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Lose weight but gain muscle

jeremyfunderburke
Posts: 58 Member
How can I do both. It seems if I work hard I can get big on the body parts I work but I can't seem to slim down.
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Replies
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It won't happen. To gain muscle, you need to eat in a surplus. To lose fat, you need to eat in a deficit. Then there's recomposition, which is typically TDEE- 10%. But it is a long process. What many body builders do is bulk, which includes eating in that surplus but still gaining fat, then cutting, which is eating in a deficit and losing the fat they gained during the bulk but still losing a small percentage of the muscle they built. The gaining weight thread is a good place to start if you're looking to do the bulk/cut method.0
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I'd suggest eating at a deficit to reach your desired weight. Once you have lost your excess, look into a 'body recomp' plan (Lots of articles available online about this). Unfortunately, to gain muscle AND lose weight isn't something that can really be done. You need to eat at a surplus to gain muscle and eat at a deficit to lose weight - so of course, you really need to do one at a time.0
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vespiquenn wrote: »It won't happen. To gain muscle, you need to eat in a surplus. To lose fat, you need to eat in a deficit. Then there's recomposition, which is typically TDEE- 10%. But it is a long process. What many body builders do is bulk, which includes eating in that surplus but still gaining fat, then cutting, which is eating in a deficit and losing the fat they gained during the bulk but still losing a small percentage of the muscle they built. The gaining weight thread is a good place to start if you're looking to do the bulk/cut method.
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jeremyfunderburke wrote: »How can I do both. It seems if I work hard I can get big on the body parts I work but I can't seem to slim down.
Eat at a defecit of 500-1000 calories get adequate protein (minimum 0.64-0.8g per lb bodyweight) and fat (minimum 0.35g per lb bodyweight)
Follow a progressive resistance programme focusing on compound movements ...stronglifts 5x5, ice cream fitness, starting strength are good for beginners
Keep doing that until your body fat is sub 15%
Then eat in surplus (250-500 calories), get adequate protein and fat as above and continue your progressive resistance programme for 6 months or so then cut again OR eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy for a long time0 -
jeremyfunderburke wrote: »How can I do both. It seems if I work hard I can get big on the body parts I work but I can't seem to slim down.
Yes you can do both, I did it0 -
If you can concentrate on preserving muscle, while losing fat, your percent of muscle automatically goes up.0
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