Beginners - you will not get massive from weight training

Went for a jog, came back with legs like this.

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Squatted 200kg straight up, never touched a barbell before.

Started doing some box jumps for fun, this high.


Srs.
 
The thing is, if you do weights and gain muscle mass that is all well and good if you ant those muscles but for most people they are detrimental. most people want to get fit so that they can do things like player a better game of soccer, longer hikes, climb mountains, skiing, all kinds of sports. CV work is really critical, extra muscles just slow people down and burn more energy. Ideally your muscle mass should be as small as possible to maintain the strength required for your sport.
 
Developing strength does not always lead to massive muscle mass. It's a balance between power and strength and size. Pros do assistance work using weights for their disciplines as it helps.
 
BennyC said:
Yep, that's why sprinters (the fastest humans on earth) have legs, and whole bodies for that matter, like twiglets...
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Ever seen a marathon runner or a rock climber look like Mr Universe?

Muscles are dense and brun a a lot of glycogen and oxygen. For most sports that is a the last thing you want to be doing. If you want to look good in the mirror then its great.
 
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Freefaller said:
Developing strength does not always lead to massive muscle mass. It's a balance between power and strength and size. Pros do assistance work using weights for their disciplines as it helps.
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Sports pros often do weight work i agree but this is because it leads to reduced injuries.

E.g., a pro-tennis player ideally would do nothing but play tennis to maximize their fitness and ability. In reality, that will more liekly lead to an injury, e.g. tennis elbow, so time spent in the gym will help maintain fitness and reduce risks.
Similar, a pro marathon runner should just run as much as possible, and many of them put in extreme weekly miles (e.g. > 150mpw) and that inevitably leads to injuries. Time spent doing other CV exercise like swimming, biking will allow maintenance of CV fitness without injuring knees etc.
 
There are different muscle types, fast (type 2) and slow twitch (type 1) muscles and they are used for different things. Training different muscles are key to athletic performance, but that doesn't mean you will build one type over an other to achieve the goals you are trying to achieve. Of course you can try and train a certain type more than another to achieve different goals. Both are important.

Weight training improves recovery of your muscle fibres, improves bone density and anaerobic capacity and power which is equally important.

So you agree weight training helps and is beneficial, and by what you've just said you've just accepted that you won't get huge by lifting weights ;)
 
It's horses for courses. What are you looking to achieve and what are your goals? So long as you are enjoying your training, you are doing it safely, it's keeping you sane and meaning you are fitter and healthier what does it really matter?
 
D.P. said:
Sports pros often do weight work i agree but this is because it leads to reduced injuries.

E.g., a pro-tennis player ideally would do nothing but play tennis to maximize their fitness and ability. In reality, that will more liekly lead to an injury, e.g. tennis elbow, so time spent in the gym will help maintain fitness and reduce risks.
Similar, a pro marathon runner should just run as much as possible, and many of them put in extreme weekly miles (e.g. > 150mpw) and that inevitably leads to injuries. Time spent doing other CV exercise like swimming, biking will allow maintenance of CV fitness without injuring knees etc.
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But weight training can help to improve acceleration/speed, which would benefit sports like tennis. But as you say you don't want to be carrying excess weight/muscle mass so the weight training focus would be on strength/power rather than size.

People often seem to have this misconception that weight training must equal size. Just look at some of the Olympic weightlifters to see you don't need to be massive to be strong.
 
I would just like to be able to gain weight, period. Had a medical earlier this year and turns out I have a body fat index of <1 and the metabolic age of a 12 year old.

And get this, the practitioner told me that 12 was as low as it went ! Lol

So its peanut butter with everything and 2-3 protein flapjacks between meals ... Not gained a pound yet :/
 
alx said:
People often seem to have this misconception that weight training must equal size. Just look at some of the Olympic weightlifters to see you don't need to be massive to be strong.
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Which is why I started this thread. I think part of the issue is that beginners (like me) look at pictures and videos online and a lot of weight trainers look big. But part of it is an illusion because of the proportions that training gives you.

Strength and body shape doesn't necessarily mean huge bursting muscles.
 
Hiijinx said:
I would just like to be able to gain weight, period. Had a medical earlier this year and turns out I have a body fat index of <1 and the metabolic age of a 12 year old.

And get this, the practitioner told me that 12 was as low as it went ! Lol

So its peanut butter with everything and 2-3 protein flapjacks between meals ... Not gained a pound yet :/
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Go through what you are yesterday.

I suspect it isn't as much as you think. Though if you now have a medical condition it may well affect you.
 
Breakfast : Beans and mashed avacado on toast with cheese and doritos ... Yeah I have funny tastes :p

AM snack : Trek protein bar original. (210~ cal, 10g protein) Small slice of cheesecake which was forced upon me.

Lunch : Sweet sour fake chicken with rice

PM Snack : Trek protein apple cinnamon

Dinner : Tofu scrambled egg with fried mushrooms on toast and avacado salad

Late Snacks : Chocolate, 2 bananas with 1tbs peanut butter

Lots of water throughout the day

All the above are obviously veggie and also gluten free as it bloats me out.

Might try drinking some milk instead of water, any other suggestions?
 
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Really? I must have a very small appetite then compared to some of you as having just finished breakfast (with added PNB) I am feeling stuffed!

Guess the next step is to look for other small sized, calorie dense foods to add in.
 
It's a bit hard to be sure without actual measurements but it doesn't look like that much food if I'm honest. More avocado is never a bad thing in terms of kcal dense food. Nom nom.
 
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