Anyone feel like it's way too easy to lose muscle and lose progress?

[Robertcw3rd]

I'm getting a little discouraged here. I am not able to make consistent gains due to financial instability and food instability.

Despite this I've been a competitive athlete most of my life (mostly of a caloric deficit growing up; family didn't understand nutrition at all).

Now I'm trying to make a career out of a CPT and I'm realizing that I can't really practice what I'm preaching.

I find that if I get tired and skip just one meal I lose a lot of muscle mass overnight. It actually offends me how quickly my body is willing to breakdown muscle if I get lazy with my cooking.

I figure, 'oh well I'm a little short on protein tonight, no big deal I'll eat right tomorrow' and I always do but it'll too late. Wake up at 2am starving with my whole upper body tingling feeling like I'm losing muscle. Of course too tired to get up and fry a chicken breast.

By morning I look in the mirror and I've shrunk. And I'm like 'man, this can't be happening. How am I going to lose this much progress just from skipping one meal?'

I've been eating 2.5-3chicken breasts and 3-4 cups of jasmine rice daily for bulking. With vegetables for micros, and an Algal oil supplement for fats.

My body likes low fat foods and honestly my natural bodyfat is like 25%-30% so I need to watch it or else I gain bodyfat real quick. Literally if I eat a couple eggs the next morning I got more belly fat than the day before and my abs fade slightly. Even eating like 2-3g of fat a day I've got a pouch of fat under my bellybutton that never disappears. In fact, if I skip meals and cut calories I lose all my muscle before that bellyfat starts to fade. And when it does, I start losing muscle real quick every day unless I eat enough to bulk again and that bellyfat pops right back to where it was before cutting every time. Often overnight.

I can't believe how easy it is to gain fat and lose muscle. It's actually offensive given all the time we put into training and all the money we put into food. Pisses me off.

[TolerantLactose]

Learn to nutrition. You've been here long enough to read the stickies.

[rhadam]

I'm getting a little discouraged here. I am not able to make consistent gains due to financial instability and food instability.

Despite this I've been a competitive athlete most of my life (mostly of a caloric deficit growing up; family didn't understand nutrition at all).

Now I'm trying to make a career out of a CPT and I'm realizing that I can't really practice what I'm preaching.

I find that if I get tired and skip just one meal I lose a lot of muscle mass overnight. It actually offends me how quickly my body is willing to breakdown muscle if I get lazy with my cooking.

I figure, 'oh well I'm a little short on protein tonight, no big deal I'll eat right tomorrow' and I always do but it'll too late. Wake up at 2am starving with my whole upper body tingling feeling like I'm losing muscle. Of course too tired to get up and fry a chicken breast.

By morning I look in the mirror and I've shrunk. And I'm like 'man, this can't be happening. How am I going to lose this much progress just from skipping one meal?'

I've been eating 2.5-3chicken breasts and 3-4 cups of jasmine rice daily for bulking. With vegetables for micros, and an Algal oil supplement for fats.

My body likes low fat foods and honestly my natural bodyfat is like 25%-30% so I need to watch it or else I gain bodyfat real quick. Literally if I eat a couple eggs the next morning I got more belly fat than the day before and my abs fade slightly. Even eating like 2-3g of fat a day I've got a pouch of fat under my bellybutton that never disappears. In fact, if I skip meals and cut calories I lose all my muscle before that bellyfat starts to fade. And when it does, I start losing muscle real quick every day unless I eat enough to bulk again and that bellyfat pops right back to where it was before cutting every time. Often overnight.

I can't believe how easy it is to gain fat and lose muscle. It's actually offensive given all the time we put into training and all the money we put into food. Pisses me off.

In no way is this true.

Actually, most of your post is complete nonsense.

[xsquid99]

You don't lose muscle overnight, that's not how it works. In the morning your muscles are flat, glycogen depleted, etc, that's normal for everyone. It in no way means that you lost muscle.

Your entire post is indeed nonsense.

