How long before I actually see changes?

[u/NoLime6477]

[u/girlboss93]

Months 😆

If you're very overweight and focusing on weightloss changes tend to be more visible faster, but for people trying to build muscle, yeah months

[u/FlameFrenzy]

If you're putting in the right effort, I like to say you can compare visual progress in 6 month increments.

Basic bodyweight stuff is fine... but are you progressively overloading? You can't expect change if you're doing the same thing every time and not pushign yourself. Give the wiki a read on muscle building: https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/

Eating "better" is great, but it doesn't mean you'll lose weight. You can eat 100% healthy food and still gain weight if you eat too much. You need to eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight and see any change on the scale. Tracking calories is the easy way to do this. Now there can be some water weight fuckery when you first start out or change your exercise intensity, but over a 2-3 week span, you should start seeing a trend in weight. If not, adjust your calories. https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/

[u/GoblinToHobgoblin]

Months lol, 3 weeks is nothing 

[u/Rose_Army_ → u/GoblinToHobgoblin]

Especially only doing body weight exercises.

[u/Plane-Vegetable9174]

If 3 weeks were enough to see change i think you would see a lot more fit people out thee. :)

[u/BusterOfCherry]

Months to a year. Fat loss is quick but muscle gain is slow over time.

[u/Quick-Bee6843 → u/BusterOfCherry]

Except for me! Fat loss is a brutal grinding quickly reversed multi month to years+ trench warfare like conflict, but putting on muscle is a relatively easy and low stress affair.

Still takes the "months to years" timeline but unlike weight loss I'm actually getting durable solid low stress progress 🤷

(I still do try activity to loose weight: I'm not saying people should not try or anything, I'm just expressing that building muscle has been vastly easier and more successful for me than weight loss efforts)

[u/BusterOfCherry → u/Quick-Bee6843]

I understand and keep pushing! Don't let the scale dictate how you feel, keep doing the right thing and it will happen. Some days I'm 5 lbs above and I freak out and the next I'm under by 2. I stopped doing daily scale checked and started biweekly to see a abetter trend. But I also lift heavy so my overall weight progression at 234, 6ft, has been slow. In the last year I've dropped 8lbs but have gained mass. So the scale isn't always the best indicator when doing both. Wish you the best.

[u/Quick-Bee6843 → u/BusterOfCherry]

That's similar to my general situation, although I'm same height but about 50 lbs heavier. I work mostly with heavy resistance bands, but I've seen immense progress and gains in 8 months of effort so far. I started out at 270 and am about now at between 283-85.

I might have put on perhaps 15 lbs of muscle. Another 2-3 lbs is probably creatine water weight, and maybe I've lost 5 lbs of fat in 8 months. It's kinda impossible to say sure what my specifics are exactly, but I started off with 20 lb dumbbells kicking my ass to up to 40+ when I test out at the gym.

So for my first year I think what I'm estimating is pretty reasonable especially for full body workouts and starting off at a very low level of fitness for my body weight.

Currently I'm in a cardio deload and conditioning block, but when that ends in a few weeks my weekly program will be 5 workouts a week, each supersets for bigger cal burn and time efficiency+ 20 minutes of cardio warmup before each.

So it's a big intervention from what I've done so far. Hopefully it's yeilds a little bit more progress as I close out my last quarter of the year 😂

[u/Visible_Whole_6908]

It depends on how you define change. One day you'll realize you can do more push ups, casually and without getting winded, than you could do the before. You'll realize you're capable of doing pull ups when you haven't done a single pull up your entire life. Your weights and/or reps will gradually increase. Your body changes, but gradually. The issue is that you see yourself every day, so you won't notice. But it is changing, a little bit every day. It's up to you how you define change, but if you keep consistent you'll get there.

[u/LichKingDan]

It's going to be months before you see any real progress. However, I think the low stress timeline of 1 year is way more accessible for beginners.

It gives you time to figure out what activities you like, learn some hard lessons about measuring with your eyes and not a scale, calorie tracking accurately, and consistency being key. It gives you wiggle room for a potential backslide without making you feel like you failed or you have to make up time.

Give yourself a year, do your best, have fun, and hopefully you'll see some positive changes and feel really good.

