Question of the Day

The answer is, "Yes and no." You say, there he goes again ... but let me explain!


The question is a loaded question because of what it addresses.

Whether or not you gain inches is a combination of your training and your nutrition.

The fact is, a lot can happen when you begin weight training.

There are really only three things that might happen to your body when you start a weight training program.

If you are consuming fewer calories than you burn, you will drop weight.

If you are consuming more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.

If you are consuming a balance of calories, you will remain the same weight.

Consider the first example: losing weight. If you are losing weight, guess what? You will lose inches. There is no doubt about it because by definition, your body is in a catabolic state: it must, over the course of the day, expend more than it can store.

Weight training is unique in that it can help "partition" where you lose. For example, if you are a beginner to weight training, it is true you might stand to gain muscle despite the fact you are losing weight. This is great because it means you will raise your metabolism and build stronger bones and reap many of the benefits adding muscle can provide.

But if you are doing it right, you will both gain AND lose inches. You might GAIN inches on your arms or legs or calf muscles. You will most certainly lose inches on your waist and hips. So overall you will have to lose inches because you are losing weight ... but if you are training well, the inches you gain in the right places (for example, your chest and arms) means losing MORE inches from the best places (i.e. love handles, saddle bags, and the tummy). So it's not a bad thing!

If you are gaining weight, you will also most certainly gain some inches from muscle. But unfortunately, the body can only build so much muscle. I know you've read those claims about pounds and pounds every week but that is unfortunately marketing at its best. Years of research and firsthand experience training clients has made it clear that natural athletes will be lucky to gain a few pounds of muscle every month ... some elite athletes are lucky to gain a few pounds of muscle over the course of an entire year!

So once you've gained your muscle, the rest of the calories go to fat. So, you are stuck with nice arms ... but a bigger belly to boot.

The bottom line is that if you are eating fewer calories than you burn, weight training physically cannot cause you to suddenly gain weight - that would be against the laws of thermodynamics. Instead, you may gain some inches where you don't have much fat underneath the skin (typically the chest and upper arms) but you will most likely lose inches where there is more fat underneath the skin (the belly, love handles, and for women, the saddle bags).

To really understand just how weight training can impact your success, read The Progress Pinch.

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