[Robertcw3rd]

You don't lose muscle overnight, that's not how it works. In the morning your muscles are flat, glycogen depleted, etc, that's normal for everyone. It in no way means that you lost muscle.

Your entire post is indeed nonsense.

Well that's good. But that also means I have no idea what my muscle mass is. All I do is look in the mirror and see if things look bigger or smaller.

Though, I have gone a few days without eating in the past and I swear I lose tons of weight. I don't know if it's possible but after three days of no food my face gets very skinny and so does my body. I think I clearly lose muscle size unless I just have no clue at all.

[AdamWW]

Well that's good. But that also means I have no idea what my muscle mass is. All I do is look in the mirror and see if things look bigger or smaller.

Though, I have gone a few days without eating in the past and I swear I lose tons of weight. I don't know if it's possible but after three days of no food my face gets very skinny and so does my body. I think I clearly lose muscle size unless I just have no clue at all.

Nobody knows what their exact muscle mass is.

Also, why the hell are you not eating for days at a time?

You said a lot of nonsense in your first post, gotta say.

[HispanicDredz]

I'm getting a little discouraged here. I am not able to make consistent gains due to financial instability and food instability.

Despite this I've been a competitive athlete most of my life (mostly of a caloric deficit growing up; family didn't understand nutrition at all).

Now I'm trying to make a career out of a CPT and I'm realizing that I can't really practice what I'm preaching.

I find that if I get tired and skip just one meal I lose a lot of muscle mass overnight. It actually offends me how quickly my body is willing to breakdown muscle if I get lazy with my cooking.

I figure, 'oh well I'm a little short on protein tonight, no big deal I'll eat right tomorrow' and I always do but it'll too late. Wake up at 2am starving with my whole upper body tingling feeling like I'm losing muscle. Of course too tired to get up and fry a chicken breast.

By morning I look in the mirror and I've shrunk. And I'm like 'man, this can't be happening. How am I going to lose this much progress just from skipping one meal?'

I've been eating 2.5-3chicken breasts and 3-4 cups of jasmine rice daily for bulking. With vegetables for micros, and an Algal oil supplement for fats.

My body likes low fat foods and honestly my natural bodyfat is like 25%-30% so I need to watch it or else I gain bodyfat real quick. Literally if I eat a couple eggs the next morning I got more belly fat than the day before and my abs fade slightly. Even eating like 2-3g of fat a day I've got a pouch of fat under my bellybutton that never disappears. In fact, if I skip meals and cut calories I lose all my muscle before that bellyfat starts to fade. And when it does, I start losing muscle real quick every day unless I eat enough to bulk again and that bellyfat pops right back to where it was before cutting every time. Often overnight.

I can't believe how easy it is to gain fat and lose muscle. It's actually offensive given all the time we put into training and all the money we put into food. Pisses me off.

Sounds like me. My muscles feel extremely volatile. Like sometimes I go play basketball which is cardio intensive so it burns a lot of calories, then the next day my arms are literally like 1-1.5 inches smaller when I measure them from what they normally are cold flexed(about 16.5 on a good day). Then it takes days for me to eat the right food and lift properly to get myself back to how I was. It makes me angry when I see those lucky fat asses that burn nothing but fat when they play cardio intensive sports like basketball. With me I lose nothing but tricep and deltoid gains.

[Robertcw3rd]

Sounds like me. My muscles feel extremely volatile. Like sometimes I go play basketball which is cardio intensive so it burns a lot of calories, then the next day my arms are literally like 1-1.5 inches smaller when I measure them from what they normally are cold flexed(about 16.5 on a good day). Then it takes days for me to eat the right food and lift properly to get myself back to how I was. It makes me angry when I see those lucky fat asses that burn nothing but fat when they play cardio intensive sports like basketball. With me I lose nothing but tricep and deltoid gains.

Yeah man. I think I experience the same thing. But I'm starting to think maybe it's because all I'm doing is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy?

I can't do heavy weights right out the gate, I start at what feels right for 3 sets of 8 reps, not too heavy, not too easy. Then I do that lift until it gets too easy, then I add 20lbs to the barbell and keep doing that. I just keep adding weight.

