[sportmom]

Mel, you've sometimes referred to the period of time when a person starts wl as the honeymoon period - like 6 months (i think) or so of time when weight loss can be maximized. I get it in broad concept, but why is this? What is the science or reasoning behind this? Like I said, I get it, but in thinking about it on the treadmill today, I started asking, but isn't a higher metabolism a higher metabolism that gets better and more effective as you get stronger?

Thanks for explaining so that I can get it & contemplate it deeply on my next treadmill session!!!

[Meg]

Fran - Mel probably has a much better explanation but let me give it a shot.

The 'honeymoon period' isn't really referring to weight loss as much as it's referring to muscle gain. It's a well-known phenomenon (though I can't cite you any scientific sources at the moment) that a beginner lifter can pack on lots of muscle and lose fat simultaneously. That's why the first six months of lifting are also known by names like the Golden Time etc. - it's when you're going to see your largest muscle gains in the shortest period of time. And it only happens that one time - the first few months that you're lifting.

After those magical six months or so, muscle gain slows down to a normal pace: maybe (if you're lucky) 4 to 5 pounds a year for a woman with rigorous training and totally 100% clean nutrition. And after those wonderful first months, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to add significant muscle while operating in a calorie deficit. That's why you'll hear bodybuilders talk about mass building or leaning down, one or the other but not both.

So the honeymoon period really isn't about when you're going to lose weight the fastest, though I know you're aware of the connection between muscle and weight loss. It's when you're going to be putting on muscle the fastest. You're right, a faster metabolism is always a faster metabolism and that's the result of the muscle added during the honeymoon period.

I found this to be true myself during the year that I lost weight ... I packed on a ton of muscle for the first six months and then lost some (but not all of it) as I got down to my goal weight. The muscle that I built during my honeymoon period let me end up at goal with eight more pounds of muscle than I started with - a good thing!

I'm not sure that I'm answering your question very well, so we'll let Mel come along and explain it better!

[RobertW]

I think most of us probably can reach 80-90% of our potential for strength within a year or so of training, but achieving our full potential can take decades. Gains come harder and harder the more you progress.

I guess the "honeymoon" period is also a time when pretty much any sort of training method makes you stronger. The more advanced you are the more you have to change things up. You can't just do "three sets of ten reps and add weight" forever and expect to reach your full potential.

[Mel]

Meg and Robert really hit the main points. In the first six months, there are two different things happening which both contribute to strength increases: 1) formation of new neuromuscular connections and 2) increase in the amount of muscle fibers and their thickness. In the first month or so, strength increases are more a function of the first, then increases are a combination of both. Realistically, you can't USE a muscle to it's full potential until your brain has really "hooked it up."

Changing training methods can have really dramatic effects on either strength or hypertrophy. Within some genetic limits, the human body is amazingly plastic. About a year ago I decided that my quads were really too muscular and changed my training style (sorry Meg, no more 300 lb squats ) Instead I do a lot of volume, lots of body weight work, plyometics and some heavy work. Guess what happened? some of the muscle went away, but none of the definition. To make my waist appear to be smaller, I wanted to widen my back and shoulders, which also requires stengthening the opposing chest muscles. So I do low volume heavy work there. More muscle!

Unfortunately, I can't figure out ANYTHING to change the size of my stick-like calves. I've gone heavy low rep, heavy high rep, light high rep...nothing changes. That's why I think some areas are very highly genetically determined. I can do endless reps with the entire stack on the donkey calf machine and nothing happens

Some people feel that if you are eating clean enough and doing enough cardio, you can lose fat and gain muscle at any time- that's the premiss of BFFM and Keith Klein's Get Lean program.

Mel

[sportmom]

Thanks, you guys. That really does help alot. I'm actually glad to hear it's not the fat loss that is compromised. While I do want to build muscle, for me it's getting rid of alot of fat covering to even see the muscle. But I"m looking forward to burning fat and getting a nice present underneath with the WL.