Getting bigger before getting smaller? Weight training question

[Puncturedbicycle85]

I have been on a new training regime for the past 6 weeks which involves about 4 40 minutes sessions a week of weight training, doing compound movements like squats, lunges, hip thrusts and deadlifts. I lift relatively heavy (for me). Leg press 80kg, barbell squat 50 kgs, deadlift 40 kgs (without weight of bar). I have definitely noticed some firming up and my shape looks nicer in the gym mirror. I am getting stronger and able to lift heavier weights than when I started. The only cardio I do is walking and this varies from day to day as to how many steps I do.

My problem is that despite firming up, my clothes feel tighter! In particular trousers, across the bum and thighs. I was hoping to shrink 😆 so this isn’t great. Is it a thing to get bigger before you get smaller? Or is this a sign that I’m eating too much and should cut back a little? Should I add in cardio sessions?

I thought I was doing okay on the diet front but I accept that I might have let portions creep up a bit so I can definitely keep an eye on that and make sure it’s in a deficit. Fingers crossed it gets better.

Well done on your training! So this might not be the case for you but I always find that in the first couple of months of anything new, my body retains a lot of water and my clothes feel tighter even though in the morning I get up and feel like my body looks different in the mirror. It eventually goes. It is a particular issue for me with any form of strength training. I’m getting back into it after about a year off (stopped in my third trimester, then I’ve had cancer treatment) and my jeans are tight again 🙄 I know my diet is fine, I’m still walking and cycling and it’s not been long enough to build crazy muscles (nor am I eating the diet for that particular goal) so it must be water again.

Don’t get disheartened 💪🏻

Thank you! That’s really helpful and well done to you too for getting back into it. Yes it could well be water weight and although it feels like I have been doing this for ages, it’s not been long so I will give it until 3 or 4 months and then see how I feel. I am enjoying the training and love the feel of getting stronger.

Hmmmm, I lift really heavy for my age (100k DL, 70 k squat) and over the 5 years I’ve been doing this (I started at 58) I’ve noticed that yes, I’ve had some hypertrophy, but I am also much leaner.

My body looks more muscular during exercise, but in this period, I’ve probably dropped two dress sizes.

Because I’ve also been attending to my diet and dropped around 12 kilos in weight. Muscle takes up less room than fat.

So maybe you need to have a look at what you’re eating. My PT stresses that what and when I eat I’d far more important than how much. I eat a lot, but within a window of 8 hours, and I don’t eat white carbs. It’s lots of vegetables, fish and chicken, yoghurt with fruit, nuts and seeds, avocados, eggs, a bit of cheese.

When I started serious weight training, I tracked calories and macros for about a year and stayed in deficit. Id say now that I probably eat around 1500 calories a day, so I’m still in deficit, but I’ve found a way to keep fuelled and satiated ( I hate feeling hungry).

BTW, you always include the weight of the bar in logging your lifts. Most bars are 20 kilos, although I tend to use the slimmer 15 kilo bar for deadlifts as it’s easier on my grip (I don’t use gloves or straps).

Wow, impressive lifts! That’s amazing, especially considering you started at 58! That’s good to know that the bar is included in the weight too. I’m still a beginner to all of this.

Yeah you’re right that it might lie with my diet. I have started to keep a careful eye on portions now as I think these were creeping up. I do eat carbs but am focusing on getting a good amount of protein for satiety. The 8 hour feeding window sounds good. I’ve had really good results with IF in the past.

I've always been active, although not necessarily athletic. Dance-trained, which gives me strength & flexibility, and stamina and resilience & a pretty good understanding & tolerance of muscular exertion & discomfort. (I love the feel of DOMS - it means I've worked something really hard!)

Then it was aerobics & step classes that got me into the gym in the 1980s, so switching to lifting heavy & doing metcon/HIIT cardio wasn't that much of a shift..