I only do compound lifts as well, usually with the barbell. Bench, cleans, Romanian deads, squats, and pullups. And that's about it really, unless I do rows or shrugs. For abs I do bodyweight stuff.

I recently bought a set of rings as well. So I'm going to give a gymnast workout a go. Some of that stuff is intense -- would lobe to be able to iron cross, maltese and planche.

[Robertcw3rd]

Nobody knows what their exact muscle mass is.

Also, why the hell are you not eating for days at a time?

You said a lot of nonsense in your first post, gotta say.

Because I had no money and no food. I was broke. I had to wait for my pay check to go to the grocery store.

[HispanicDredz]

Yeah man. I think I experience the same thing. But I'm starting to think maybe it's because all I'm doing is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy?

I can't do heavy weights right out the gate, I start at what feels right for 3 sets of 8 reps, not too heavy, not too easy. Then I do that lift until it gets too easy, then I add 20lbs to the barbell and keep doing that. I just keep adding weight.

I only do compound lifts as well, usually with the barbell. Bench, cleans, Romanian deads, squats, and pullups. And that's about it really, unless I do rows or shrugs. For abs I do bodyweight stuff.

I recently bought a set of rings as well. So I'm going to give a gymnast workout a go. Some of that stuff is intense -- would lobe to be able to iron cross, maltese and planche.

I only do compound lifts as well, but I utilize a strength building regimen because the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy regimens containing sets of 8-15 **** me up terribly. Like I will look good immediately after one of the “pump” workouts but the next day I will be deflated af from whatever body part I worked. It then takes days to replenish the size. Even if I eat like 4-5k calories. I doubt you are having the problem from doing sarcoplasmic routines, but they may be exacerbating the cause. With me I think it might also be that I have a back and chest dominant physique because my back is always broad and chest always thick and jacked but my arms vary considerably in size sometimes.

[dylanstephens54]

Maybe if you actually researched how to train properly or how to cut or bulk properly you wouldent be having these impossible body transformations


You think you lose alot of muscle mass just over night? What a fkn joke

And you think eating 2 eggs for Becky will magicly slam on fat % I'm a day? Also what a fkn joke

You need to research what you are doing and actually learn to calorie count and train properly

Also are your chicken breasts like 20g each? I'm confused how you eat 2-3 grams of fat a day yet you eat 2.5-3chicken breasts a day

I highly suggest you take a diffrent career path such as mcdonalds or KFC worker

[Robertcw3rd]

Maybe if you actually researched how to train properly or how to cut or bulk properly you wouldent be having these impossible body transformations


You think you lose alot of muscle mass just over night? What a fkn joke

And you think eating 2 eggs for Becky will magicly slam on fat % I'm a day? Also what a fkn joke

You need to research what you are doing and actually learn to calorie count and train properly

Also are your chicken breasts like 20g each? I'm confused how you eat 2-3 grams of fat a day yet you eat 2.5-3chicken breasts a day

I highly suggest you take a diffrent career path such as mcdonalds or KFC worker

Clearly the breasts have a small amount of fat. I buy the Walmart packs for $1.99/pound. They come in 4.5-5lb weights with 6 breasts per pack.

So each is about 0.8lbs. I cook 3 a day so I'm eating about 2.5lbs of chicken breasts per day.

I think each one has 2-3g of fat per 1/4 pound so I'm getting about 30g of fat from the chicken each day.

[rhadam]

Sounds like me. My muscles feel extremely volatile. Like sometimes I go play basketball which is cardio intensive so it burns a lot of calories, then the next day my arms are literally like 1-1.5 inches smaller when I measure them from what they normally are cold flexed(about 16.5 on a good day). Then it takes days for me to eat the right food and lift properly to get myself back to how I was. It makes me angry when I see those lucky fat asses that burn nothing but fat when they play cardio intensive sports like basketball. With me I lose nothing but tricep and deltoid gains.

You aren't losing muscle because you went out and exercised.

