Can weights cause weight gain?

[sugar_and_spice]

I've been doing weights of late to tone up my arms. However, I read online on certain websites that using weights can cause weight gain?

How true is this?

Also, what other exercises can I do to tone up my arms?

[alphamale]

because muscle weighs more than the fat it displaces

[Zeta4PhiSius]

It's a good kind of weight - because the more muscle you have, the higher the rate of your metabolism. AlphaMale is right - muscle weighs more than fat because it has a higher density than the fat that it replaces, so it's only natural to see some weight gain.

 

Instead, don't focus on weight as the be-all end-all factor in gaining a healthy body. Use body fat calipers in order to gauge the percentage of body fat that you have in addition to your weight. If your weight stays the same, but your body fat percentage continues to decrease, then you're still on the right track. If your weight increases, but your body fat continues to decline, then you still have a positive scenario- you're just building more muscle. If your weight increases, and your body fat increases, well, then that's not an ideal situation but you're still building muscle.

 

Don't be afraid of building muscle. As a woman, you'll put muscle on at a much lesser rate than men because you lack one thing - testosterone. Weight lifting won't cause any unwanted muscle or cause you to look like the women body builders - in fact, weight lifting can result in an improved look with good tone of your existing muscles (if that's what you're after).

 

So lift away!

[temple]

^ What Zeta said

 

Building muscle is fine - I would also recommend doing exercises that use your own body strength against you (like push-ups). You don't need to spend a lot of money at the gym to be in shape. A lot of the best exercise equipment can be found around the house

[sugar_and_spice]

thanks so much.

I have also been doing push-ups but I don't go to the gym.

[on edge]

toning...that word makes me laugh. you cannot tone a muscle.

[GrayClouds]

you cannot tone a muscle.

 

But you can tune a fish.

[xpaperxcutx]

The BMI is outdated nowadays. It's a misconception that a person's weight is an indicator of health. Take bodybuilders, they weigh more but their body fat is lower than an average person's.

 

Like AlphaMale said, muscles weighs more than fat. But muscles helps burn fat. So even if you weigh more ( but you look very toned and slim) then most likely your muscles are the cause of the extra weight.

 

Also, women are unlikely to gain more muscles than men. Unless you take steroids, you will never gain muscles like Arnold. But you will gain some muscles that will tone and make you look like Jillian Michaels ( who by the way is my idol).

[Star Gazer]

I don't even know what I weigh anymore. I'm all about the tape measure.