Confusion with work out results

[chappers82]

Hi,

I've recently started a workout regime again after a few years break and I'm confused about the initial results so I'm looking for a bit of advice!

Firstly I'm a 34 year old , 180cm tall and approx 84kg. In the past (when finances and time allowed) I went to the gym and did a mainly cardio based workout with some weights thrown in. These days I'm more strapped for time so wanted to do a more at home based work out so bought a dumbbell set and decided to start doing more weights based exercises at home. I found what appeared to be a good all round workout

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/worko ... rkout.html

and got to work. I've added and omitted a few exercises and do some extra cardio but not much. I also cleaned up eating a bit which to be honest wasn't that bad anyway.

So four weeks down the line I appear to have gained weight, up from 84.5kg to 85+kg. Now I appreciate I'm weight training but I expected to lose a bit of weight first, in the form of fat, and then potentially gain weight in the future due to increased muscle.

I'm being very realistic about all this, I'm not looking to be huge or ripped, just all over fitter and healthier. Visually there are no effects that I can see yet, which I wouldn't expect, physically I'm definitely stronger and more flexible. I'm upping the weight every couple of weeks or as soon as I'm comfortable doing the sets.

I'm just concerned about the early weight gain. I do have a body fat gauge on scales but I'm pretty sure it's not accurate. Would using a tape measure help gauge whether I'm gaining bulk in the 'right' places?

Any tips advice would be helpful! Even suggesting different workouts/exercises etc.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the long post.

Chris

[Boss Man]

Hi Chris good to talk to you.

The listed workout on that site seems fine, but as you say you're upping your lifts and that will affect weight obviously, but potentially in a good way, as long as people don't do what is known as dirty bulking and gain too much fat with their muscle.

In your case if you want to measure what is going on, then get a flexible tape measure and measure around the waist, and the chest under the armpits and the circumference of bicep area when it's flexed, so measure from the peak not the elbow or shoulder ends.

The main one would be waist, because if waist measurement goes up when you measure once a week, your fat levels could well be going up as well, but if waist measurement stays pretty much as is week in week out, then you're probably gaining little to almost no fat.

You don't need to measure persistently ad infinitum, just monitor your body's change once a week for around 8-10 weeks, to gauge change.

If you want to have something more advanced than this, you can have a health professional perform something like pinch tests with metal calipers, or try something like a bod pod test as an example.

[chappers82]

Hi Bossman,

Thanks for the reply. I thought so, when doing cardio based workouts in the past I lost the weight quite quickly and it was definitely noticeable after a month. This is a whole new ball game for me. Next time I'm in town I'll pick up a tape measure

Thanks for the help!