Can you increase muscle size without gaining weight?

[rider7667]

I have lost about 30 pounds of bodyfat over the past 4 months and have also gotten stronger, but my arm size has decreased about 1 inch. My arm looks bigger and better.. but my clothes fit more loose everywhere and it bothers me that I have gained strenght, but lose size. Since I have reached about 8 to 9 percent bodyfat.. I do not want to gain anymore weight... but I want to add that inch back onto my arms. So can muscle size increase without gaining weight? I do not care if I get stronger or not... just bigger

 

[OUS-Rep]

If your bf is at 8-9% then your gonna have to put on 10-15 lbs to gain an inch on your arms unless you lose size somewhere else.

 

[Medic08]

Why dont you want to gain weight?

 

[Magnum]

Muscle "weighs" something, but I've known plenty of guys over the years to increase their muscle size, but gain very little actual weight on the scale. A total circumference of inch inch on the arm is not going to equate to a lot of total body weight on the scale.

 

[JohnnyPro]

I have lost about 30 pounds of bodyfat over the past 4 months and have also gotten stronger, but my arm size has decreased about 1 inch. My arm looks bigger and better.. but my clothes fit more loose everywhere and it bothers me that I have gained strenght, but lose size. Since I have reached about 8 to 9 percent bodyfat.. I do not want to gain anymore weight... but I want to add that inch back onto my arms. So can muscle size increase without gaining weight? I do not care if I get stronger or not... just bigger

You don't want to gain anymore weight.... Do you mean fat? You can gain muscle without putting on fat, but your weight will go up.

 

[Tom]

i don't have any technical explanation regarding body composition but i think you can gain noticable size increase at the same bodyweight.

 

[rider7667]

Well I have been out of shape for so long.. that I have just got down to single digits bodyfat... that I am sooo afraid of gaining any fat back. I am 5ft 9 about 196 right now... I dont mind to gain maybe 5 pounds or so.. but I would rather stay lean and gain slower even if it takes longer. I want to maintain my condition. I see other guys who are much larger than I am at the same height and weight and BF. I dont understand why I look sooo small compared to other BB with similar stats. Could it be that where I have just finished dieting and havent let my body fill back out yet? I have been maintaining for about 3 weeks. I just feel small

 

[kingpeon]

Sure you can, just lose exactly the same amount of fat weight as the muscle weight you gain.

 

[Ehren]

Well I have been out of shape for so long.. that I have just got down to single digits bodyfat... that I am sooo afraid of gaining any fat back. I am 5ft 9 about 196 right now... I dont mind to gain maybe 5 pounds or so.. but I would rather stay lean and gain slower even if it takes longer. I want to maintain my condition. I see other guys who are much larger than I am at the same height and weight and BF. I dont understand why I look sooo small compared to other BB with similar stats. Could it be that where I have just finished dieting and havent let my body fill back out yet? I have been maintaining for about 3 weeks. I just feel small

This is a great question. Ive always wondered how it worked with old time BBers like Danny Padilla and Franco Columbu. The looked massive at like 170 and 198 respectively. Yeah, they were short, but still. It looks like some people can gain size without too much weight, but like a lot of things, I guess it partly comes down to genetics.

At 6'2" I gotta be 220 or more to even look like a BBer a little. If I get down to 205, I look like a runner. Sucks.

 

[muscle_n_blood]

Unless you are a really new novice or coming back from a very long layoff, it's damn nigh impossible to gain muscle on a calorie deficit. If you aren't putting on a little fat, in all probability you aren't maximizing your muscle gains.
Another point: as a bodybuilder, how many pounds you weigh is meaningless until you are trying to make a weight class for a competition.
Here is another point, rather unpopular, but I'll make it anyway. Your bodyfat % is a worthless number. The judges at a bodybuilding contest will never know that exact bodyfat % number and couldn't care less. They just look at you and judge your physique. I've never had a girl at the beach come at me with a set of calipers. If I look great, feel great, and perform well, my bodyfat% is just fine, whatever that number happens to calculate out to be.

