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Could I have gained 100% fat and still made the strength improvements I did?
Apologies if this is the wrong forum. I recently learned from a DEXA scan late Dec’22 contrasted against a scan from the same lab and machine in Dec’21 about exactly a year back that 100% of my weight gain has been fat, so I’m having a tough time reconciling it with my strength improvements. Data details below.
In 2022, I went from ~142 lbs to ~161 lbs as per my standardized weekly averaged first-thing-in-morning weight measurement. Because of the specific dates on which I took DEXA scans and my hydration/food status, the weights in the scans were respectively 147 lbs and 163 lbs, a gain of 16 lbs. The scans also tell me that I gained a little over 16 lbs of fat and lost a few ounces of muscle.
On strength, I went from a 5RM early Jan’22 of about 75-90 lbs for squats and about 130-150 for deadlifts to respectively 215 lbs and 280 lbs by around late Sep to early Oct’22 (after which I plateaued though I continued training). My starting weights last Jan are ranges because I started at 75 and 130 and respectively and probably could’ve done a bit more on day 1 but probably not a lot more, so no matter how I see it, I gained a lot of strength (by my modest standards) and am happy with both the gains and my visibly more muscular legs and arms. I also went on OHP from a very very modest 5RM of 65 lbs to 95 lbs in the second half of 2022 and a couple inches of shoulder circumference gain. I also gained around 1-1.5” around the waist depending on where I measure.
Is it really possible all of my weight gain was fat and my strength improvements entirely newbie neural gains? What are the limits of neural gains with no muscle mass gain? Even accounting for DEXA errors, the scans suggest that no more than a couple pounds of the 16 lbs could be muscle.
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Highly doubtful and likely in the margin of error. Keep getting stronger and don't re-measure until the end of your LP when you are lifting much more. What does your diet look like right now?
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Thanks, are you implying that my muscle gain was likely in the margin of DEXA error? It sure feels like a bummer to see the scan saying that I’m filling up with blubber even though I’m otherwise happy with my progress.
On diet, I aim to hit 120+ gm of protein a day and likely exceed it most days. Calorically, I switched to maintenance in Dec in various parts because I needed a break, wasn’t making strength progress for over two months, and holiday travel. Throughout 2022, I was steadily averaging 1.6 lbs/month of weight gain, so ~180 C surplus/day, a rate I could maintain with my modest appetite.
I was thinking of switching now to hypertrophic training for a couple months with a modest calorie surplus, so more reps at submaximal weights, especially since I can’t seem to break through on strength and seem to be just gaining fat.
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All training that progresses is "hypertrophic." Your issue is that you aren't done progressing. Give it more time and you'll see the needle move. That said were conditions different from test 1 to test 2?
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The only difference was the first scan was a couple hours after lunch and the second was just before lunch, and I was normally hydrated both times.
I’m trying to ignore the scans as some combination of erroneous or not worth caring about, in that it defies everything I have been doing, monitoring, and reading for the last year, and if it does happen to be correct, then I’m just fatter and look better I suppose.
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Hydration can influence it so if you just ate whatever weight that accounted for would go in the fat free compartment. I've never liked DXA for trends. For whatever reason when I gain weight it shows all fat gain and when I lose weight it shows lean mass gain and fat loss. I gave up on buying into it a long time ago. Take measurements and skinfolds (for the thickness measurement) and photos, that's going to be the best for your purposes.
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Thanks, useful to hear you experienced inexplicable DXA results as well.
I am doing measurements as well. I found my own caliper measurements very unreliable and/or the Jackson-Pollock formula not good for me (as in it gives me unbelievably low BF%) but I suppose I could use belly skinfold thickness to monitor statistically significant trends over months. I find width measurement of waist, shoulder, chest, hips, and biceps (but not quads) to be most reliable and reflective of growth trends (but not fat) even over a few weeks. Have been diligently taking photos as well but honestly can’t tell a difference because everything seems to have grown proportionally, so pics look the same, but I feel like I can see the difference in the mirror, the way clothes fit better, and coz some people I didn’t see in a while unprovokedly have asked if I’d been lifting, so those are good signs.
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Don't worry about the fat percentage and use the skinfold purely to see if the skinfold itself is getting thicker or thinner. If they are getting thicker it's clear you are gaining fat in those regions. The percentage is an academic number, how you look and physical measurements are better indicators.
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