I do not look like I workout as hard as I do.......
Hi Nicole! I am very frustrated with the results – or lack thereof – I am getting from my workouts. I have been training super hard for about a year now but my body fat percentage is higher than it was before I started working out so hard. I just don’t understand how I can workout twice a day – every day and gain weight. I eat a clean diet of about 1200 calories (5'6" 124lbs 39 yrs). I also do tabatas, HIIT and steady state cardio. I know my workouts are excessive and my body could possibly store fat but can I GAIN fat from over training??
YES. IT CAN. Firstly, you are definitely over-training. You do not need to do double-days to see progress! Especially not EVERY day. You need at least one day off for your body to rest. I pretty much never do them. I am not sure if you are lifting or just doing cardio, but I max at one hour of cardio per session/ per day. Secondly, your height and weight, appears that you are at a lower weight for your height so I am not sure what your goal is, unless you have a low Lean Body Mass.(Why I asked if you lifted). Now diet-The absolute LOWEST a female should go is 1,200 per day. I personally “diet” at around 1500. Because you are taller, your Resting Metabolic rate would be higher. Not only are you not eating enough to fuel your basic activities, you are loading up the workouts on top of that, so you are probably burning more than you are eating. SO your body is forced to break down TISSUE since it does not have the calories and glycogen(stored carbohydrate) that it takes to fuel your workouts. That results in a loss of muscle and bone density. Your body will want to survive, so your metabolism will slow down so that it can function on that restricted of a plan. There are many issues that can occur with metabolism. So yes, from what I can tell I would say over-training, metabolic slowdown leading to an inability to build/maintain muscle and holding of fat. I would say give your body a break and just maintain for a while. Firstly, rest. No more than 1 hour of cardio per session with at least one day completely off. No more than 2 hrs on your workout days(providing that is a cardio and a lift). There are many great software programs such as CalorieKing or other free ones that can help with the correct calorie needs. For just a few bucks a month, you can use M&F Trainer to track your food. When you add in all your food, it will tell you if you have all your nutrients, or what you are missing. I hope that helps! :)