 

[big_guns]

Unless you are a really new novice or coming back from a very long layoff, it's damn nigh impossible to gain muscle on a calorie deficit. If you aren't putting on a little fat, in all probability you aren't maximizing your muscle gains.
Another point: as a bodybuilder, how many pounds you weigh is meaningless until you are trying to make a weight class for a competition.
Here is another point, rather unpopular, but I'll make it anyway. Your bodyfat % is a worthless number. The judges at a bodybuilding contest will never know that exact bodyfat % number and couldn't care less. They just look at you and judge your physique. I've never had a girl at the beach come at me with a set of calipers. If I look great, feel great, and perform well, my bodyfat% is just fine, whatever that number happens to calculate out to be.

very good answer bro

 

[vlad878]

u could be 20% bf and gain muscle while losing weight at the same time and end up leaner than before at same weight

 

[betito]

Get lean and then gain muscle and weight keeping lean

 

[eroc613]

The inch you lost on your arms was, most likely, 3/4 in. of fat. But numbers just don't really matter. I know how hard it is not to worry about numbers, but worring about numbers can be your down fail to achieving the look you want.

 

[richiec]

I have lost about 30 pounds of bodyfat over the past 4 months and have also gotten stronger, but my arm size has decreased about 1 inch. My arm looks bigger and better.. but my clothes fit more loose everywhere and it bothers me that I have gained strenght, but lose size. Since I have reached about 8 to 9 percent bodyfat.. I do not want to gain anymore weight... but I want to add that inch back onto my arms. So can muscle size increase without gaining weight? I do not care if I get stronger or not... just bigger

Chances are no, not right now. I've never seen anyone grow on a caloric restricted diet, but that's just me. Your arms look bigger because you don't have as much fat covering your muscle. Please explain your comment, I don't care if I get stronger or not, just bigger". Since I've been hitting it hard and eating better, my clothes fit really loose around the stomach, but tight around the shoulders and arms. I feel that if I'm not getting stronger, I'm probably not going to do much growing.

The inch you lost on your arms was, most likely, 3/4 in. of fat. But numbers just don't really matter. I know how hard it is not to worry about numbers, but worring about numbers can be your down fail to achieving the look you want.

X2.... people worry about numbers until they go mad. Look, they are important to an extent, they shouldn't be your main focus though. I haven't dropped a lb in a month, but like I said, my clothes fit looser in some areas and tighter in others. I've never seen a "muscular guy" that didn't have some weight to him, especially at 5'9

 

[maldorf]

i don't have any technical explanation regarding body composition but i think you can gain noticable size increase at the same bodyweight.

Yes I believe this too. If you are losing bodyfat and at the same time gaining muscle mass this will happen. Your waist measurement will go down and your arms,legs, etc will grow larger. its a great thing too. It happened to me when I had Phil training me on here.

 

[Ness]

Ive been within 10lbs for 3 years now...but you'd never know it...the scale plays games with your head but the mirror is a more accurate device for this sport.

 

[nickman1978]

Ive been within 10lbs for 3 years now...but you'd never know it...the scale plays games with your head but the mirror is a more accurate device for this sport.

true... true...

 

[OUS-Rep]

All that is fine but back to the OP. He says that he is at 8 or 9% BF now so to stay at the same weight and gain an inch on his arms he's gonna have to lose it somewhere else or cut the bf even lower.

 

[Chris288]

I am seeing this as well while loosing bodyfat. Its a good question... how do those guys back in the 70's look soo good at such a lower bodyweight. Take frank zane for example.. he was usually around 195 and his arms were around 19inch I have heard. Then you have Larry Scott.. he was around 200 with 20inch arms. How were those guys soo muscular? Their bodyfat was around 8 to 10% year round?