One thing I constantly hear in ads on TV, magazines you name it is how it's all about loosing weight and how you can "loose your first 5lbs FAST!" Well, of course you can loose 5lbs relatively quickly, it's usually all water weight you loose to begin with! Then after that's over it then takes a lot more than what you were doing to actually start loosing anything else and that's when people tend to get discouraged. Well don't!
You may also notice while you undertake a strength training program that you may notice the scale isn't moving, up or down, specifically down because that's usually what one wants to accomplish when going through a fitness program. But you may also be surprised when you suddenly see the scale tipping up more and you start to freak out and wonder how this might be! Well that answer is quite simple especially if your following a healthy lifestyle with the foods you choose to eat (remember we don't call it a diet! Diets are intimidating and temporary both in duration and results) is usually from the result of muscle gain! Muscle tends to weigh more than fat! And muscle comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. No two people are alike, no two people respond the same way to a program and each person is build differently when it comes to each and every system in our body so what may have worked absolutely wonderfully for one person may work differently or not at all so it is best to go with a personalized fitness plan!
There are 3 different types of muscle mass/body types that vary person to person depending mainly on their meal plan and workout program:
Ectomorph-Also known as "lean muscle". Ectomorphs have a light build with small joints and lean muscle and tend to find it harder to gain weight and actual muscle mass. They have a fast metabolism which burns up more calories quicker therefor making it more difficult for them to store and gain as either fat or provide with help for gaining any kind of bigger muscle mass. If you are an ectomorph and are looking to gain more muscle mass it is imortant for you to eat before you go to bed to prevent muscle catebolism during the night while you sleep. Loosing fat is much easier for someone with an ectomorph body so cutting back to lean muscle tends to come quickly and easily.
Mesomorph- Large muscle and natural athletic physique. They have the best body type for bodybuilding because they find it easy to gain and loose weight and are naturally strong which makes for an idea platform for bodybuilding. They respond the best to weight training and results come quickly especially when just starting out. A downside can be that mesomorphs gain fat more easily than an ectomorph so calorie intake must be watched carefully. Best results for a mesomorph body is to combine weight training with cardio.
Endomorph-This body type tends to be very solid and soft and gains fat easily. The body is usally of a smaller build with thick, stronger arms and legs. The muscles are very strong, especially in the upper legs, thigh area, making it easier to naturally perform leg extensions like the squat. Unfortunately, when an endomorph trains and gains weight it's usually fat due to a very slow metabolism. In order to help the fat gaining to be at a minimum it is a must to include cardio along with your weight training program if you fall under this category. Usually supplementation is not needed if you are and endomorph so long as you maintain a high amounts of protein in your meal plan.
These body types are of course not set in stone and combinations are possible, making it more and more impossible for one workout or diet plan to suit everyone looking to accomplish their goals and no matter what type you are, with the right guidance and research you can accomplish your fitness goals so long as you are determined, disciplined and willing to work for something that isn't going to happen with a snap of a finger!
Example:
I would be categorized as closer to an ectomorph. I have a slim frame, high metabolism, lean muscle and I tend to have a very difficult time gaining weight and I mean VERY. People would always like to guess my weight, I'd let them, usually they would guess that me at 5ft 5inches I am around 105-110lbs, they are often shocked when I told them I am 120lbs. It's all in how my body is building it's muscle and how fast my metabolism is. I have a more lean figure and bony structure. It hasn't been until I have recently started a new program of lifting, yes lifting weights. A girl lifting weight?! Yes, but that's for an other blog post! I began lifting heavier and cutting back my cardio and changing up my diet I have managed to gain roughly 5-10 more pounds of lean muscle yet still have my slender physique but I am slowly beginning to see a change in my muscle mass as I keep up the hard work I am doing.
So as you can now see, pound loss or gain means absolutely nothing. What you are gaining or loosing (fat or muscle) is what really matters! So often we rely on our scales to tell us how we are doing physically health wise but it's not always the right way to go. That is what makes starting a workout program very difficult. You can loose all sorts of weight in the beginning and then after some time you can get discouraged by seeing your scale tipping higher and higher. Well as you workout routinely and are following a proper meal program you can start to gain muscle mass because, well that's what happens when you work your body/muscles and then provide them with the correct nutrition you will begin developing muscle growth which in turn causes weight gain and depending on your body type you can stay lean, athletic or thick! Everyone reacts differently to muscle gain but in the end it can weigh about the same!
So stop hovering over your scale! Scales do not account for the proportion of fat to lean tissue. The real health concern is the portion of fat as compared to overall weight. You aren't doing yourself any favors by freaking out over weight loss or gain when in reality it's the fat loss/gain you need to be focusing on if you are looking to loose fat and muscle loss/gain if that is what you wish to achieve. And depending on your body type you may have to take a different route than your workout buddy or the person next to you pumping some iron!
**You can't change your body type and how it's formed and how your systems work so learn to work with them and do what you can with your specific body type and enjoy it!**
Before getting on the scale again consider these points made to help you better understand your fitness goals and establish realistic goals for your body type!
Visual Description Aids
BMI and weight from a scale means nothing!
Fat is your problem, not weight!
Note: Muscle comes in different sizes yet when comparing muscles they can weigh the same yet be different sizes all depending on the body types disgusted earlier. Fat also floats, muscle that weighs the same as a sample of fat will sink while the fat floats but the muscle is smaller, it's all about density, so clearly weight is not the issue when developing good physical health!