[DangerousSource]

You are not losing muscle mass. Stop complaining and figure things out, I was you a year ago now I'm getting leaner overtime. Small baby steps you don't have to overdo things find alternatives that you enjoy. Btw the more you stress yourself out the more cortisol you produce and you know what cortisol does to you right?

[bLinkMoore]

I find that if I get tired and skip just one meal I lose a lot of muscle mass overnight. It actually offends me how quickly my body is willing to breakdown muscle if I get lazy with my cooking.


By morning I look in the mirror and I've shrunk. And I'm like 'man, this can't be happening. How am I going to lose this much progress just from skipping one meal?'

You are correct in saying "man, this can't be happening".

You just look flat in the morning, that's totally normal. I ****ing wish I always looked as full as I do after a night at BWWs, but it's just not how it works.

[bLinkMoore]

With me I lose nothing but tricep and deltoid gains.

No. No, you don't. Please go read the Stickies or the first chapter of any nutrition textbook. Your body is not breaking down muscles as a source of fuel during a game of basketball. That's simply not how any of this works

[Robertcw3rd]

No. No, you don't. Please go read the Stickies or the first chapter of any nutrition textbook. Your body is not breaking down muscles as a source of fuel during a game of basketball. That's simply not how any of this works

I mean, if this isn't how it works then I don't understand how anyone has any clue if they're growing muscle or losing muscle.

To me, there's no difference between being deflated and losing muscle mass. Isn't most growth just filling fibers with fluid anyway?

They just swell up over time, increasing strength right?

I don't think there's anything more to it than that in the first place unless people can actually grow more fibers but I'm very skeptical of that.

[SuffolkPunch]

No, real muscle growth is an increase in fiber size (which has an accompanying increase in fluid - sarcomere). This takes a long time to form - and also takes a long time to go.

In the short term, size differences can be accounted for due to glycogen levels, inflammation from training, the temporary "pump" from training etc.

You need to look more long term OP. Use strength as a way to gauge improvement. Not so much your 1 rep maximum - but more like you 10 RM in a wide range of exercises.

Even that can be 'trained' in the neural sense (short term improvement) so it's not foolproof but short of DEXA, it's the most reliable indication of muscle gain you'll get.

Another common confounding factor is fat loss - people's measurement of their arms shrink but only because they've lost fat on their arms. you have fat all over and probably more than you realise. It can be hard to tell how much muscle you've gained and how much fat you've lost unless you are already lean enough to have muscle definition

[rjoylo2008]

Obviously you're not happy with your body. But I think out of complete frustration you are over exaggerating things a bit. It's true genetics play a role. It's not as easy as looking at someone else in the gym and saying I wanna look like that. Unless if you are chemically modified which tends to give a certain look to most. As far as what the mirror is telling you, we all deal with moments which we look flat or fuller. That's how it works. Some have better blood flow, comming into the gym already looking pumped. Others fade quicker, etc.. I question your training and the consistency of your nutrition here.

[Ghawk21]

If you're trying to pursue a career as a CPT have you not taken at least a basic certification course. Even the crappy weekend ones that get you qualified to work in big box gyms should of cleared some of this basic information up. Please get yourself educated before working as a trainer. Clueless trainers creating crappy routines and misleading their clients is basically what keeps the workout programs forum alive today.

[Robertcw3rd]

No, real muscle growth is an increase in fiber size (which has an accompanying increase in fluid - sarcomere). This takes a long time to form - and also takes a long time to go.

In the short term, size differences can be accounted for due to glycogen levels, inflammation from training, the temporary "pump" from training etc.

You need to look more long term OP. Use strength as a way to gauge improvement. Not so much your 1 rep maximum - but more like you 10 RM in a wide range of exercises.

Even that can be 'trained' in the neural sense (short term improvement) so it's not foolproof but short of DEXA, it's the most reliable indication of muscle gain you'll get.

Another common confounding factor is fat loss - people's measurement of their arms shrink but only because they've lost fat on their arms. you have fat all over and probably more than you realise. It can be hard to tell how much muscle you've gained and how much fat you've lost unless you are already lean enough to have muscle definition

That makes sense. However, if your diet gets interrupted before being able to slowly increase strength no improvement happens.

