Building muscle at the same time as losing fat

missylectro

Is it possible to do both? From what I understand to lose fat you need to eat at a deficit and to build muscle you need to eat at maintenance or high (am I wrong here?)

What can you do to promote these processes other than the obvious do strength training, eating plenty protein and eating at a deficit (not sure about the last one)?

redfisher1974

You just opened a Poop storm...lol Enjoy!

jasonp_ritzert

redfisher1974 wrote: »

You just opened a Poop storm...lol Enjoy!

My thoughts exactly.

47Jacqueline

redfisher1974 wrote: »

You just opened a Poop storm...lol Enjoy!

See previous posts. This is a great one for everyone to "weigh" in on.

KylaDenay

I'm in just to read the responses.

...but to my knowledge the only way that you can do both is if you are a newbie or obese (for a minimal amount of time). Or a body recomposition while eating at maintenance, but is a very slow process.

You are correct. To lose fat, you eat in a deficit. To gain muscle, you eat in a surplus.

To gain muscle you must eat adequate protein and lift heavy while eating in a surplus.

To lose fat you must eat in a calorie deficit. Still eat adequate protein and lift weights or do other strength exercises, so that you maintain your current muscle mass.

ninerbuff

Recomp is possible. It just takes a long time to see significant results.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MidoriRyu76

I don't know the science behind it but I have a lot of fat to lose. I notice that I have more muscle but my hips are smaller so I seem to be losing fat and gaining muscle. I just went into my settings and I set my protein % higher without changing my calories. I'm losing a little slower than I was 2 weeks ago but I'm still losing.

ninerbuff

MidoriRyu76 wrote: »

I don't know the science behind it but I have a lot of fat to lose. I notice that I have more muscle but my hips are smaller so I seem to be losing fat and gaining muscle. I just went into my settings and I set my protein % higher without changing my calories. I'm losing a little slower than I was 2 weeks ago but I'm still losing.

You may see more muscle due to fat loss, but that doesn't necessarily mean that muscle was gained in the process. It's actually quite hard to gain muscle in deficit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

NotGnarly

I'm obese and started lifting heavy almost a week ago. My goal is to maintain muscle or build some, while losing fat at the same time. I eat between 1900-2000 cals a day, so not a huge deficit but I figured I should feed the muscle that I do have. I'm a newb so not experienced enough to give advice.

greenfirearm

You can strengthen muscles, definitely, whilst losing weight.

jacksonpt

ninerbuff wrote: »

Recomp is possible. It just takes a long time to see significant results.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Agreed.

Yes, it's very possible. Yes, it's exceptionally slow, and visible results take much longer to see than with the more common bulk/cut approach.

jacksonpt

greenfirearm wrote: »

You can strengthen muscles, definitely, whilst losing weight.

Also agreed.

Realize that getting stronger isn't the same as building new muscle.

SnuggleSmacks

It's important to lift while eating in a deficit to keep your body from using muscle along with fat stores to make up the energy it isn't getting from food. And if you're new to lifting, this can even inspire some modest gains as long as your deficit isn't too severe and you eat plenty of protein. But for the most part, gaining significant muscle at a deficit doesn't happen.

What some people do is "recomp" or recomposition. They cycle eating at a deficit on rest days (15-20%) and a slight surplus on workout days (10%). I've also seen advice to increase the proportion of carbs on workout days for energy, and of protein on rest days for recovery.

missylectro

SnuggleSmacks wrote: »

It's important to lift while eating in a deficit to keep your body from using muscle along with fat stores to make up the energy it isn't getting from food. And if you're new to lifting, this can even inspire some modest gains as long as your deficit isn't too severe and you eat plenty of protein. But for the most part, gaining significant muscle at a deficit doesn't happen.

What some people do is "recomp" or recomposition. They cycle eating at a deficit on rest days (15-20%) and a slight surplus on workout days (10%). I've also seen advice to increase the proportion of carbs on workout days for energy, and of protein on rest days for recovery.

Thank you, that's really helpful. Thanks everybody!

mustgetmuscles1

Yes it is possible. Size of deficit, age, athletic experience, macros, training program, genetics will all be factors though and I would not expect a lot.

Interesting article on it.
http://spotmebro.com/lose-fat-gain-muscle/

Jdigs88

I had really low muscle mass for my weight - still do - (body fat percentage was high). After 6 weeks with my personal trainer, we did another body assessment, and it gave body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, etc. and I'd gained 5 lbs of muscle. I have also lost roughly 5lbs in that time period.

