How Do You Know if You Are Gaining Muscle and Not Fat

Y'all are probably here because you are wondering ( aka, freaking out ) on how to tell if weight proceeds is muscle or fat.

Whether your goal is actually weight loss and that dreaded scale is going upward, only you heard someone say "Ah you are probably just gaining muscle!".

Or whether your goal is to build muscle but you desire to make certain you lot don't put on too much trunk fat in the process.

This article is going to clearly and concisely lay out exact how to tell if weight proceeds is musculus or fat, then stick around.

You lot can be balance assured that you can exist feel confident knowing that you are in fact gaining musculus, or maybe you need to lay off some of the calories a chip.

Either way you will know, and that is the nigh important part.

Let's get into it.

How To Tell If Weight Gain Is Muscle or Fat

Weight Loss / Gain vs Fat Loss / Gain

Before we get into specifics, I want to quickly touch the divergence between gaining or losing weight vs gaining or losing fatty.

Aye, they can be 2 unlike things.

Our body weight is made up of so much more than just muscle and fat. Our weight on the scale holds our muscle, fatty, internal organs, bone density, h2o weight, waste product ( using the restroom! ), and more.

Therefore first you have to realize "weight proceeds" has and so much more than to exercise than just gaining or losing musculus vs fat.

You lot can lose 2lbs in like v-xv minutes afterward yous get #2 ( depending how long you like to poop for ).

Does that hateful you lost fat? Absolutely not, you merely removed some excess waste matter, and then yous have less content inside your body.

You could step on the scale and weight 200lbs.

If you lot step off the scale, beverage 16oz of water, then immediately step dorsum on, you are going to weigh 201lbs.

Did you gain fat OR muscle?

No, you lot now simply have 16oz of water inside your body that your body did not have before.

You can gain and lose weight on the calibration for a diverseness of reasons.

I did an unabridged video on exactly why your weight might fluctuate for whatever one of these reasons, you can check that out Hither if yous want to learn more.

It is important you lot sympathise this considering it volition set us up for what nosotros are going to hit on side by side.

It Takes Time

When it comes to how to tell if weight gain is muscle or fat, the unpopular truth information technology, information technology takes time to know.

I know, people don't similar that now a days. Not certain when you will read this, just as of right now Amazon basically makes it so you click two buttons and Jeff Bezos himself air drops your package through your roof.

We desire things right meow.

The reality is when information technology comes to how to tell if you are gaining muscle or fatty, you won't know in a day.

Or a week.

Or even a month actually! ( Okay, you will kind of know in a month, and nosotros will touch on that soon ).

The point being is it takes fourth dimension. This is considering similar we talked about above, your weight is going to fluctuate upwards and down for diverse reasons throughout the course of a week, two weeks, 3 weeks.

If you aren't weighing yourself everyday ( which I believe you should be and Here is why ) then you simply only won't have enough data gathered in gild to brand the appropriate determination.

For instance, one reason your weight might spike upwards the next day is because you had a meal that was college in sodium the night before.

This would crusade your torso to store some actress h2o weight waking up the adjacent morning.

Did you proceeds fat overnight? Admittedly not. Did you gain muscle overnight? Hell no, though I do wish it was that fast.

Point existence, you lot tin't look at your weight on a solar day by day basis and make conclusions because information technology fluctuates then much.

This is why you lot get all of the information points for the month ( daily weigh ins ) and look at the trends.

This is a weight loss chart of one of my online coaching clients, but you will run across what I mean here.

Notice how she weighs herself everyday and at that place are fluctuations right?

But, look at the overall trend line, where is it going? Downward, this means she is losing weight despite the fluctuations up at times.

Gaining muscle or fat is no different, one or two days doesn't mean yous gained muscle or fat.

You accept to look at things from at least a four week perspective, otherwise you merely do not have enough information to brand the proper conclusion we volition talk virtually now.

How To Tell If Weight Proceeds Is Muscle or Fat : Track Your Information

Yous only heard me talk about in a higher place yous need to requite at least a four week time frame of tracking data in gild to see if you are gaining fat or muscle.

But what does that data wait similar? What exactly do y'all track?

Well first off, I did an unabridged video on this, I tin can link information technology hither if you desire to scout.

Yet I am going to cover each thing you need to track for how to tell if weight gain is muscle or fat in detail here below.

There are four main things, bodyweight, measurements, progress pictures, and your workouts.

Let'southward commencement start with bodyweight.

Bodyweight

I mentioned earlier that I was a fan of tracking your bodyweight everyday for 4 weeks straight.

Why do I propose this?

I talk more in depth most information technology Hither, and I also mentioned it above so I won't become too in depth on it right this very 2nd.

Substantially what you demand is the most data yous possibly tin.

The more than information y'all have, the better, and that is all your bodyweight is, data.

If you lot have 31 information points in a month from weighing yourself every single twenty-four hours, that is more data than say if you weighed yourself in one case a week for 4 information points a month.

Don't you think you will be able to tell the overall trend amend if you take 31 information points in a calendar month instead of iv?

