SeattleRider57

As a previous strength athlete in my teens and 20's(football), it took a lot of time and energy to go from ~305lbs to my adult weight of ~195lbs(I'm 6'3.5 BTW). The problem is that I really stopped doing weight training and got overly focused on cycling. There are some benefits for sure, but all of the evidence out there supports consistent strength training as essential to long term health and so I'm now strength training consistently and I have reduced my cycling a little bit. In the 2 months+ I've been really focused on strength training 2-4x a week, my weight has crept up - floating between 200-205. I've also focused on increasing my protein intake on a per-meal basis, so I expect that I've probably added at least 2-3lbs of muscle. I don't have a specific goal, other than to increase my metabolism a bit, eventually decrease bodyfat a little, gain some muscle and strength, and have a better balance between strength and cardio. My resting HR is still really low, but having my pants be a little more snug is messing with me. The point of all of this is - for anyone else who has switched up their training to be better balanced and seen their weight creep up, how do you get over the mental hurdle of 'Oh ($%(#*$ - my weight is getting too high!'

Iride01 

If you increase muscle, you are going to increase weight. Maybe someone at the gym is confusing you that more muscle is the thing. You don't need more muscle to do resistance type exercises and stuff in the gym. You probably had plenty of muscle already and it just hadn't gotten toned up yet.

wolfchild

You don't gain weight from lifting weights, you gain weight from eating a lot and being in caloric surplus...Strength training is very important so just continue to do it and if you want to loose weight then modify and make changes to your diet. Another thing you could do is to change the style and frequency of your workouts and focus more on endurance and less on lifting ..Gaining muscle is a good thing, enjoy it while you can because when you get older you will loose a lot of it. Endurance and weight training complement each other perfectly, you just need to decide which of them is more of a priority and focuus more on what is important to you and keep doing both.

Carbonfiberboy 

Technically it's called body recomposition, google. You're supposed to lose fat and gain muscle, not changing weight if you like your current weight. Yes, it's all about diet. Been there, done that, worked.

bruce19

I'm not sure I can answer your question. I was also a football player. A Div 2 college QB back in the mid-60's. I was once measured at 5'11" and 190 lbs. But, really my natural dimensions were more like 5' 10 1/2" and 175 lbs. Weight training got me to that 190 lbs. Over the years I am down to 5' 9" ( on a tall day) and 185 lbs. This due to age (77) and a cycling crash that left me with a broken neck and a C1 & C2 fusion. These days I am riding 15 miles 3 days a week at a TT pace which is more my "temperament" than hours in the saddle. I also go to the gym 4 days a week to work my upper body during cycling season and full body during the winter. On a course with about 50-60 ft of elevation per mile I'm flirting with 16 mph. In the gym I'm doing concentration curls with 25 lbs each arm at 3 sets of 10 reps, for example. To be sure, when I'm lifting my weight goes up a bit. I watch my calorie intake but it's a fine line between eating to lose weight and having enough in the tank to ride well. I am down to looking at myself in the mirror and assessing how I feel on the bike. It's a highly individual thing. I'm feeling pretty good about where I am at age 77. I hope you get settled in and feel good about where you are. One thing I will pass on to you. As a former athlete at a good level I have a tendency to always challenge myself to be faster. That's OK until it keeps you from enjoying the ride. I'm telling myself that cycling is a metaphor for life.