Sassy, daisy or anyone !!! I'm confused

[buffchic69]

Hello.

Ok my main goal now is to build as much muscle as I can. but I defenitely also want the look of being able to see the lines & cuts of my muscles.

if I focus on hard traing, eating well, I know I'll gain muscle but will I also gain fat on top of the muscle that I won't be able to see ?

and then do I have to change things around & go on a cutting diet to actually see the muscle I've built ?

and how will I know when Iv'e gained enough muscle if I can't see it under the fat that will come from the extra food intake ?

Or is this untrue ? Sorry to babble but I am kinda new to all this !!!

But, have become addicted to weight training !!!

Thanks !!!

 

[velvett]

Hello.

Ok my main goal now is to build as much muscle as I can. but I defenitely also want the look of being able to see the lines & cuts of my muscles.

if I focus on hard traing, eating well, I know I'll gain muscle but will I also gain fat on top of the muscle that I won't be able to see ? You will be larger, harder and shaped differently but you will not see muscle definition - you have to diet off the fat after to see the definition you desire.

and then do I have to change things around & go on a cutting diet to actually see the muscle I've built ? Yes

and how will I know when Iv'e gained enough muscle if I can't see it under the fat that will come from the extra food intake ? Weight gain, body fat measurements and some visible body composition changes

Or is this untrue ? Sorry to babble but I am kinda new to all this !!!

But, have become addicted to weight training !!! Never a bad thing, congrats!

Thanks !!!

 

[Sassy69]

Well, basically what Vel said. It is extremely hard to build muscle but not gain some fat with it. You have to eat to really gain size in the muscles & also to have the energy to train w/ the intensity it takes to break down, then build up the muscle. Normally if you were preparing for a competition with a goal of building up more muscle, you would do a bulking cycle (and I mean w/ food, not with steroids or other chemical enhancers) and train like crazy, not do a lot of cardio. You would start building more muscle and you would probably feel a little "thicker" as well. Depending on the amount of muscle you are looking to build and also tweak your training to achieve those goals, you would start this 6-12 months out. Then you would start your cutting. If you competed over more than 1 year, you would be looking to not fluctuate more than say 15 lbs between "season" and "offseason" because it can be very hard (and very hard on your body) to lose a lot of weight several times.

So getting back to your goals - I think somewhere I read that you wanted to stack on as much muscle as possible by December-ish? (If this isn't correct, please disregard ...) That's like 6-8 weeks away. I wouldn't go into a bulking cycle because you will be nice & "thick" by then. And it takes at least 3 weeks just to see "any" results. I don't know where you are as far as bodyfat, but you can also develop those cuts by, well, cutting. If you work on the bodyfat, then you can create the appearance of muscle / enhance the muscle you have. And then while you are doing the cutting diet, just keep training with intensity. The reality is no matter how you train (in general), it is the DIET that determines if you are cutting or building.