Build Muscle or lose the fat ?
sexynessa77
Posts: 9 Member
I have been working out for a year now. I lost 10 pounds and started to look to skinny. I started to gain weight slowly but this time i want to keep my weight but lose some fat and gain muscle. I been weight lifting doing the 5x5 program and very little cardio. I have been clean eating but I would like to try the counting calories (macros). My calories are 1750 /carbs 35% protein 35% /30% fat not sure if this correct. Any input,advice greatly appreciated
0
Replies
-
To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.-1
-
Thank you0
-
Eliminating carbs won't aid muscle gain.franciscvalera wrote: »lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely).
0 -
Small calorie deficit (by your actual weight loss results over time not some random number).
Adequate protein (1g per lb of LBM as a minimum goal is a common recommendation)..
Good weight / strength training (which you have covered).
That's it - you don't have to cut cardio if you fuel it properly and it isn't affecting your recovery.
You absolutely don't have to go low carb which quite possibly would hurt your energy levels and gym performance.
You may not gain muscle but the worst that will happen is that your strength will improve, you will gain muscle definition and you will have preserved the maximum amount of lean mass whilst losing weight.0 -
So keep doing what I'm doing I think I eat enough protein. And I started to incorporate more carbs for energy.0
-
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
No. To pretty much everything you said.
OP, if you've been training with heavy weights for a while already the only way to gain muscle is to eat at a surplus ie gain weight. If you want to lose fat you can eat at a deficit ie lose weight. If you're genetically lucky you'll maintain all your muscle with heavy lifting, if not you can still keep most of it. Your macros seem fine. There are small benefits in relation to when and what you eat prior to, during and after your workout, but I'm not an expert there and it only usually comes into play if you're a sportsperson.
You basically have to make a choice: lose fat whilst minimising muscle loss through heavy lifting or gain muscle whilst minimising fat gain through heavy lifting. Generally speaking, you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time unless you're a newbie, genetically special or roiding.0 -
If I eat more that means I could gain weight and fat? But build muscle?0
-
sexynessa77 wrote: »If I eat more that means I could gain weight and fat? But build muscle?
Yes, that's how it works. After you gain both fat and muscle you go back to a "cut" phase where you go back to a slight deficit, lift heavy to maintain as much of the muscle you gained as you can while you lose the fat that was gained.0 -
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
Two of these statements are actually true. Anyone want to guess which ones?0 -
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
You should do some research. Everything you said here is false...
OP - If you've been lifting consistently, at this point you've probably exhausted your newbie gains (not that significant anyway). Point is, you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time - or it will be such a slow process you'll quit. In order to lose fat you need to be in a deficit. In order to build muscle you need to be in a surplus. If you've lost weight and feel you need to gain, calculate your TDEE and aim for a 250-500 calorie surplus as a minimum to bulk. Macro ratios aren't magic. Adequate protein in a bulk is around .8g/lbs. Since you'll be in a surplus, .3g/lbs of fat should be sufficient. Fill the rest in with CARBS. Elliminating carbs is the worst thing you can do when looking to gain muscle. You'll most likely need to do a few bulk and cut cycles to gain the mass you are looking for.0 -
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
Ignore everything in that post. Seriously.
myfelinepal and RG gave you good info.0 -
sexynessa77 wrote: »If I eat more that means I could gain weight and fat? But build muscle?
Yes. Eating at a surplus while lifting heavy will cause you to gain muscle and fat... Then you can eat at a modest deficit to cut the fat, while lifting to maintain the muscle. You can cycle through there periods until you've reached the goal physique.
0 -
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
Thanks for pointing that out, chief. But I think we clued in to it already.0 -
Lose the fat then gain the muscle.0
-
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
what???
to increase muscle you need to increase calories, and increase carbs...
carbs are energy and are essential in building muscle..
0 -
OP - what is your current body fat % ...what is your age/height/weight/gender?0
-
Where on earth did you hear this???franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely).
Where on earth did you hear this???franciscvalera wrote: »Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly.
This is the only accurate thing you have said...franciscvalera wrote: »But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
0 -
Ok so I am 43 years old, 5'11" tall, 207 pounds with probably 30% BF. I have lost 8 pounds in 26 days on my way to losing 30. Is there a benefit to lifting weights while I am cutting calories to lose weight or lose the weight I want and then do the surplus/deficit cycles?0
-
tarheelboy wrote: »Ok so I am 43 years old, 5'11" tall, 207 pounds with probably 30% BF. I have lost 8 pounds in 26 days on my way to losing 30. Is there a benefit to lifting weights while I am cutting calories to lose weight or lose the weight I want and then do the surplus/deficit cycles?
