymnasts have been practising strength gains without big increases in bodyweight for a long time. check out the gymnasticbodies website.
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post #3 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:25pm
it pains me to suggest this but if you just want to look ripped do something like crossfit and get anal about counting calories.
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post #4 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:27pm
Losing fat and trying to replace it with muscle isn't a problem - being 200, losing ten founds, and then trying to build back up to 200 leaner (or doing it a variety of other ways).


But how do you know there will be an even distribution of fat loss and muscle gain? I mean, you may lose fat significantly in certain areas, while buidling muscle in others. Won't that still affect your mtm fits?
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post #5 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:30pm
Long and slow body recomp... but your weight is still going to flux up and down a bit. And if you have little to no experience with finding your dietary sweet spot and aligning that with the right workout, it won't come easy.
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post #6 of 45
5/26/10 at 2:30pm
something like squats will mean less fat around your belly and more mass around your thighs. if you wear very slim trousers this will be a problem. i ripped a favourite pair of jeans after doing weightlifting for about a year.

the thing is none of these changes will occur overnight, people train for years to gain significant mass. chances are for the first 6 months you will only see beneficial changes to the way your clothes fit. take it month by month.
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post #7 of 45
5/26/10 at 3:29pm
Herbert is giving good advice here. It also mimics the advice given in the recent "squats" thread.

You may want to describe your previous exercise history and experience as well as your current physical situation. 140lb skinny-fat, 200 lb overweight?

Keep your calorie intake the same (eat maintenance) and lift heavy. To be more specific, look up weight training routines for WOMEN who are terrified of bulking up.

There are some smart routines out there. Women should lift weights "like a man" but in a circuit which will increase the length of the rest periods between hitting the same body part up to 5-6 minutes, minimizing hypertrophy.
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post #8 of 45
5/26/10 at 4:43pm
Sounds like the OP just wants to get cut w/o necessarily getting super strong. Wouldn't it make sense to focus on exercises intended to increase agility and flexibility just to keep more muscles active and keep the heard pumping to ward off fat and have muscles in optimum condition even if not at optimum strength? What about Pilates or yoga classes? I've been looking at www.ronjones.org since another member pointed me in that direction for push-up variations. He looks pretty cut up but in no way bulky.
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post #9 of 45
5/26/10 at 5:31pm
maybe you should just set aside some of your clothes to be used for the next period of body change. like a weeks worth of shirts and two suits. that way in your quest to lose fat and gain muscle you can take note on how your body fits in the clothes. if you start gaining to much/or losing a ton then you can just use those set aside clothes and have them adjusted accordingly. when you're finally happy with what you have and plan to stick with that type of body composition forever (if possible) then you can start dealing with the rest of the clothes you have (tailoring ect). you never know... you might start losing a ton of weight and like how you look or the opposite might happen when you see yourself bulked up. if you're losing fat and then gaining the lost weight in muscle.. the body is going to fit differently in your clothes regardless.
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post #10 of 45
5/26/10 at 5:47pm
wrong.


Quote:
Originally Posted by The Louche View Post
SF is the only possible place in the world that I could pose this without getting laughed at.


I'm interested in things I can do to increase my muscle mass but not gain ANY size. Basically, I just want to displace some fat with muscle. When I say I don't want to gain ANY size I'm pretty serious, too. A tiny little bit of extra mass would be OK, but I am deathly afraid of affecting the way my, predominantly MTM, dress wardrobe fits. I've spent a lot of time and money getting it to fit just so and I'd be loath to let it all go to waste and have to start over again.
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post #11 of 45
5/26/10 at 6:22pm
Its impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at even a semi reasonable rate without the help of muscle memory, meaning you use to have that muscle and are just gaining it back. With that said, even if you replace the fat you have with muscle and maintain the same wait the shape of your body will change and your clothes will fit different. I'd just try to lose fat first, get a few items to tide you over, then when you are as lean as you want to be you start building up the muscle. Some information on your current state would help a lot with this, but I still say the idea of losing fat while gaining muscle is mostly a myth.
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post #12 of 45
5/26/10 at 6:45pm
You don't need muscle memory if you are making newbie gains. There are plenty of exercise dudes who find the MEGA BULK vs MEGA CUT mentality unnecessary.
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post #13 of 45
5/26/10 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by seanpatrickb View Post
Its impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at even a semi reasonable rate without the help of muscle memory, meaning you use to have that muscle and are just gaining it back.

what the hell?
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post #14 of 45
5/26/10 at 7:36pm
Deca/Test stack IMO
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post #15 of 45
5/26/10 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkstone View Post
You have to first gain muscle and then do exercise to lose fat. You can not do both at the same time.

No.

It's called body recomposition. However, it takes a LONG time. Sometimes years.

So, I'd suggest doing it your way anyway!
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