Gaining muscle while in calorie deficit?

Juliarosemary66

Hi! I hope I'm not going to sound stupid but I've read on several posts that you cannot gain muscle while in calorie deficit. Is this correct? I am eating at calorie deficit and have really increased my exercise; both cardio and strength training over the past 2 months. My weight hasn't dropped much but I've lost inches so I just presumed I was gaining muscle which was masking my weight loss. Also I am not far from weight goal.

malibu927

No, you cannot. What are your stats? If you don't have much to lose, it can take some time.

lorib642

The above poster is correct in your case. You are probably too lean. It is hard to gain muscle


You can, you have to have a few things all going for you, it is like having all the stars lined up. Someone will come along and explain it.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/362906-can-you-build-muscle-on-a-calorie-deficit/

CharlieBeansmomTracey

yes, you can I have and continue to do so but its a lot slower gain than if you were eating at a surplus. genetics also play a large part in how much muscle you gain and how quickly.

Juliarosemary66

I've got about 7lbs to go, mostly tummy area. I've lost about 58+ lbs, slowly over the last 3 1/2 years, exercising for the most part. What's puzzling me is that I've lost an inch off my waist, hips and thighs in the last few weeks (which I am pleased about) but only about 1llb lost in the same time frame.

lorib642

Congratulations 58lbs is wonderful. I am just starting and I would like to lose about that much. I wish I had some answers for you.

malibu927

With 7 pounds to go, half a pound per week is about the most you can expect to lose. You have to make sure you're accurately logging and weighing EVERYTHING, as you don't have much room for error. Congratulations on making it this far!

fivethreeone

Realistically speaking, no. In a few studies a very minor amount of muscle gain has been observed in very obese people with high protein intake and a progressive overload strength training regimen, but again, even in such specific circumstances it is a very minor amount and is only for a short time.

The reason you cannot gain muscle in a deficit is simple: to synthesize new muscle growth, your body needs something to make it from, and with a calorie deficit you are actually eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current status, so there's nothing left over for creating new muscle.

To create muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus: eating more than your maintenance, so your body has extra energy with which it can create new muscle.

Two main reasons people think they are building muscle when in a deficit: they can see muscle appearing or they are retaining water so their scale weight is not decreasing. water retention is often due to a new exercise program. Water retention only lasts a few days or weeks. It goes away and is just an indication that your muscles are not used to exercise.

Seeing new muscles happens as you lose the fat over the muscle you currently have and it becomes more visible, but that is not an actual muscle gain. If you were gaining muscle mass, your measurements would go up, not down.

Finally, there's a difference between gaining strength and gaining muscle. Gaining strength is possible in a deficit because the muscle you currently have can be trained and become stronger even though your measurements and weight stay the same or decrease. Gaining actual muscle requires an actual measurable mass gain.

Juliarosemary66

Thank you for your replies. I don't feel worried about the last slowness of weight loss as i feel so fit! Just puzzled about this whole calorie deficit/ muscle gain thing. I will check out the suggested link. I've got to sleep now as I'm in the UK so will check in again!

lorib642

fivethreeone wrote: »

Realistically speaking, no. In a few studies a very minor amount of muscle gain has been observed in very obese people with high protein intake and a progressive overload strength training regimen, but again, even in such specific circumstances it is a very minor amount and is only for a short time.

The reason you cannot gain muscle in a deficit is simple: to synthesize new muscle growth, your body needs something to make it from, and with a calorie deficit you are actually eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current status, so there's nothing left over for creating new muscle.

To create muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus: eating more than your maintenance, so your body has extra energy with which it can create new muscle.

Two main reasons people think they are building muscle when in a deficit: they can see muscle appearing or they are retaining water so their scale weight is not decreasing. water retention is often due to a new exercise program. Water retention only lasts a few days or weeks. It goes away and is just an indication that your muscles are not used to exercise.

Seeing new muscles happens as you lose the fat over the muscle you currently have and it becomes more visible, but that is not an actual muscle gain. If you were gaining muscle mass, your measurements would go up, not down.