Lifting weights while cutting will assist in retaining lean mass so more of your weight loss will be from fat. You can also gain strength while lifting at a deficit even if you aren't gaining muscle mass.0 -
oh. That makes sense. Does it matter if I lift heavy or not?0
-
tarheelboy wrote: »Ok so I am 43 years old, 5'11" tall, 207 pounds with probably 30% BF. I have lost 8 pounds in 26 days on my way to losing 30. Is there a benefit to lifting weights while I am cutting calories to lose weight or lose the weight I want and then do the surplus/deficit cycles?
keep lifting weights and eating in a deficit and get your body fat down.
ideally, you want to get to below 15% BF until you do a bulk ...reason being, you are going to gain fat when you bulk, so starting a bulk at 30% is less than optimal...
0 -
franciscvalera wrote: »To gain more muscle you'll need to increase your protein, lower your carbs (possibly consider eliminating them completely). Doing more reps at moderate weight can help maintain muscle tone, while fewer reps with heavier weight will build muscle quickly. But I'm no personal trainer, do some research and see what works best for you.
Two of these statements are actually true. Anyone want to guess which ones?
Haha, just what I was thinking - last two.
OP you need to get into a calorie surplus to gain muscle (those macros might be overkill on the protein if you do). Unless you're tiny, I'm guessing, 1750 doesn't have you at surplus.
0 -
Same as OP. Been lifting modestly for just over a year. Have seen improvement in strength and endurance, but not much definition. Female, 5' 3", 106 lbs, small frame. Am finding it difficult to increase weights. When I do, I am unable to get even five reps with correct form. Suggestions?0
-
I only have advanced degrees in lipid biochemistry and biophysics along with bio-organic chemistry, so my broscience is quite low. Take this with a grain of salt, because my knowledge base isn't quite there yet. /s
OP -- You can totally gain muscle while losing fat. People do it all the time. The one thing you cannot do is maintain weight. If you are already at a decent weight and fat percentage you will gain weight with added muscle but you can lose fat. If you are severely overweight you can generally gain muscle while losing fat and lose weight. This is due to fat loss occurring at a greater rate than initial muscle gain (a bit more complicated to explain in short). This happens all the time to severely obese when they work on this stuff.
That said, if you are trying to gain functional muscle (not bulk) then keep working your 5X5 as long as you're still in linear progression while eating a lot of animals and plants. You need to keep your protein high (1g/lean body weight) while allowing your body to choose fat stores to burn for energy. This means you need to modulate your carbohydrate and fat intake to keep in a slow fat burn cycle. You also need to move frequently at a moderate pace. Go for 2 hour walks daily at 3 to 3.5 mile and hour pace. But that said, you will put on weight even though you're burning fat due to the density of muscle. This is where trying to tie a number, e.g. your weight, to health is bad. Go for overall fitness with a healthy amount of fat on your body. If you get to lean you will endanger your health. There is a reason body builders only look that ripped during competition.
If you're trying to bulk up and become a muscle bound Mr. Olympian, then you need to eat a lot. You also need to modulate your lifting for hypertrophy.0 -
Praying_Mantis wrote: »Same as OP. Been lifting modestly for just over a year. Have seen improvement in strength and endurance, but not much definition. Female, 5' 3", 106 lbs, small frame. Am finding it difficult to increase weights. When I do, I am unable to get even five reps with correct form. Suggestions?
You'll see definition with lower body fat. How much lower is determined by your starting body fat and how long you've been lifting. Are you asking for suggestions in increasing weights? If so, what is your programming? Is it focused on progressive overload and periodization? Are you hitting compound movements? Some would say to eat more to lift more, but if you feel your technique and form are falling apart at higher weights, it could be your programming. A recommendation is to work on form and technique at lower weights then slowly move up. 5x5 is a good starting program if you currently aren't following one.0 -
The following are really great reads for this:
http://body-improvements.com/2013/09/04/can-you-build-muscle-and-lose-fat-at-the-same-time/
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html
http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html/
0 -
I only have advanced degrees in lipid biochemistry and biophysics along with bio-organic chemistry, so my broscience is quite low. Take this with a grain of salt, because my knowledge base isn't quite there yet. /s
OP -- You can totally gain muscle while losing fat. People do it all the time. The one thing you cannot do is maintain weight. If you are already at a decent weight and fat percentage you will gain weight with added muscle but you can lose fat. If you are severely overweight you can generally gain muscle while losing fat and lose weight. This is due to fat loss occurring at a greater rate than initial muscle gain (a bit more complicated to explain in short). This happens all the time to severely obese when they work on this stuff.