So, I don't know what is and isn't possible according to common practice or once you're in decent shape, but for someone pretty obese with high body fat, it was feasible for me to lose weight AND gain muscle. Losing slowed down, but inches came off more quickly.

DvlDwnInGA

I really would not worry to much about it. Go lift and follow your diet and focus on those and you will see positive changes. There will become a point where you get down to a low body fat percentage that you can start to consider these types of problems. If you are a noob lifter and have over 20 percent body fat, I really don't see how it matters.

Where I currently am, I know that if I ate more I would be stronger with my lifts, but being stronger is not my main goal. My main goal is fat loss. So I put up with being weaker for now so I can continue to drop weight while I continue to lift and try to maintain as much muscle as possible as I lose the fat.

Total body recomp while losing weight and not losing muscle while you do it is everyones hope while losing weight and lifting, it is the unicorn of weight lifting.

AlinaRose17

It is absolutely possible. Keep protein high to feed muscles, and healthy fats high. Moderate carb intake, or at the very least time intake to right when you wake up and/or right after your workout (strength train) to replace muscle glycogen that was lost during lifting. Keep no more than a 500 calorie deficit at any given time. Also try intermittent fasting along with carb backloading and also monitor your sodium intake in conjunction with getting enough water to AVOID retaining it.

jacksonpt

Romey84 wrote: »

It is absolutely possible. Keep protein high to feed muscles, and healthy fats high. Moderate carb intake, or at the very least time intake to right when you wake up and/or right after your workout (strength train) to replace muscle glycogen that was lost during lifting. Keep no more than a 500 calorie deficit at any given time. Also try intermittent fasting along with carb backloading and also monitor your sodium intake in conjunction with getting enough water to AVOID retaining it.

Yikes... that sounds like a lot of work.

uconnwinsnc1

Don't worry about building muscle when you lose weight. You can definitely build strength, though! Keep lifting.

splashtree5

Yes is possible you are lucky if you do cardio after training and you weigh lift.

bd208

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd jump in here and tell you what I'm doing. I'm a 56 yo grandmother of 6 and I'm into week 7 of Beach Body's Body Beast program. I'd like to quote what the Book of Beast says about the topic you are all discussing. "Being dedicated to nutrition is just as important as the workouts. If you aren't fueling your body to build muscle, you won't get the results you're looking for. This means you have to eat a lot. Quite possibly more than you ever have in your life. And what you eat needs to be clean, unprocessed, healthy food, in the appropriate macronutrient ratios"

"Macronutrients are the proteins, carbohydrates, and fat that make up all food. When you're doing Body Beast, you'll need enough protein to rebuild muscles and help stabilize blood sugar. You'll need enough carbohydrates to supply energy for your workouts and help support recovery. And you'll need enough fat to keep your body functioning properly"

(Beach Body Book of Beast) by Sagi Kalev, professional bodybuilder, sports model, nutritionist and trainer.

Now granted this is the program I'm using but there are great trainers out there that can help with training and set up great nutritional programs making sure you're doing what you need to do and get the benefits you're looking for. Make sure to do your research and pick what's going to work for you. I have a lot of weight to lose but right now I'm concentrating more on building muscle and gaining strength. As I build more muscle I have noticed that the scale may not be budging but my body IS changing. I calculated my body fat % using this program but I'm using MFP to log my food, and my workouts and this site calculated pretty close to what my program came up with. You will get just what you put into any workout. So I hope you all have great success in whatever you're doing!!!

jonathanwgreene

You can do both, but... It will take longer, and the results will take longer to be visible. For me, I find more cardio helps reduce body fat. I find lifting heavy, with fewer reps helps build muscle. I am currently doing both. What I see is that I am losing the body fat, but I am not getting built with large muscle growth. What I am seeing is my muscles are getting lean and cut. Once I hit my weight goal, I intend to build with more emphasis on muscle size. I can tell you that at present my strength is rising considerably but again, Im not challenging Arnold for size anytime soon.

bd208

jonathanwgreene wrote: »

You can do both, but... It will take longer, and the results will take longer to be visible. For me, I find more cardio helps reduce body fat. I find lifting heavy, with fewer reps helps build muscle. I am currently doing both. What I see is that I am losing the body fat, but I am not getting built with large muscle growth. What I am seeing is my muscles are getting lean and cut. Once I hit my weight goal, I intend to build with more emphasis on muscle size. I can tell you that at present my strength is rising considerably but again, Im not challenging Arnold for size anytime soon.

I'm not trying to beat Arnold for size either, I'm just trying to get healthy....Besides, women don't have the testosterone that men do so we can't bulk up....so basically even though you're a man and I'm a woman we are pretty much doing the same thing.