Finally, there's a difference between gaining strength and gaining muscle. Gaining strength is possible in a deficit because the muscle you currently have can be trained and become stronger even though your measurements and weight stay the same or decrease. Gaining actual muscle requires an actual measurable mass gain.

^^^^This

This is a much better explanation than the link I posted.

indianwin2001

My most recent BF% test,I lost 7 pounds total from my last BF test and lost 6 lbs of fat and 1 lb of muscle. I was very happy with that. I lift 5 or 6 days a week --heavy-- I don't think from my experience that you can actually Gain muscle while losing weight but I feel you can minimize the damage by lifting as heavy as you can and eating tons of protein.

kelly_e_montana

I've gained approximately 14 pounds of muscle in the last year while staying the same weight and losing fat. I follow a recomp program called Eat to Perform. I have never followed a bulk and cut cycle and I ate at maintenance. January 2014 October 2014...same weight, no bulk/cut

You can't see my quads in these pics but my jeans have changed so that what was tight in the waist in January is now loose and the thigh area in my jeans has gotten too small.

kelly_e_montana

I don't even think you should try to lose 7 pounds. I think you should just start lifting heavy, eat at maintenance, and do a cut later if you don't feel happier in a couple months.

mustgetmuscles1

fivethreeone wrote: »

Realistically speaking, no. In a few studies a very minor amount of muscle gain has been observed in very obese people with high protein intake and a progressive overload strength training regimen, but again, even in such specific circumstances it is a very minor amount and is only for a short time.

The reason you cannot gain muscle in a deficit is simple: to synthesize new muscle growth, your body needs something to make it from, and with a calorie deficit you are actually eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current status, so there's nothing left over for creating new muscle.

To create muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus: eating more than your maintenance, so your body has extra energy with which it can create new muscle.

Two main reasons people think they are building muscle when in a deficit: they can see muscle appearing or they are retaining water so their scale weight is not decreasing. water retention is often due to a new exercise program. Water retention only lasts a few days or weeks. It goes away and is just an indication that your muscles are not used to exercise.

Seeing new muscles happens as you lose the fat over the muscle you currently have and it becomes more visible, but that is not an actual muscle gain. If you were gaining muscle mass, your measurements would go up, not down.

Finally, there's a difference between gaining strength and gaining muscle. Gaining strength is possible in a deficit because the muscle you currently have can be trained and become stronger even though your measurements and weight stay the same or decrease. Gaining actual muscle requires an actual measurable mass gain.

^This. Good explanation.

indianwin2001

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

I don't even think you should try to lose 7 pounds. I think you should just start lifting heavy, eat at maintenance, and do a cut later if you don't feel happier in a couple months.

I was trying to lose the weight. I am now at maintenance. I used that as an example of how I was happy while I was losing weight to only lose 1 lb. of muscle and go down 2% in BF.

brianpperkins

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

I've gained approximately 14 pounds of muscle in the last year while staying the same weight and losing fat. I follow a recomp program called Eat to Perform. I have never followed a bulk and cut cycle and I ate at maintenance. January 2014 October 2014...same weight, no bulk/cut

You can't see my quads in these pics but my jeans have changed so that what was tight in the waist in January is now loose and the thigh area in my jeans has gotten too small.

Men on steroids, eating at a surplus, and following a strict lifting regimen have a hard time gaining a pound per month of muscle.

ThePhoenixIsRising

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

I've gained approximately 14 pounds of muscle in the last year while staying the same weight and losing fat. I follow a recomp program called Eat to Perform. I have never followed a bulk and cut cycle and I ate at maintenance. January 2014 October 2014...same weight, no bulk/cut

You can't see my quads in these pics but my jeans have changed so that what was tight in the waist in January is now loose and the thigh area in my jeans has gotten too small.

Your anecdotal evidence doesn't show gaining muscle in a cal deficit.

so.... I'm not sure why the post.

kelly_e_montana

Okay a lot of people are talking about how you have to be in a surplus, and I'm encouraging the OP to be in maintenance. I think the point of the OP was she wants to know what to do next, right? I'm sure she wouldn't just be asking the question for trolling purposes.

kelly_e_montana

Who knows, maybe she is just making convo. I forget this is the internet.