That said, if you are trying to gain functional muscle (not bulk) then keep working your 5X5 as long as you're still in linear progression while eating a lot of animals and plants. You need to keep your protein high (1g/lean body weight) while allowing your body to choose fat stores to burn for energy. This means you need to modulate your carbohydrate and fat intake to keep in a slow fat burn cycle. You also need to move frequently at a moderate pace. Go for 2 hour walks daily at 3 to 3.5 mile and hour pace. But that said, you will put on weight even though you're burning fat due to the density of muscle. This is where trying to tie a number, e.g. your weight, to health is bad. Go for overall fitness with a healthy amount of fat on your body. If you get to lean you will endanger your health. There is a reason body builders only look that ripped during competition.
If you're trying to bulk up and become a muscle bound Mr. Olympian, then you need to eat a lot. You also need to modulate your lifting for hypertrophy.
You also need about $40k of disposable income for various anabolics and peptides...
Can you gain muscle and burn fat? For severly obese individuals, yes, it happens more often than not. For newbies as well. But for everyone else, if it were to happen at all, it most likely will only happen in the strictest of settings, which I will venture to guess the OP, and most everyone here, is unable or unwilling to do (more so unable). EVERYTHING needs to be perfect. No one has time for that. Plus, the process will be like watching paint dry. The better and more optimal suggestion is to do a true bulk and cut. Anything else is an exercise in futility...
Funny how you state your broscience is quite low, yet you point to Mr. Olympians as an example...0 -
Praying_Mantis wrote: »Same as OP. Been lifting modestly for just over a year. Have seen improvement in strength and endurance, but not much definition. Female, 5' 3", 106 lbs, small frame. Am finding it difficult to increase weights. When I do, I am unable to get even five reps with correct form. Suggestions?
Time to bulk
0 -
dieselbyte wrote: »I only have advanced degrees in lipid biochemistry and biophysics along with bio-organic chemistry, so my broscience is quite low. Take this with a grain of salt, because my knowledge base isn't quite there yet. /s
OP -- You can totally gain muscle while losing fat. People do it all the time. The one thing you cannot do is maintain weight. If you are already at a decent weight and fat percentage you will gain weight with added muscle but you can lose fat. If you are severely overweight you can generally gain muscle while losing fat and lose weight. This is due to fat loss occurring at a greater rate than initial muscle gain (a bit more complicated to explain in short). This happens all the time to severely obese when they work on this stuff.
That said, if you are trying to gain functional muscle (not bulk) then keep working your 5X5 as long as you're still in linear progression while eating a lot of animals and plants. You need to keep your protein high (1g/lean body weight) while allowing your body to choose fat stores to burn for energy. This means you need to modulate your carbohydrate and fat intake to keep in a slow fat burn cycle. You also need to move frequently at a moderate pace. Go for 2 hour walks daily at 3 to 3.5 mile and hour pace. But that said, you will put on weight even though you're burning fat due to the density of muscle. This is where trying to tie a number, e.g. your weight, to health is bad. Go for overall fitness with a healthy amount of fat on your body. If you get to lean you will endanger your health. There is a reason body builders only look that ripped during competition.
If you're trying to bulk up and become a muscle bound Mr. Olympian, then you need to eat a lot. You also need to modulate your lifting for hypertrophy.
You also need about $40k of disposable income for various anabolics and peptides...
Can you gain muscle and burn fat? For severly obese individuals, yes, it happens more often than not. For newbies as well. But for everyone else, if it were to happen at all, it most likely will only happen in the strictest of settings, which I will venture to guess the OP, and most everyone here, is unable or unwilling to do (more so unable). EVERYTHING needs to be perfect. No one has time for that. Plus, the process will be like watching paint dry. The better and more optimal suggestion is to do a true bulk and cut. Anything else is an exercise in futility...
Funny how you state your broscience is quite low, yet you point to Mr. Olympians as an example...
Regarding the bolded part - Erm... no.
Everything doesn't have to be perfect to recomp - you just have to be patient.
I have "time for that" - I'm enjoying steady but slow progress while I'm enjoying my exercise and sport.
"Severely obese" is a complete and ridiculous exageration.
