Can you gain muscle if your loosing weight ?

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Dofflin wrote: »

Good luck eating what you enjoy in moderation and beginning a new fitness journey! If your strength is going up, it is a good indicator that you're gaining muscle, and if you're not losing weight but are losing inches off your midsection, arms, legs or wherever, then you're probably losing fat. Don't be discouraged by short-term fluctuations, just track accurately, workout consistently, and assess weekly or monthly, tweaking where necessary incrementally

strength does not mean you are gaining muscle.you can get stronger without building muscle. strength gains dont always mean muscle gains.

jroth261

tbrain1989 wrote: »

Now if your body is using pre-exisiting fat stores to convert to glycogen as energy. Then the proteins you consume cna be utilised by the body for building muscle.

The deficit everyone aims for is not a true deficit. its more like a deficit for the future. or a surplus from the past.

Let me explain:

if your goal is to eat 2500 calories to maintain your weight. if you eat 2000 on monday, and 3000 on tuesday. then youre not in a deficit. at all.
similarly, if you eat 2000 on monday and 2000 on tuesday, your body will seek the other energy from your fat stores. so its not a true deficit its just the excess calories you ate once upon a time. so if you add extra resistance training to your life. and say your body tries to use 500kcal extra for the exercise. it will use the protein and food you eat to build the muscles. and it will take extra fat from the pre-existing surplus to produce the glycogen hence why having more muscle, burns more fat. i mean im not an expert but that makes sense to me and the numbers from my own experience make sense.

i feel ive ranted. hopefully it makes sense.

I know I've gained muscle before while in a deficit and it wasn't just existing muscle veiled by melting fat because I was progressing in lifting heavier weights. Although granted I probably could have made quicker gains if not in a deficit. Never really understood how that could happen but your explanation sounds logical, so thanks for putting that out there!

ninerbuff

jroth261 wrote: »

tbrain1989 wrote: »

Now if your body is using pre-exisiting fat stores to convert to glycogen as energy. Then the proteins you consume cna be utilised by the body for building muscle.

The deficit everyone aims for is not a true deficit. its more like a deficit for the future. or a surplus from the past.

Let me explain:

if your goal is to eat 2500 calories to maintain your weight. if you eat 2000 on monday, and 3000 on tuesday. then youre not in a deficit. at all.
similarly, if you eat 2000 on monday and 2000 on tuesday, your body will seek the other energy from your fat stores. so its not a true deficit its just the excess calories you ate once upon a time. so if you add extra resistance training to your life. and say your body tries to use 500kcal extra for the exercise. it will use the protein and food you eat to build the muscles. and it will take extra fat from the pre-existing surplus to produce the glycogen hence why having more muscle, burns more fat. i mean im not an expert but that makes sense to me and the numbers from my own experience make sense.

i feel ive ranted. hopefully it makes sense.

I know I've gained muscle before while in a deficit and it wasn't just existing muscle veiled by melting fat because I was progressing in lifting heavier weights. Although granted I probably could have made quicker gains if not in a deficit. Never really understood how that could happen but your explanation sounds logical, so thanks for putting that out there!

Being stronger doesn't necessarily mean you gained muscle.

Power and Olympic lifters work on their strength all the time without trying to gain weight due to weight classes.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

markkaharo

I'm I the only one who was interested in the heated debate rather than the question itself?

In any case, it doesn't matter whether you gain muscle or not while being in a caloric deficit what matters is the feel good factor, that is what drives you in the gym