Yes, I agree! I believe so as well!

Therefore weighing yourself everyday, not looking at the day to mean solar day fluctuations, rather gathering the data and looking at information technology from a iv week view is the most beneficial to tell if you are gaining muscle or fat.

So, How practice y'all know if it is muscle or fatty?

Great question. An average charge per unit of muscle gain is going to be anywhere from .5-2lb per month.

Now let'due south break this down and actually use it in context here.

This is where you can look at your data over the grade of the last 31 days and analyze your trend.

If you started at 150, and 4 days in your weight spiked up to 154.

Yet, if you lot just stayed the grade, kept going, and past the terminate of the 31 days you are averaging near a weight of 151-152, you would know that you are probably gaining by and large lean muscle mass. ( Provided you are strength training, which we will touch on here in a 2nd! ).

Despite your weight having spikes or drops throughout the 4 week span, you gather the data and wait at the overall trend of where you lot are heading.

If y'all are on pace to gain 4, 5, 6lbs per month, okay well at that place is no way y'all can gain muscle that quickly ( even with anabolic drugs ).

Therefore you are probably putting on a flake also much body fat and may want to decrease calories a flake.

Now, I will say this. I have had a lot of people come to me who were deliberately looking to become into a muscle definition phase. This means you typically desire to upwards your calories into at the very to the lowest degree maintenance calories if non a calorie surplus.

Thus meaning when you initially bump upwardly your calories, you lot very well could gain 4lbs in a month due to extra food in your stomach as well equally actress carbohydrates storing some water.

In this scenario, if you lot are someone reading this who recently bumped your calories up, I would say you lot need to rails your data for 8 weeks before knowing exactly if y'all are gaining muscle or fat.

This is considering your weight is going to go up a bit initially merely that does non hateful y'all gained fat. You need to become that second months worth of data to see.

If you lot gained 4lbs in the commencement calendar month and then 1.5 the 2d, well then yous know you lot are gaining nearly all lean muscle mass and minimal fat gain.

Yous just demand to be sure to give information technology the time it needs to truly tell what is going on!

Measurements

Now that you know what an average rate of weight gain would await similar for musculus mass vs fat mass, permit's talk virtually measurements.

Yes, you lot should be tracking other things than only the scale, this is very critical.

I recommend you exercise what all of my online coaching clients do and that is rails your measurements every two weeks.

What measurements should you rail?

I would rails your

• waist ( You can even track above the belly button, below the belly button, and at the belly button )
• Quads / thighs
• Hips / glutes

So, whatsoever other measurements you want to take whether it be artillery, chest, back, etc if you have specific areas you lot want to focus here.

Here is the affair, and stick with me here because I am going to endeavour and explain this the best I can.

Let'south say your goal is weight loss, simply you come across that scale isn't going down or fifty-fifty going upwards.

You may think you aren't losing fat. Well, agree on champ, this is why you lot take measurements.

If your goal is weight loss and you are taking your measurements, if they are going down just the scale is non, yous are losing fat and building muscle at the same time.

Which, is really hard to do, so huge congrats.

The reason is because muscle is more dense than fat, which means it takes up less space on your body.

If it takes upward less infinite, then your measurements are going to go down and your body will expect different ( nosotros will talk well-nigh this more in progress pics ).

This is a good thing! And then the next time you get discouraged over the scale, remember this.

If Your Goal Is Muscle Gain

Then when it comes to measurements your measurements may very well increment, and that would exist okay because you are looking to build muscle in certain areas.

Hither is what I would say though, fifty-fifty if your goal is muscle proceeds, you want to make certain you lot are non putting on also much torso fatty.

How do you brand sure of this? This is why you rails your waist measurements.

It is ane thing for your glute measurement to increase or your thigh, but throughout the process your waist measurement should exist either staying virtually the aforementioned or increasing at a very slight charge per unit.

Meaning if you are gaining 2-3 inches per month on your waist, y'all are probably over doing it and putting on a flake also much body fat.

While if y'all are either maintaining or gaining say .25-.5 per calendar month, that would be an boilerplate rate of gain for muscle proceeds progress.

Once more, more than so because in that location is more food and carbs in your system rather than gaining fatty.

Waist measurements are 1 of if not the best indicator of fatty loss / gain progress, and then taking your measurements every 2 weeks and keeping an center on them can help make sure you are not over doing it.

Progress Pics

The third, and my favorite way of how to tell if weight proceeds is muscle or fat is progress pictures.

Simply because, the pictures don't lie baby.

Numbers similar bodyweight and measurements are cool and I believe important to have data on, but zero is going to trump side by side progress pics.

Have 1 of my clients Bremer here below.

I don't need numbers to know this dude completely changed his physique.

One of the toughest things well-nigh irresolute your body is that yous see yourself everyday so y'all can't tell these small-scale changes happening.

But, if you accept progress pics and put them side by side very iv weeks, you are going to see changes that you lot did non know were there.

This is why no thing what the data says if you expect at your progress pics and you are looking meliorate, you lot are gaining muscle and not fat sweetie.