Last year I went from no lifting and a bench of 90lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps to benching 180lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps over about 8 months. If I could have kept going I think I probably could have moved up to 225lbs over 3-6 more months of the same.

I achieved this by having a consistent stream of food. I also obviously grew in size and was happy with how I looked. However, recently due to a change in finances my food has become unstable. And I'm finding that when I run low on food I lose strength and size and have to go backwards on the weight. As a result, this past year I not only lost all my size from the previous year, I also lost all my strength and am stuck at just benching with 35's on the bar.

I'm not able to go heavier because I can't do the heavier weight and I'm not growing because once every couple of weeks I go a day or two without eating.

I'm jot making this stuff up, so I don't know why people are giving me negative rep.

[Robertcw3rd]

That makes sense. However, if your diet gets interrupted before being able to slowly increase strength no improvement happens.

Last year I went from no lifting and a bench of 90lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps to benching 180lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps over about 8 months. If I could have kept going I think I probably could have moved up to 225lbs over 3-6 more months of the same.

I achieved this by having a consistent stream of food. I also obviously grew in size and was happy with how I looked. However, recently due to a change in finances my food has become unstable. And I'm finding that when I run low on food I lose strength and size and have to go backwards on the weight. As a result, this past year I not only lost all my size from the previous year, I also lost all my strength and am stuck at just benching with 35's on the bar.

I'm not able to go heavier because I can't do the heavier weight and I'm not growing because once every couple of weeks I go a day or two without eating.

I'm jot making this stuff up, so I don't know why people are giving me negative rep.

I'm doing progressive overload with 3 sets of 8 reps. There's nothing wrong with that style of training.

I start out doing barbell stuff with just two 25's. When that starts to feel too light, I take off the 25's and put on 35's. Then I do the 35's. I do my full body workout once every 48 hours with all my compound lifts.

When 35's get to feel too light, I them off and put on 45's. When 45's get too easy I add 10's to the 45's. When that gets too easy I take off the 10's and throw on 25's with the 45's and that's the heaviest I have ever gone before I ran out of food.

Losing my muscle from that point to back at 0 took months. However, if I'm stuck at lighter weights, it's easier to lose muscle and not be able to advance. If I was already a lot bigger then I could afford to lose a little bit and make up for it because I was already much larger.

[bLinkMoore]

That makes sense. However, if your diet gets interrupted before being able to slowly increase strength no improvement happens.

Last year I went from no lifting and a bench of 90lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps to benching 180lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps over about 8 months. If I could have kept going I think I probably could have moved up to 225lbs over 3-6 more months of the same.

I achieved this by having a consistent stream of food. I also obviously grew in size and was happy with how I looked. However, recently due to a change in finances my food has become unstable. And I'm finding that when I run low on food I lose strength and size and have to go backwards on the weight. As a result, this past year I not only lost all my size from the previous year, I also lost all my strength and am stuck at just benching with 35's on the bar.

I'm not able to go heavier because I can't do the heavier weight and I'm not growing because once every couple of weeks I go a day or two without eating.

I'm jot making this stuff up, so I don't know why people are giving me negative rep.

Yes...losing weight because of inconsistent eating habits will result in a loss of strength. Also, initial strength gains are mostly due to your body learning the movement--not actual rapid muscle growth. Doubling your bench press in 8 months is almost entirely the result of that, unfortunately. If we could progress linearly from the day we started lifting, anyone who put in some actual time would be an absolute monster.

I had a friend (kind of--he was really irritating) my freshman year of high school who used to rag on me because he benched more than I did. I benched 165lbs, he benched 185--but I weighed 135lbs, and he weighed 250.

We're giving you negative reps because nothing you're saying really makes sense, and you're kind of refusing to listen to people. You also expressed that you're trying to make a career out of being a CPT, when at this point you should definitely be focusing on building a better base of knowledge so that you can answer the questions of clients who might have these same problems that you're asking about.

