Is it Possible to Gain 5 pounds of Muscle in a Week?

Thank you Yanty for your question this week…

“My calculations say ive gaenid 5 pounds of muscle?hey!.so ive been measuring my body fat every week, in the mornings along with my weight, waist circumference, lean mass and body fat in pounds. so my results seem to say that ive gained 5lbs of lean mass (muscle) in about a week. my body fat is still the same; 9.5% (aim to get down to about 6%). i previously weighed 11.2 now im 11.7. so if my body fat is still 9.5% (about 15lbs of fat) and my lean mass and weight have gone up that’s muscle right?. im pretty sure im right but seems amazing that ive gained 5lbs of muscle. is it really possible ?!?!?!?”

Yes it is possible to gain 5 lbs of lean tissue in a week. When you first start a workout program, especially a weight training program, your body will react by retaining more water. This happens because your body is preparing for exercise by storing more energy in fast twitch muscle fiber as ATP. Every molecule of that newly stored energy (ATP) is attached to two water molecules. Your muscles are like a sponge now and it reflects into lean tissue gain. Remember, lean tissue includes everything that is not fat, and water retention depends on many factors including activity level.