Loosing fat and muscle while working out 6x a week
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JenG20
Posts: 14 Member
Need some help guys.
I've been doing bodyweight exercises 6x a day with one rest day.
Almost meeting my calorie intake but not quite. I try my best to meet my protein intake.
I alternate yoga and hiit after my bodyweight workouts.
At the moment I don't know if I should increase my calorie intake or cut some cardio out?
(Goal: Gain muscle/loose fat)
I've been doing bodyweight exercises 6x a day with one rest day.
Almost meeting my calorie intake but not quite. I try my best to meet my protein intake.
I alternate yoga and hiit after my bodyweight workouts.
At the moment I don't know if I should increase my calorie intake or cut some cardio out?
(Goal: Gain muscle/loose fat)
1
Replies
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How are you determining the percentages of loss of each? I mean, recomp is what you're attempting? Or?3
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Kinda sounds like you're overdoing it to me. You need more rest days to build muscle. That you are building muscle via bodyweight is throwing me a bit. Are you doing pushups six days per week? That would be too much. What's your actual routine?
On the other hand, when I was in the yoga scene with people practicing power yoga styles, no one was suggesting rest days for them. However, their goal was not building muscle.9 -
Is your calorie intake goal a deficit to lose weight or is it maintenance to recomp? You cannot build muscle in a deficit.6
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If your goal is to gain muscle, than its more optimal to follow a structured lifting program. Don't get me wrong, you can gain a little muscle while doing body weight training, if its structured based on progressive overload, but its suboptimal.
So I would start with lifting and removing the bw/hiit training. The list below is a good place to start.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p16 -
My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.1 -
At home scales are not very accurate for bf%, they can easily be thrown off by hydration changes and where you carry your body fat. I would view those figures with a grain of salt.
Calorie changes would affect whether or not you are losing fat. A well designed lifting program combined with adequate protein and calories will affect muscle building. Keep in mind that building muscle is a slow process. A typical woman is going to add 1-2 lbs of muscle per month, in the best circumstances.
How long have you been on this plan, and what has your weight done in that time?5 -
I've been doing this for a month. So far I've dropped 5lbs.2
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My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.6 -
TrishSeren wrote: »My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.
I don't believe I'm on a deficit. I think I'm going over what my maintenance intake is.
Where can I check to see if I am going into a deficit?
7 -
TrishSeren wrote: »My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.
Well this is completely false. It's not as optimal, but it is definitely possible and more likely probable if there is a good training stimulus. If you want evidence, see below.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10611633/gaining-muscle-in-a-deficit/p17 -
My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
First, if you are losing weight, you are in a net deficit. Second, you burn body fat through a deficit, not through HIIT/cardio. Third, if your goal is to gain muscle, I would advise on lifting. It's far more optimal than HIIT. And of the evidence I have seen, HIIT is only good enough to help maintain muscle, not build it.
If you are hell bent on BW training, than get on a structured program like "you are your own gym" or convict conditioning. They are based on progressive overload and structured.... something that is a primary driver for hypertrophy.8 -
TrishSeren wrote: »My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.
I don't believe I'm on a deficit. I think I'm going over what my maintenance intake is.
Where can I check to see if I am going into a deficit?
Your scale.
Since you've been losing weight, you have created a calorie deficit.9 -
TrishSeren wrote: »My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.
I don't believe I'm on a deficit. I think I'm going over what my maintenance intake is.
Where can I check to see if I am going into a deficit?
You said you lost 5 pounds, so, therefore, you're in a deficit.6 -
TrishSeren wrote: »My goal is to ultimately gain muscle and burn fat. Every week I try to calculate an expected calories burned from training 6x.
I try to build muscle by doing the bodyweight and weight training. Leaving hiit/cardio to burn fat.
Yoga is just added to increase flexibility and ease sore muscles.
You can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. The bodyweight/weight training is good as it'll help your body hold onto the muscle you already have but you wouldn't see an increase of muscle mass as you're eating in a deficit.
Well this is completely false. It's not as optimal, but it is definitely possible and more likely probable if there is a good training stimulus. If you want evidence, see below.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10611633/gaining-muscle-in-a-deficit/p1
Interesting, thanks for this!4 -
OP:
Based on my experience, gaining muscle and losing fat are conflicting goals and, while it is possible to try to do both at the same time it is better to try to do them separately.
Generally speaking, bodybuilders do this in cut and bulk phases.
The cut is when you do what you need to do lose fat but not also lose too much muscle by eating at a slight deficit, engaging in cardio activities and moderate wt lifting to maintain strength/muscle mass. This is basically what you are doing now.
Then to build muscle, you would eat at a surplus, reduce or eliminate cardio and lift HEAVY to build muscle mass BUT an unavoidable result of this is also gaining wt & fat.
So, you then have to cut again to burn off the fat gained while bulking but not so much that you lose too much of the muscle gained in the prior bulking phase. And so on
Professional body builders go thru these cycles constantly gradually building muscle mass and losing fat in the process.
As noted, what you are currently doing is mostly about reducing wt and fat and, as others have already said, any muscle gain you might get from doing BW exercise is negligible. This is because significant increases in strength and muscle mass are mainly achieved by using progressively heavier and heavier wts which is not possible doing only BW exercises. Yoga is just another type of BW exercise mostly focused on flexibility and isometric strength training which is also unlikely to increase your muscle mass.
Now, as I say this, I am wondering if you may be confusing gaining MUSCLE w/gaining STRENGTH (which are NOT necessarily the same thing) because while what you are doing is beneficial to losing fat and gaining STRENGTH (and fitness), they are NOT most conducive to building MUSCLE.
If that's what you are trying to do - lose fat and build your general strength & fitness - then just continue doing what you are doing until you make no further progress and other changes suitable to those goals will be needed but, if you truly want to gain MUSCLE, you will need to switch to a bulking phase after you have lost as much wt/fat as is reasonable or practical based on your current efforts.
Good luck!5 -
psuLemon
Thanks for your info there. Very helpful. I’m trying to get most out of my workouts done through bw training because at the moment I can’t get to the gym.
Also thanks for also pointing out that body fat is burned through a deficit than cardio. I’ll be looking into that link you sent too!

sgt1372
Thanks for your comment. I decided that I’ll start with the cutting phase. I’m just concerned on loosing too much muscle.
Yes! I’ll stick to what I’m doing at the moment I’m planning on bulking then later in the fall.
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Doesn't the body prefer to burn fat first when in a calorie deficit?0
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TallGent66 wrote: »Doesn't the body prefer to burn fat first when in a calorie deficit?
The body wants the most convienient source of energy.
Usually itll burn glucose in the muscle then fat stores combined with protein (muscle) stores and finally even lean or vital organ tissue if it comes to it.
If you are stimulating the muscle tissue to grow (ie resistance training) the body will prefer fat bc it needs to be rebuilding muscle tissue to heal. Hence why most suggest resisitance training on top of proper diet for weight loss. So you lose "mostly" fat.0 -
robthephotog wrote: »TallGent66 wrote: »Doesn't the body prefer to burn fat first when in a calorie deficit?
The body wants the most convienient source of energy.
Usually itll burn glucose in the muscle then fat stores combined with protein (muscle) stores and finally even lean or vital organ tissue if it comes to it.
If you are stimulating the muscle tissue to grow (ie resistance training) the body will prefer fat bc it needs to be rebuilding muscle tissue to heal. Hence why most suggest resisitance training on top of proper diet for weight loss. So you lose "mostly" fat.
Is it realistic to hope for lost weight to be 80% fat, 20% muscle? Or 90 / 10?
Thank you.0
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