Better to lose the fat first then gain muscle or vice versa?

Phoenix_Dawn

hello, I've never posted on here before and I wanted to pose a question. I have about 20 lbs of fat to lose and I am very interested in gaining a muscular physique. Will it be easier for me focus on losing the fat first and then concentrate on building muscle? My workouts now are heavy in Cardio and I only do moderate weight training group classes a couple times a week at most. I eat at a deficit and I am led to believe that I will have to eat a lot more to gain muscle. Can I do both at the same time or would that take forever to achieve?

FrankWhite27330

Muscle burns FAT. Gain muscle = Burning Fat.

You can and should add weight training to your cardio, do your cardio AFTER your weight training

hamptontom

you're going to get a lot of arguments on both sides of this debate...it comes up often around here. there are a lot of folks with great advice, depending on what avenue you choose.

personally, i started doing remedial weight/strength training about a month or so ago, for a few reasons:

first of all, if you're eating at a deficit, you're probably already burning off some degree of muscle mass as a result of the deficit - so some form of strength training may help slow that, or at least maintain what you already have.

secondly, if you can begin to tone and strengthen before you hit your goal weight, that's work you won't have to do once you've hit your goal and begin to think about recomp.

finally, you'll have a foundation for some definition once all that weight comes off and you're ready to see what's underneath.

good luck to you, either way...if you do a search through the forum archives, there's quite a bit of lively discussion about this topic just in the time that i've been coming by here on a regular basis.

Phoenix_Dawn

FrankWhite27330 wrote: »

Muscle burns FAT. Gain muscle = Burning Fat.

You can and should add weight training to your cardio, do your cardio AFTER your weight training

Thanks, when I weight train it is almost always cardio beforehand. Why does it need to be after?

Phoenix_Dawn

hamptontom wrote: »

you're going to get a lot of arguments on both sides of this debate...it comes up often around here. there are a lot of folks with great advice, depending on what avenue you choose.

personally, i started doing remedial weight/strength training about a month or so ago, for a few reasons:

first of all, if you're eating at a deficit, you're probably already burning off some degree of muscle mass as a result of the deficit - so some form of strength training may help slow that, or at least maintain what you already have.

secondly, if you can begin to tone and strengthen before you hit your goal weight, that's work you won't have to do once you've hit your goal and begin to think about recomp.

finally, you'll have a foundation for some definition once all that weight comes off and you're ready to see what's underneath.

good luck to you, either way...if you do a search through the forum archives, there's quite a bit of lively discussion about this topic just in the time that i've been coming by here on a regular basis.

I think I will just try to do both. I will have to cut back on cardio to fit it in. I will also look into some other posts. Thanks for the reply.

FrankWhite27330

so you use MOST of your energy building Muscle. Do cardio afterwards as a cool down
You can and will gain muscle which will tone you up, so that way the fat loss that you want shows through as HEALTHY looking

arditarose

Best to lift heavy in a deficit. Save as much muscle as you can (we obviously lose muscle along with a fat in a deficit).

FrankWhite27330

Also, if you hit the weights hard and with short breaks it is a type of cardio. Bang out the sets and move station to station. Compound exercises Deadlift Bent over rows bench squat Do push and pull types

Light weight more reps, VS Heavy weights low reps.. a good mix for fat loss IMHO is 8 reps 4 or 5 sets

hamptontom

i'd be inclined to agree with Frank on this...i'm not sure what his reasoning is specifically, but I know that for me, it's just easier to begin with the weight/strength training because i haven't spent 45 minutes to an hour on the elliptical machine, tiring myself out before moving on to the weights.

Phoenix_Dawn

FrankWhite27330 wrote: »

Also, if you hit the weights hard and with short breaks it is a type of cardio. Bang out the sets and move station to station. Compound exercises Deadlift Bent over rows bench squat Do push and pull types

Light weight more reps, VS Heavy weights low reps.. a good mix for fat loss IMHO is 8 reps 4 or 5 sets

I will have to give this a shot, it won't hurt to try something different.

hamptontom

attagirl!

arditarose

Or you could just lift heavy and run some kind of 5x5 and actually work at saving the most amount of LBM as possible, by running a program with a progressive overload. Just sayin.

FrankWhite27330

5x5 programs are not for the faint of heart.. that's ALOT of squats!! You can try it, GL to ya. Been there felt the PAIN.

arditarose

FrankWhite27330 wrote: »

5x5 programs are not for the faint of heart.. that's ALOT of squats!! You can try it, GL to ya. Been there felt the PAIN.

A little tricky for intermediate lifters in a deficit, but not for a beginner. I don't know why you would be lifting in the hypertrophy range in a deficit. That seems like spinning your wheels.

rybo

Strength train should be your primary focus, you can end a session with a good hard finisher or do some moderate cardio of off days, 20-30 mins. Otherwise, follow an established strength program, I prefer a full body type especially of you are newer to lifting.

shabaity

I train mma so mines kind of a mixed bag during my classes this being said I need to start lifting and running *grimace* again if I want to compete

summerkissed

LIFT HEAVY NOW!!!! Get a good program written up limit rests between sets and bam there you have your hit cardio at the same time! I always finish off a session with a couple of hard down sprints to use up any bit of energy left! Takes 35min 3 days a week on my off days I take a walk with the dogs or something like that....best fat burning muscle building program I have found!! And it's for everyone at any stage! The more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn on a daily basis (muscle burns fat) but if you must do more cardio always make it after your weight sessions! I recommend looking at the "old school new body" book it's a great read heaps of solid info based on science not crap!!!

summerkissed

And focus on big compound muscle groups, strong moves i.e. squats, chest press, rows, lat pull downs, deadlifts. Don't worry about the small isolated muscle groups yet!

cajuntank

So outside of things we can't control, the little that we can is addressed by Lyle McDonald (see practical recommendations). In essence, the more body fat you have, easier it is to gain fat. The lower levels of body fat you have (real low) it's easier to gain fat. There is a "sweet spot" Lyle gets into for men and women where it offers the best outcome for muscle gain (again, what we can control and without "medical assistance")

summerkissed

FrankWhite27330 wrote: »

Also, if you hit the weights hard and with short breaks it is a type of cardio. Bang out the sets and move station to station. Compound exercises Deadlift Bent over rows bench squat Do push and pull types

Light weight more reps, VS Heavy weights low reps.. a good mix for fat loss IMHO is 8 reps 4 or 5 sets

Really good advice!! I use a 10x4 program

pwrfl1

Bump

Yi5hedr3

You'll do some of both -either direction.