[boo99]

That makes sense. However, if your diet gets interrupted before being able to slowly increase strength no improvement happens.

Last year I went from no lifting and a bench of 90lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps to benching 180lbs with 3 sets of 8 reps over about 8 months. If I could have kept going I think I probably could have moved up to 225lbs over 3-6 more months of the same.

I achieved this by having a consistent stream of food. I also obviously grew in size and was happy with how I looked. However, recently due to a change in finances my food has become unstable. And I'm finding that when I run low on food I lose strength and size and have to go backwards on the weight. As a result, this past year I not only lost all my size from the previous year, I also lost all my strength and am stuck at just benching with 35's on the bar.

I'm not able to go heavier because I can't do the heavier weight and I'm not growing because once every couple of weeks I go a day or two without eating.

I'm jot making this stuff up, so I don't know why people are giving me negative rep.

There was much discussed here in this thread so I'll touch on what I bolded

There's other ways to build adaptations then adding weight. All my clients think they can't advance if they can't lift heavy.

Add more sets/reps using same weight you can handle without sacrificing your form

Rest less between sets

Slow down the eccentric phase of the lift

Incorporate more TUT (Time under tension)

Use supersets

[rhadam]

If you're trying to pursue a career as a CPT have you not taken at least a basic certification course. Even the crappy weekend ones that get you qualified to work in big box gyms should of cleared some of this basic information up. Please get yourself educated before working as a trainer. Clueless trainers creating crappy routines and misleading their clients is basically what keeps the workout programs forum alive today.

After i attained my RDN i certified as a CPT just for another cool title, i did NCSF. It was a joke. For the most part CPTs, even NASM CPTs, don't have a solid understanding of physiology or nutrition.

I got the booklet from a friend, didn't study at all, read through once and went down to a testing center and passed with over an 80%.

[bLinkMoore]

After i attained my RDN i certified as a CPT just for another cool title, i did NCSF. It was a joke. For the most part CPTs, even NASM CPTs, don't have a solid understanding of physiology or nutrition.

I got the booklet from a friend, didn't study at all, read through once and went down to a testing center and passed with over an 80%.

I took a PT class at my university through the campus rec center, prepares you for the ACE test.

It was, indeed, a joke. I honestly haven't even taken the test because the whole experience was so ridiculous that it turned me off from the idea of getting certified, since it hardly seemed to mean anything at that point. Paid $200 for the class to make sure I was ready, ended up zoning out for half the lectures and passing with an A.

On a more serious note, would you recommend getting certified, if only for the cool title/resume? And if so, is there one that's more worth it than others?

[RKH4RD]

I only do compound lifts as well, but I utilize a strength building regimen because the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy regimens containing sets of 8-15 **** me up terribly. Like I will look good immediately after one of the “pump” workouts but the next day I will be deflated af from whatever body part I worked. It then takes days to replenish the size. Even if I eat like 4-5k calories. I doubt you are having the problem from doing sarcoplasmic routines, but they may be exacerbating the cause. With me I think it might also be that I have a back and chest dominant physique because my back is always broad and chest always thick and jacked but my arms vary considerably in size sometimes.

How do you manage to eat 4-5k kcals?

If you only do compound lifts it sounds like your back/chest are doing most of the work over your bi's/tri's - I think you would benefit from a dedicated arm day. maybe one week swap a chest workout for an arm day and the next week swap back instead

[RKH4RD]

QUOTE: Why aren't you eating for days at a time?

Because I had no money and no food. I was broke. I had to wait for my pay check to go to the grocery store.

You need to plan better - make some batch meals like spaghetti bolognese/chilli/stew, eat one, freeze 4, do this when you can afford to and try to do another batch before you run out, try to get to a point where you always have a few meals in your freezer.

Buy the largest tub of protein shake you can afford - protein's the most important macronutrient for retaining muscle, just make sure you have your RDA Every Day!!!

Buy some oats too, you can mix some in with yr protein shakes for some slow release carbs