Increasing muscle with body fat
tomhurst
Posts: 47 Member
I'm not large, but I do have a bit of blubber on me which I'm trying to get rid of, taking ages!! Haha
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
2
Replies
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Push out. Gotta lose the fat.3
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Push out. Gotta lose the fat.
This^^ What lifting program do you use?
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p11 -
Calorie deficit will get rid of the gut/fat0
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I'm not large, but I do have a bit of blubber on me which I'm trying to get rid of, taking ages!! Haha
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
I needed to lose 10 lbs after I had my son, so what I did was lose the weight first and then I began a weight lifting program. I could not do both at the same time. I did lift weights, but I just kept myself at the plateau I was at. Once I lost the fat, then I began to increase the weightlifting for hypertrophy.
What weight trainers do when they are cutting, is increase the reps and lower the weight.0 -
I'm not large, but I do have a bit of blubber on me which I'm trying to get rid of, taking ages!! Haha
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
I needed to lose 10 lbs after I had my son, so what I did was lose the weight first and then I began a weight lifting program. I could not do both at the same time. I did lift weights, but I just kept myself at the plateau I was at. Once I lost the fat, then I began to increase the weightlifting for hypertrophy.
What weight trainers do when they are cutting, is increase the reps and lower the weight.
Not if they're smart, they don't. We do pretty much the exact opposite - keep weight the same (try to increase, if we can), but lower volume (reps/sets).
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cuuuuut the fat and worry about abs laterrrr also eat protein and lift "heavy" brah1
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Damn... I hate how long fat loss takes!0
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Haha having a body is effort.0
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1
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
I'm just about at my one-year heavy lifting anniversary and man-oh-man does it take patience. Fat loss is nothing compared to trying to gain muscle.
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Work abs while losing weight. Best of both worlds.0
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Totally agree with posters here - working abs will strengthen them and grow the muscle but the fat will still be there. Not that stronger abs are a bad thing, but if shrinking your belly is the goal, gotta lose body fat. I did exactly that, went from 40" to 30" waist losing 65 lbs. Losing all the weight was way easier than building up the 15 lbs of muscle I've gained since then.0
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I'm not large, but I do have a bit of blubber on me which I'm trying to get rid of, taking ages!! Haha
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
I needed to lose 10 lbs after I had my son, so what I did was lose the weight first and then I began a weight lifting program. I could not do both at the same time. I did lift weights, but I just kept myself at the plateau I was at. Once I lost the fat, then I began to increase the weightlifting for hypertrophy.
What weight trainers do when they are cutting, is increase the reps and lower the weight.
Not if they're smart, they don't. We do pretty much the exact opposite - keep weight the same (try to increase, if we can), but lower volume (reps/sets).
I agree with what said about the bolded text, this is one of the biggest misconceptions I hear about. I would add that decreasing weight is a sure way to tell your body you don't need the same amount of muscle on your body and encourage it to use it as fuel instead of your fat.
Like someone said before the best way to get rid of fat is to move into a calorie deficit and either continue a consistent exercise program, with little to no cardio if you want to keep muscle mass you currently have. Let the food do the work. Don't stay in a deficit for too long. I have read 8-12 weeks would be the longest. Then either move slowly back into a maintenance phase or Surplus if you want to build up muscle. My 2 cents.1 -
I'm not large, but I do have a bit of blubber on me which I'm trying to get rid of, taking ages!! Haha
My question is, if I was to build up abs or something, would everything in that region tighten up and be pulled in, or would larger muscles push it out more and make my belly look bigger?
Thanks!
I needed to lose 10 lbs after I had my son, so what I did was lose the weight first and then I began a weight lifting program. I could not do both at the same time. I did lift weights, but I just kept myself at the plateau I was at. Once I lost the fat, then I began to increase the weightlifting for hypertrophy.
What weight trainers do when they are cutting, is increase the reps and lower the weight.
Not if they're smart, they don't. We do pretty much the exact opposite - keep weight the same (try to increase, if we can), but lower volume (reps/sets).
Precisely. Lower frequency/volume tends to become a necessity eventually but keeping the intensity the same is paramount to strength/muscle retention, IMO.
Doing lots of reps with lower weight is more of a hypertrophy (bulking) thing really. So you're absolutely correct when you say it's really the opposite of what was suggested.1 -
Abs is built in the gym and revealed in the kitchen. It will take a lot of consistency and rigorous dieting to lose belly fat. Back to your question, your stomach will get big due to the ab muscles growing. Unless, you lose the fat covering it.0
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Hopefully, my abs will be ready when all the fat has gone.
everyone's different, but just to encourage you: i still have that extra 10 - 15 pounds, two years after saying i've-had-it-i'm-going-to-start-lifing-weights. in fact five or ten pounds of this is weight that i didn't have when i started lifting
and nah . . . it would be nice to just call it all muscle, but most of it isn't. i got more interested in feeding my lifting than starving my thighs, so i think most of it's fat.
reason i'm saying this is: even with that, my midsection has three visibly distinct parts to it now. it would be going too far to accuse me of having a six-pack, but you can definitely see my obliques. i really like it.
and i'm still working to lose those 10 pounds
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It's not either or, it's both together
Cut calories to lose the fat
Progressively train to preserve existing muscles
Once you've cut the fat keep calorie counting and keep progressing
Waiting to do one or the other just makes it harder0
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