Losing weight and building muscle questions

Dylan_Nizel

So I am trying to lose about 40 pounds and am also trying to gain some muscle. Before the comment section is spammed saying it's not possible... I know. However, I also do a lot of cardio and am trying not to burn muscle along with calories. Does anybody have any tips/advice to give on losing weight while working on muscle building? Thanks!

TavistockToad

You want to lose fat while maintaining your muscle, and then gain muscle afterwards, seeing as you acknowledge that you're not going to gain an appreciable amount of muscle whilst in a deficit?

Ensure you're getting adequate protein (at least 0.8g per lb of bodyweight) and are following a lifting programme with progressive overload and don't have too steep a deficit whilr you're losing weight.

sgt1372

Lift progressively as heavy as you can and eat LOTS of protein.

I've eaten 0.8-1.25g protein per #BW for the past year w/o any problems and have lost and maintained weight and recomped 12# of fat/muscle doing so.

It's really hard to eat a lot of protein, eating "enuf" will be the greatest challenge.

My current goals are 2000 cal a day w/a 40P/407F/20F macro which works out to 200g of protein/carbs (or 1.25g/#BW of each) per day.

The carbs are easy, protein not so much.

Even knowing how much protein that I need to eat, this month, I've only averaged 160g/day or almost exactly 1g/#BW so far.

The main constraint is the cal limit, if you drink a beer or eat some other carbs/fat w/o much protein content, you can't eat enuf additional protein w/o going over unless you exercise to increase your gross cals which you can then net out w/more protein.

So, you really don't need worry about eating "too much" protein (whatever that is).

bethany_rose8

You could try HIIT training as one of your cardio sessions once per week, to help with fat loss while maintaining muscle mass, but don't go overboard with time and frequency or you can easily burn too many calories, the protein info the guy above gave you is solid. Progressive overload training as said above, make sure your compound movements like bench, squat, deads, military press and Rows are gradually going up in weight, reps or complexity. For example you could start doing slow eccentrics (for example taking 4 seconds to go down on a squat) which can help increase strength which will therefore help gain/maintain muscle.

jemhh

Eat enough protein and follow a progressive resistance program - - lift weights, do bodyweight exercises, do a combo. That's pretty much it.

SABoj

Dylan_Nizel wrote: »

So I am trying to lose about 40 pounds and am also trying to gain some muscle. Before the comment section is spammed saying it's not possible... I know. However, I also do a lot of cardio and am trying not to burn muscle along with calories. Does anybody have any tips/advice to give on losing weight while working on muscle building? Thanks!

I have found that 2 days of cardio and 3 days of strength training is the 'quickest' & most effective way to lose weight & strengthen muscle. At least for me. Good, solid nutrition will make all the difference in the world too. If you lift heavy, you will notice that your appetite will increase - so be sure your getting enough quality calories to fuel up. Lots of veggies, legumes, fruits/nuts & some whole grains, etc.

Find a mix that works best for you & your lifestyle. Good luck!