Many say you gain weight in muscle from working out?

Question

I am a female and have been going to the gym. I look a bit slimmer and more toned. But, I have been on the South Beach diet which is low carb and have seen very little weight loss. I have lost quite a bit on this diet before. Now it seems to be not working. A site on the internet says that you do not gain weight from working out. Some on here say you do. What is the truth? What can I do? Along with weights (not a lot), I am doing cardio on the treadmill for 30 minutes with my heart rate up high every day as well as five extra minutes on the elliptical.

Answer 1

Same thing happened to me. My trainer explained to me that, muscle weights more than fat because it is more dense. The exmaple he gave me was: it takes 4 fists to make a pound of fat, but just one fist to make a pound of muscle. In the end, muscle weighs more but takes less space.

Also, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn and the slimmer you'll look.

Answer 2

You probably have lost weight. But don't concern youself with your weight. The human body consists of bone, muscle and fluids wich make up your "weight". Concern yourself with your body fat percentage. You can have two people at the exact same height and weight, but look completely different. One may have a higher body fat percentage and one may have a greater amount of lean muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are working out you could be adding muscle, which is always a good thing.
Because muscle weighs more than fat, If you've been eating right and exercising, you will feel better and your clothes will either fit better or be too big, but the scale can stay the same or not drop much.
Having more muscle helps boost the calorie burn!

Answer 3

Since you have been lifting weights your probably gainin muscle which weights more then fat. That is way you look slimmer but may not have dropped on the scale. Keep doing what your doing! You will lose the weight on the scale in the long run and increase your metabolism b/c muscle burns more calories. Good job!

Answer 4

You are reaching a plateau in your routine. You need to change up your routine to get your body burning fat again. Your lean muscle mass has probably increased, causing some weight gain, but you should be burning lots of calories passively. Be careful with South Beach, you tend to eat more calories than you think, which can slow your weight loss. Be careful, and try something new in your routine.

Answer 5

Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are lifting too much weight, it could be building muscle rather than just burning the fat. You may lose inches, but the weight will be the same due to this.

Answer 6

You gain muscle while at the same time burning fat which might have you losing weight at first

Answer 7

regardless of the type of exercise that you participate it you must be intaking sufficient calories for your BMR at the minimum in order to lose body fat. when calories are too low the body will not metabolize stored fatty acids for energy as the body is in starvation mode.

as the body composition/weight changes so must the caloric intake especially when the level of daily activity is changed. check the website below to see if you are getting sufficient calories.
http://www.protraineronline.com/past/july2/nutrient.cfm

Answer 8

yes it is true, you do gain weight in muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so when you work out you lose fat but gain muscle resulting in weight gain.

Answer 9

muscle weighs more than fat... make sure your streching good!