Sarauk2sf

You can gain muscle on a deficit under certain limited circumstances, but it is finite and not that much. The circumstances are if you are overweight and/or new to lifting (or more limited, if you are providing stimulus to muscle groups not 'worked' before.

If you have maintained weight but lost inches, you have probably gained some water weight from increasing exercise recently which is masking the 'real' loss. There may be some muscle gain as you are new to lifting (or so I assume), but it will not be much at all (the amount depends on a bunch of individual factors including leanness, amount of deficit, genetics, gender etc).

Philp0718

fivethreeone wrote: »

Realistically speaking, no. In a few studies a very minor amount of muscle gain has been observed in very obese people with high protein intake and a progressive overload strength training regimen, but again, even in such specific circumstances it is a very minor amount and is only for a short time.

The reason you cannot gain muscle in a deficit is simple: to synthesize new muscle growth, your body needs something to make it from, and with a calorie deficit you are actually eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current status, so there's nothing left over for creating new muscle.

To create muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus: eating more than your maintenance, so your body has extra energy with which it can create new muscle.

Two main reasons people think they are building muscle when in a deficit: they can see muscle appearing or they are retaining water so their scale weight is not decreasing. water retention is often due to a new exercise program. Water retention only lasts a few days or weeks. It goes away and is just an indication that your muscles are not used to exercise.

Seeing new muscles happens as you lose the fat over the muscle you currently have and it becomes more visible, but that is not an actual muscle gain. If you were gaining muscle mass, your measurements would go up, not down.

Finally, there's a difference between gaining strength and gaining muscle. Gaining strength is possible in a deficit because the muscle you currently have can be trained and become stronger even though your measurements and weight stay the same or decrease. Gaining actual muscle requires an actual measurable mass gain.

(*) (*) (*)

DragonShoe_GCole

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Eat to Perform

*cough* sales pitch *cough*

*sneeze* no concrete details about said program posted *sneeze*

*vomit* have to register at their site to even get basic details *vomit*

fivethreeone

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Okay a lot of people are talking about how you have to be in a surplus, and I'm encouraging the OP to be in maintenance. I think the point of the OP was she wants to know what to do next, right? I'm sure she wouldn't just be asking the question for trolling purposes.

She asked because she wanted to know if she had gained muscle in a deficit. The answer is no.

Juliarosemary66

Thank-you for all your replies, I asked the question to clarify whether you can gain muscle while in deficit and thanks to some really informative replies I guess not. I'm now thinking I need to find out what my body fat percentage is and take it from there.

ForecasterJason

brianpperkins wrote: »

Men on steroids, eating at a surplus, and following a strict lifting regimen have a hard time gaining a pound per month of muscle.

So you're saying that men not taking steroids can't gain as much as a pound a month of muscle? Unless you're referring to dry muscle tissue, I thought one pound per month was pretty realistic for the average male (or at least, a beginner).

brianpperkins

ForecasterJason wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

Men on steroids, eating at a surplus, and following a strict lifting regimen have a hard time gaining a pound per month of muscle.

So you're saying that men not taking steroids can't gain as much as a pound a month of muscle? Unless you're referring to dry muscle tissue, I thought one pound per month was pretty realistic for the average male (or at least, a beginner).

There is a huge difference in gaining actual muscle mass and simply gaining weight from glycogen, water, and fat.

ForecasterJason

brianpperkins wrote: »

ForecasterJason wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

Men on steroids, eating at a surplus, and following a strict lifting regimen have a hard time gaining a pound per month of muscle.

So you're saying that men not taking steroids can't gain as much as a pound a month of muscle? Unless you're referring to dry muscle tissue, I thought one pound per month was pretty realistic for the average male (or at least, a beginner).

There is a huge difference in gaining actual muscle mass and simply gaining weight from glycogen, water, and fat.

I was originally thinking you were referring to the overall LBM increase from lifting. I think when people talk about gaining muscle in general, they're referring to the glycogen and water that come with it.