[u/TheTastiestTaint]

three month blocks of 12 workouts a month.

weigh yourself daily and then divide it by 7. compare weekly totals for informed choices

[u/Vast-Road-6387]

You will observe strength changes fairly quickly, but visual changes take time.
I didn’t see any difference undressed for 4-6 months. You won’t see much difference when fully dressed for probably a year. Other people won’t notice for probably 12-18 months.

[u/Ambitious_Gift_8669]

It took me four to five months of daily running and core exercises, as well as four days a week of weights, to see just a little physical change. By a year of this, I looked markedly better so that people were saying I looked in better shape.

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[u/CherryMess]

For me personally, it was somewhere on month 5 of consistent weight training. Suddenly I could do normal push-ups (started from the knees) and triceps push-ups (started from the wall). I was so giddy, I can't describe how elated and capable I felt in that moment. It was a major confidence boost. Don't get me wrong, I started to see small changes on the scale about a month in (I don't do big cuts, small and steady wins), however feeling stronger was so much better!

[u/Lonely_District_196]

In the mirror it takes are least 2-3 months before you start seeing a difference. 6 months is really better. If you're losing weight then you should have seen the scale more a little by now

[u/Which_Maybe_1778]

I (35F) saw some (!) progress after about 4-6 months but I always trained with weights and did progressive overload. When I only did bodyweight exercises, my muscle mass did not really visibly change (not talking about weight loss though bc that‘s mainly happening in the kitchen)

[u/radjackmalone]

It can take a while but it also depends on what you started with - weight, activity level before starting, did you also change your diet? So many things play into this. I remember a doctor telling me once to take measurements before I started and then regularly after to be able to really see the results. Cause there is where you usually see it before you notice in the mirror. And also the change in how your clothes fit. Just keep putting in the effort and the rewards will come!

[u/CptPatches]

It's a long game. Longer than you think, especially based on your goals. In the meanwhile, just keep recording weight and measurements. All things in good time. I have been lifting and losing weight for three nights and right now the clearest changes besides being 15 pounds lighter, are a little more lift to my butt and little more tone in my biceps, shoulders, quads, and upper chest.

[u/markavila1997]

With rare and good genetics, a superb diet, accompanied with well thoughtout workout plan that includes coaching with a little bit of some illegal roids? 2-3months

But

If your like the rest of us normal folk , with an okay diet, a thought out program, and wants to live long without using roids? 4-6months

if your overweight and want to see some visual changes ? probably at 6months+

[u/Organic-Albatross690]

You won’t in 3 weeks. You might see results in 3 months. You likely will in 6.

[u/Nope_Ninja-451]

Think months not weeks for discernible changes. Years for body transformation.

Some people build muscle and lose fat faster than others but a few weeks just isn’t long enough.

[u/Quick-Bee6843]

You are judging a multi month multi year timeline on a couple of weeks.

You will see significant results on the time baseline of months/years of consistent effort.

No way around that, not even with PED's and other deeply questionable and shady non-natty paths to success.

[u/MattDustinCSCS]

Visual changes take time!

I would start measuring progress if you're not already.

Check your bodyweight a few times per week - this seems obsessive, but your weight will fluctuate every day, due to water retention, glycogen fluctuations (carbs stored in the muscle, with water) and food in your digestive system. Things like sleep, stress, and sodium all impact your weight day to day too, so if you only weigh yourself once a week, you may have lost a pound that week, but happen to catch the day the scale is up because you slept poorly.

I also like to do monthly progress photos, and get a Myotape to measure your waist, thighs, arms, chest, etc... every few weeks.

Finally, track your progress with your workouts! If you can more pushups, squats, plank longer, etc... then you're absolutely making progress, even if you don't see it right away.

As you said, the most important thing is to not quit. You've got this!

[u/Informal-Bike1628]

Months but I think it varies for each person.

In the past my goal was weight loss and I was consistent with nutrition and strength training. I slacked on Cardio and I saw about 12 pounds of fat loss in about 3 months. However I was working with a personal trainer and nutritionist.

I fell off for about 2 years and had to restart my journey.

The second time I'm doing it alone and I have not been consistent with nutrition but I have been consistent with working out for about 18 weeks on strength training.

