building muscle

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Globetrotter- it is mostly just Water weight. As you break the muscles down, they need a lot of Water to repair themselves (hence, up 4 pounds). Your weight will drop soon enough as soon as your muscles let go of the water (glycogen store / burn cycle).

This process of building muscle definitely requires rest so do get a day off at least once a week or even in between lifting days if you lift every other day. Rest is so important to building muscle, second to a good eating plan.

My trainer told me more than once that a person's weight, especially for women, starts going up a few pounds before it drops to a new low. I did experience this slight gain before drop, and it sounds like you may fit the pattern too. In addition to scale weight, your clothes will fit better, you will feel smaller, you will feel stronger, you will notice in the mirror, people around you will notice, etc.

Hang in there. It will get much better and easier for you soon enough with your commitment to success.

[Globetrotter 1,340]

BTW creatine is quite the explosive topic, I brought it up to a bunch of my soldier buddies and they scorned creatine and creatine-assisted muscles, saying that it's nothing but Water and as soon as you stop taking the supplement or stop lifting, you deflate. That creatine muscles aren't *real* muscles.

Thoughts?

[princesstia 190]

i am beginning P90X on may 27th (to get a sunday rest day) and i have to say all these things are correct. I got through 46 days of P90X back in 2010 and only in that short time had gotten waaaay stronger lost so many inches. However it was very hard to get through the workouts because they do tear down some serious muscle and recovery took so long because i was not taking advantage of that window nor getting the proper amount of Protein to rebuild (hence why I only got through 46 days). As I have educated myself post op as far as nutrition and all the great info sharing this forum has to offer, I feel better equipped to start and complete the program. We'll be on our journey together

[Fiddleman 4,376]

BTW creatine is quite the explosive topic' date=' I brought it up to a bunch of my soldier buddies and they scorned creatine and creatine-assisted muscles, saying that it's nothing but Water and as soon as you stop taking the supplement or stop lifting, you deflate. That creatine muscles aren't *real* muscles.

Thoughts?[/quote']

Interesting discussion. Maybe Mark! Would have the real scoop on creatine. I took it and noticed good muscle gains, but have not taken it in the past week while on vacation. Still have good gains, but that may be from actual strength training this week.