Muscle building Protien

jakeziskin1

If I were to lowere my carb and fat intake and raise my protien intake, would it buff me up? I'm sorry if that sounds silly. I went from 245lbs-195lbs and want to tone up. I work out 4/5 times a week and have a good work out routine. I don't take any supplements or pre work outs or anything. I just work out and that's it. Any advice to toning up and is eating more protien helpful. Thanks everyone!

Yi5hedr3

That would be bad move. First, when you lower carbs, you should raise fats. Raising protein causes eccess to convert to sugar, then fat. Not what you want.

William4MVP

You'll only build muscle if you eat at a surplus so you will inevitably gain both muscle and some fat in the process but as long as you don't over do it, you can keep the fat gain to a minimum.

Chicken
fish
whey protein (although you don't need this)
eggs

are cheap protein sources and are filling. Keep in mind this isn't a fast process and you need to stay dedicated to it.

jakeziskin1

Thanks William I appreciate it. I know it won't be done over night. I've lost 50lbs in the last 4 1/2 months and I still want to lose another 15. I was 245, currently at 195 trying to go down to 180. I have always worked out but always carried a lot of weight. I trying to tone up my body now.

William4MVP

not sure what you mean by tone up but if its how you think you mean you will not "tone up" it's a long process which you have stated but you won't do that while on a deficit. Just focus on weight loss and retaining as much of your current muscle as possible. Start lifting weights and get yourself a routine. Then when you hit 180, you can begin the real building process.

I'm just telling you this because I got down to my goal weight of 160 and wasn't how I expected to look since I lacked muscle and now I'm just building myself up. Good luck.

loulamb7

jakeziskin1 wrote: »

If I were to lowere my carb and fat intake and raise my protien intake, would it buff me up? I'm sorry if that sounds silly. I went from 245lbs-195lbs and want to tone up. I work out 4/5 times a week and have a good work out routine. I don't take any supplements or pre work outs or anything. I just work out and that's it. Any advice to toning up and is eating more protien helpful. Thanks everyone!

You don't need to lower carb and fats and raise protein intake, unless your not getting enough protein. Protein by itself will not "buff you up". Keep your macros balanced. You'll want to get from .65 to 1g of protein per pound of body weight, .35 to .45g of fat per pound of body weight and the rest in carbs. Since you're in a deficit your goal should be to retain as much muscle as you can while you lose weight.

What do you mean by a good work out routine? Is it a routine build by a professional with progressive overload or a build your own routine?

tillerstouch

Extra protein won't make you stronger or buff you up. That being said if you currently aren't getting enough protein then sure eating more would help with muscle building.

If you eat more protein then your muscles actually need it just gets converted to fat to be used for angry later. There are many different sources that say you need different amounts of protein as low as .6 grams of protein per kg of body weight. On the opposite side of things I've seen people say you need up to 1.6grams per pound of body weight for muscle building (which is likely way to high). The number that seem to make the most sense to me was 1 gram per pound of LEAN body weight. I would recommend doing research and see what number makes the most sense for you. iffym.com is a good website for finding your macros (carbs, protein, fat intake) macros are important to watch while strength training.

@William4MVP was right about needing surplus to build muscle. That being said if you are new to strength training some people do see increases in strength while in a deficit. If your goal is still weight loss keep with the deficit and start lifting to retain muscle then once you hit your weight goal then start working on building muscle. I would also recommend when this time comes start out by eating at maintenance then move to a calorie surplus.

The most important thing if you want to gain muscle/retain muscle is your lifting program. You can make your own routine but if you're a beginner its probably a good idea to find a pre made one. You can find lots online a good place to start is bodybuilding.com they have tons of workouts (if this post catches more attention you'll probably find more recommendations I can pretty much guarantee stronglift 5x5 will come up lol). If you have a good routine that works all your muscle groups great stick with it!

I'm not sure what you mean by toning up though? if you just want to look more muscular just keep lifting and with low body fat you'll look "toned." When you lift one thing that will effect how your muscles grow is the reps/weight you use. Speaking very generally, low reps (5ish) at close to max weight is for strength building, medium reps (10ish) and a little under max weight is for muscle size, and high reps (15+) with low weight will train for muscle endurance.

You really don't need any kind of supplements pre workout is mostly just caffeine, if you have trouble getting in your daily protein you could look into a protein shake but really protein from food or a powder is no different.

jakeziskin1

All this has been so helpful. Thanks for all the information. And yes I just want to look more muscular by toning up. In regards to my routine, a good friend of mine is a personal trainer and set me up with daily-weekly workouts. I work everything from shoulders to legs

tillerstouch

Goodluck with your goals. The important thing to remember is you won't see tons of muslcr/strength gain until you're out of a deficit but it's still great to lift to maintain muscld.

kwtilbury

As long as you eat at a caloric deficit you'll lose weight. If you're also resistance training, you need to increase your protein intake (while still maintaining a deficit). I would recommend 0.75-1.00 grams of protein per pound of your goal weight. In your case, that's 135 to 180 grams per day.

ndj1979

OP - do you know what your current body fat% is? It is not recommended to run a bulk until you get sub 15% body fat .....you can check out the gaining forum on here and read the "most helpful posts" to get an idea of how to run a successful bulk.

jakeziskin1

That sounds good thanks man il check it out and to everyone else again thanks for all the help. As of now I'm 193lbs with 20% body fat. What should I aim for. Is it reachable and safe if I went down to 8-10% I'm sure by that point I'd look more define.i want the big arms and six pack, I was always heavy at 260. I'm going to drop to 180, that's my goal. Is this a good goal? Thanks again

ndj1979

jakeziskin1 wrote: »

That sounds good thanks man il check it out and to everyone else again thanks for all the help. As of now I'm 193lbs with 20% body fat. What should I aim for. Is it reachable and safe if I went down to 8-10% I'm sure by that point I'd look more define.i want the big arms and six pack, I was always heavy at 260. I'm going to drop to 180, that's my goal. Is this a good goal? Thanks again

six pack is a function of body fat + genetics + training + micro/macro adherence.

If you are 20% now, then I would suggest getting into the 12-14% range and then bulk. I did not run my first bulk until I was about 12% body fat....then I ran another one when I was about 14% and now I am slow cutting back down ....

jakeziskin1

Hmm ok good to know. I think I can achieve 12%