Can't gain muscle mass due to overdoing cardio exercises. Need advice

R

rdeza

0
I am 31yrs old female, 161cm in height and 51.4kg in weight. My appearance is fairly thin and would love to gain more muscles to look strong and fit. Been hitting strength training machines at the gym for 2 months now but seeing very little progress. I try to eat as clean as possible, at least during breakfast and dinner and I weigh myself daily.

My water level dropped from around 60% to 57.1%, my muscle mass dropped from 39.8kg to 37.4kg and my body fat percentage increased from 18-19% to 21-23%. I don't know what is happening to me.

I conduct 6 zumba classes a week - 4 mornings (60 mins each session) and 2 evenings (45 mins each session), hit the gym at least 4 times a week (45-60 mins session). I am also a dancer so I spent most nights practicing at the studio after my gym session.

My goal is to gain more muscles but it seems like my lifestyle is stopping me from achieving my goal. I'm here to ask for advices on how do I encounter this and still manage to achieve my goal.

Thank you in advance =)
 
If you are doing a lot of cardio and dance, that is not going to stop you gaining muscle just make it slower.
Rules on muscle gain you will need to adhere to as rigidly as you can hit it hard, hit it fast, leave it alone.
Hit it hard. Rep range 10 down to 6 minimum, heavy as you can safely for those reps.
Hit it fast. Short session 3 or 4 exercises each, not overdoing one body part.
Leave it alone. Try to ensure you aren't hitting the same things every day. Don't do a bench press session followed by arms where prime mover on many of both will have been tricep. Growth follows recovery so you have to fully recover.

Diet, if you are doing all that and not eating relatively well I will be surprised but not shocked. Basically eat a bit more to fuel the growth and additional strain of this type of training.
 
Adding to Oldie's post, body fat % measurements are often unreliable -- the most common devices and protocols tend to be out by +4%. Differing levels of hydration at the time of testing will also throw things out of whack.

Make sure you're eating right for your goals. You have a high amount of energy output, so you need plenty of energy input.
 
I'll more or less just be agreeing to what's been said above. The fact that you can't gain weight while doing a lot of cardio training is a load of craw. I'm a long-distance runner and I run vigourously, yet I still gain weight, albeit slowly. All it's about is your diet and whether or not you're meeting your energy output with input. In other words, finding the balance where you're eating enough to match (and then exceed to gain weight) what you're burning throughout the day.
 
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