Information technology is just important to actually have them. I'thou beingness serious.

The amount of people who volition read this and be like "oh yea for certain!" Then not go and practise it is astounding.

Don't be one of those because that means you are more than likely going to become a slave to the scale.

Which, we both know, is not fun at all. Nor is it smart at all.

Strength Training Workouts

Permit's say yous all the same aren't 100% certain of whether yous are gaining muscle or fat.

Perfect, here is where we look at your workouts.

Start off, just then we are clear, the just way to proceeds muscle is through following a proper conditioning program.

Unlike losing fat for example where all you havve to practice is consume in a calorie deficit, if you are not working out, there is physiologically no way your body is going to build musculus.

And so if you aren't working out and you are gaining weight over an extended period of fourth dimension.. Yea, probably fat.

2nd, yeah, you should exist tracking the workouts you are doing. One of the most underrated things to await at by far when information technology comes to changing your body.

Why? Let's talk about it.

The way your body build muscle is through something called progressive overload.

I wrote an entire article on that Hither if you want to cheque information technology out. It is very in depth so I volition keep information technology short and sugariness here.

Progressive overload basically merely means you are doing more over a period of time.

Therefore if you are tracking your workouts and you are doing more reps, more weight, getting a bigger range of move, literally anything positive in the right direction.

You can bet your lesser dollar you are building muscle.

This is the first thing I look at when looking at clients, before I look at bodyweight, measurements, or fifty-fifty progress pictures, I look at their workouts to run across if they are doing more than reps, lifting more weight, etc.

If four weeks ago you were lifting 40lbs for eight reps, then now y'all are lifting 50lbs off 8 reps, your trunk had to overcome a stress and go ameliorate to lift more weight.

Aka information technology had to build some musculus!

If you gained say 1lb over that iv calendar week span, I can now be 100% sure that lb is muscle because your workouts prove to me you are getting stronger and doing more.

Merely if you are lifting the same weight, for the same reps, with the same form, and nada is improving while gaining 4lbs per month?

Yea, that is more likely fat gain every bit well.

Therefore tracking your workouts is a great tool for you to use to take information in order to tell if you are gaining muscle or fatty.

How To Tell If Weight Gain Is Muscle or Fatty? Q&A

At present that we laid out exactly how to tell if weight proceeds is muscle or fat, let's look at some most mutual questions.

If I Am Gaining Body Fatty, What Do I Do?!

Well, it is difficult for me to tell y'all 100% for sure without knowing your exact situation.

But, typically speaking, if y'all are gaining too much body fat you would need to decrease your calorie intake.

You could also play around with your macro intake specifically, significant protein, carbs, and fats.

I did an entire video on how to optimize muscle building and minimal fat gaining Hither if you desire to check that out for yourself.

But long story curt, you will take to cut back on your food intake.

What If I Am Trying To Lose Weight?!

Every bit we mentioned previously in this article, you tin can lose fatty without losing weight on the scale.

This is called body recomposition and information technology is actually really difficult to do.

What this essentially means is you are losing fat and building musculus at the aforementioned time.

No you are not replacing musculus with fat, and no muscle does not weight more than fat, you are simply losing fat and edifice muscle.

For example, if you lose 3lbs of fatty but proceeds 3lbs of muscle, the scale isn't going to motility.

Nevertheless like nosotros said, since muscle is more than dense than fatty, it volition take up less space on your body, you will look unlike, and you volition experience so much better.

This is why you need to be tracking all four of the forms of progress we talked almost, not simply your bodyweight, considering that thing will lie more than I did when I was 12 years old telling my mom the dishes were washed.

Who Should Be Looking To Build Muscle?

Everyone.

Plain and simple, I believe anybody should be looking to build muscle.

From the person looking to exist a bodybuilder to the 70 yr erstwhile looking to keep the quality of their life.

At present, not everyone has to become the extreme of being a bodybuilder ( and trust me, it is hard as hell, so y'all won't unless you really dedicate your life to it ).

Yet I practise believe anybody should be training to build lean muscle mass whether your goal is longevity, health, an artful, lean, divers physique.

Yous can't only build a ton of lean muscle mass by accident and look like Arnold the next morning.

Once more, trust me, I wish it was that easy.

Therefore training for lean muscle mass gains is something that is going to positively do good you now with a more lean, divers physique.

As well as later on on with a college metabolism, more bone density, improved insulin sensitivity, to name a few.

How To Tell If Weight Gain Is Musculus Or Fat : That's A Wrap!

I hope you enjoyed this article on how to tell if weight gain is muscle or fatty.

At that place are a few distinct markers you lot tin and should look to in order to truly know the answer.

But remember, it takes fourth dimension. You lot won't know in a week or two. Rail your data, do it over time, then await at trends and exist able to tell.

Hope this helped and expect to chat shortly.

-East

barriebeirinked.blogspot.com

Source: https://ericrobertsfitness.com/how-to-tell-if-weight-gain-is-muscle-or-fat/

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