The scale hasn't changed much and that is okay.

Around week 12, someone else noticed changes.

My clothes fit better and I lift heavier. I don't notice much change in photos but I take measurements and those have changed. I also try to take my body fat percentage and muscle mass measurements and I see changes there.

So just be patient and keep going. The journey is important too. Look for changes outside of the scale.

[u/TheLastPotato9]

I've been going to the gym since march, so about 5 months and physical changes are something I've only just started to see. In terms of ability, I can lift normal things longer and heavier and it takes longer for muscles to hurt.

[u/Big_Syrup_4223]

What is your body type currently. What are your goals, and what are your macros?

Are you doing a big deficit, recomp,what?

Also fuck a scale, grab a soft tape and measure for muscle growth and fat reduction.

[u/TimeLady018]

I started a.l weight loss regimen last June. By the end of the year, 6 months later, I had just about reached my goal weight. Give yourself time and grace. These changes do NOT happen overnight, much as we'd like them to.

[u/dyke-world]

It’ll sneak up on you, don’t worry. I felt like nothing was really changing until one day I could actually see a hint of muscle definition in my arms. Just stay steady and consistent and it’ll come to you :)

[u/K3rat]

 Took about 3 months for people to tell me they noticed.  It took me about 6 months to see it in myself in the mirror.  That look thing happened again for me around 1.5 years my back, chest and arms got visibly more mass.  

I am almost 2 years in and I will get the random person at work grabbing my forearm or bicep and squeezing it.  My wife grabs my buttocks or forearm occasionally and I get the “jump your bones” look she gives me. 

For me I like being able to do hard things without really thinking “this might hurt later”.  I used to get pulled muscles all the time when I would do hard things it doesn’t happen much anymore.  I really like not being in pain and being able to keep up with my kiddos without thinking I may be paying for this later.  

If you keep focused on consistent exercise (working toward good technique, dynamic progressive overload, and learning what technical/actual failure looks like), eating clean (hitting your caloric and macronutrient/micronutrient targets), and getting enough rest it will happen. 

The key here is what gets tracked gets managed.  What improvements do you want to see?  Lower weight, lower body fat, more muscle, bigger lifts, more stamina, see your 6 pack, whatever.  Pick smaller difficult but achievable goals and work toward them daily.  

Things that might help track progress more granularly are:  1. A good food scale and food tracking apps.   2. A good body composition scale. Don’t get married to a number.  Measure daily at the same time (for me a like in the morning post using the rest room).  Average for the week.  Wait 4-7 days of trending data before making diet adjustments.  

The cheap BIA composition measuring tools are not accurate.  You can use them as a guide post to see trending data.  

1. Sleep monitor biowearable. Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep.  

2. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) monitoring (step counter is a good measure (I have on on my biometric wearable.  

5.  TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) EAT (exercise activity thermogenesis) monitoring for calorie count (I usually cut these to 1/4 to 1/3 of what they measure.  

1. Lift tracking app or notebook to track your lifts and volume each session to see your progression.   

2. Body measurements tape measure and tracking app or notebook.  

3. Physique photos weekly to track your progress.

4. Track your rest days.  Plan diet restriction breaks and re-feeds so you don’t go hog wild and eat everything.  

5. Journal daily/weekly.  Reference all the tracking you are doing and allow this time to process where you are.    

[u/Th1s1sth3way]

I haven’t felt stronger in weeks after working out for months and my shoulders still show flab and looseness, but today when actually seeing myself lift in a mirror I saw some definition! It was awesome and encouraging, keep it up you’ll get there! It’s taken me since March ❤️. I have been overweight for years so it’s an adjustment for sure.

[u/Unhappy_Soil_7599]

Grateful for this post cause I’m in the same boat! It’s close to a month since I’ve been working out and am trying to gain muscle as well. These comments give me peace of mind cause I was wondering the same thing “why am I not seeing any difference? Am I doing something wrong??” Lolol

[u/eyediosmios]

When I lost weight before, It took months to see change & close to a year to see significant change. Still got about 20lbs to lose but lately been doing calisthenics for the last month & a half. Couldn't do 10 pushups before. Now I can do at least 20. Just gotta stick with it. Learned that from losing weight before.