Don't forget that your goals are not everyone else's goals. You may put body composition or muscle hypertrophy as your number 1 priority (I'm guessing) but for me it's about number 4 in my list and comes about because I'm progressing in my strength and fitness goals.0 -
dieselbyte wrote: »I only have advanced degrees in lipid biochemistry and biophysics along with bio-organic chemistry, so my broscience is quite low. Take this with a grain of salt, because my knowledge base isn't quite there yet. /s
OP -- You can totally gain muscle while losing fat. People do it all the time. The one thing you cannot do is maintain weight. If you are already at a decent weight and fat percentage you will gain weight with added muscle but you can lose fat. If you are severely overweight you can generally gain muscle while losing fat and lose weight. This is due to fat loss occurring at a greater rate than initial muscle gain (a bit more complicated to explain in short). This happens all the time to severely obese when they work on this stuff.
That said, if you are trying to gain functional muscle (not bulk) then keep working your 5X5 as long as you're still in linear progression while eating a lot of animals and plants. You need to keep your protein high (1g/lean body weight) while allowing your body to choose fat stores to burn for energy. This means you need to modulate your carbohydrate and fat intake to keep in a slow fat burn cycle. You also need to move frequently at a moderate pace. Go for 2 hour walks daily at 3 to 3.5 mile and hour pace. But that said, you will put on weight even though you're burning fat due to the density of muscle. This is where trying to tie a number, e.g. your weight, to health is bad. Go for overall fitness with a healthy amount of fat on your body. If you get to lean you will endanger your health. There is a reason body builders only look that ripped during competition.
If you're trying to bulk up and become a muscle bound Mr. Olympian, then you need to eat a lot. You also need to modulate your lifting for hypertrophy.
You also need about $40k of disposable income for various anabolics and peptides...
Can you gain muscle and burn fat? For severly obese individuals, yes, it happens more often than not. For newbies as well. But for everyone else, if it were to happen at all, it most likely will only happen in the strictest of settings, which I will venture to guess the OP, and most everyone here, is unable or unwilling to do (more so unable). EVERYTHING needs to be perfect. No one has time for that. Plus, the process will be like watching paint dry. The better and more optimal suggestion is to do a true bulk and cut. Anything else is an exercise in futility...
Funny how you state your broscience is quite low, yet you point to Mr. Olympians as an example...
Regarding the bolded part - Erm... no.
Everything doesn't have to be perfect to recomp - you just have to be patient.
I have "time for that" - I'm enjoying steady but slow progress while I'm enjoying my exercise and sport.
"Severely obese" is a complete and ridiculous exageration.
Don't forget that your goals are not everyone else's goals. You may put body composition or muscle hypertrophy as your number 1 priority (I'm guessing) but for me it's about number 4 in my list and comes about because I'm progressing in my strength and fitness goals.
Number one - you don't know me, so don't even attempt to guess what my goals are.
Number two - there's a word called context. I suggest you read the entire post to which I was responding. The poster to which I replied stated the severly obese as an example of fat loss and muscle gain, not me.
Number 3 - there is a difference between strength gains and muscle gains. If you don't think you can get STRONGER without putting on muscle than you don't have a clue. CNS adaptation, muscle memory, increased glycogen stores, better use and understanding of leverages etc are ways to improve strength that don't require an increase in muscle mass. For most individuals, especially trained individuals, there won't be a noticeable or significant amount of muscle gain without a caloric surplus. You need to be in a surplus to build muscle, bottom line. A body recomp isn't it my friend. You aren't building any considerable muscle in a recomp. Here's a line from Lyle McDonald
"The simple fact is that a bodybuilder who refuses to gain any fat and doesn’t put on any muscle between shows won’t be improving year to year. Unless they have perfect symmetry, size, shape, etc. their fear of body fat is preventing them from ever getting any better.
Athletes often have to add muscle mass (to improve strength, power or move up a weight class) and often don’t have very long to do it. Keeping calories too low year round hurts improvements in both mass and strength gains and even weight class athletes such as Olympic Lifters and Powerlifters usually train at a weight slightly higher than their weight class: this lets them eat more food, train more effectively and make faster gains; they can always drop weight and fat when needed.
The simple fact is that the body needs not only an appropriate training stimulus but also sufficient building blocks (protein, amino acids) AND sufficient dietary energy (calories) for maximal improvements. I discuss this in some detail in Calorie Partitioning Part 1 and Calorie Partitioning Part 2. Staying excessively lean (which means either doing tons of cardio, restricting calories, or both) isn’t consistent with the goal of trying to get stronger and more muscular for the most part."
0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 423 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions