Need to lose fat and gain muscle. Help!

lollie1285

Hello all!

I’m a group exercise instructor who has completely changed around my current fitness routine - but still unsure if I’m on the right path. After a recent InBody scan, I was told that I have very low muscle mass and a higher body fat percentage (28.6%). I find it mind boggling since I eat well and work out 4-5 times a week on top of teaching classes but alas, most of the working out I do is bodyweight HIIT. So, I took it upon myself to eliminate most of the cardio and instead focus on a heavy lifting and HIIT combo — Beachbody’s LIIFT4. I love the program and I am really feeling sore after I lift, but I am so afraid that since I’m not doing as much cardio as I used to, I will gain fat. I will admit, I have only just maintained with the exercise I’ve done in the past so I’m excited to see what this strength training will do, but I really am afraid my body fat will go back up again. Any thoughts or tips? Am I on the right track or should I go for a different program, LIIFT4 is only four days a week with a 50/50 lift and HIIT split for two days, one day is a circuit and then another day has no cardio at all.

ElizabethKalmbach

Lifting will help your fat/lean mass ratio, but you'll want to keep an eye on your protein macro and make sure you're eating enough to actually *build* muscle. A calorie is a calorie, but you can't actually build a muscle with energy alone. Your body will need building materials.

lollie1285

ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »

Lifting will help your fat/lean mass ratio, but you'll want to keep an eye on your protein macro and make sure you're eating enough to actually *build* muscle. A calorie is a calorie, but you can't actually build a muscle with energy alone. Your body will need building materials.

Thank you for your response! Yes, eating enough protein is definitely not an issue for me. I’m about two weeks in and am already seeing an increase in my strength and I’m really excited! I already had a good base to work off of, so I think I really need to just push myself and find that edge.

sardelsa

Eat at maintenance (provided you are a healthy weight for your height), I don't know what LIFT4 entails but if it is a resistance/lifting program that has you progressing over time then it could work, also adequate protein and lots of patience. If you are doing these things you can slowly build muscle and lose fat to change your body composition and lower your bodyfat.

ElizabethKalmbach

I think the only other introductory tip to offer is that you should make sure that your lifting program is *progressive.* If you don't push yourself to lift *more* weight on a relatively continuous basis, you will just be doing cardio, rather than prompting your muscles to get *bigger* to support your "new" activity of lifting like... 2# more than you did last week. There are a ton of proven progressive lifting programs out there (I liked New Rules of Lifting for Women) so shop around and find something fun that feels right.

lollie1285

sardelsa wrote: »

Eat at maintenance (provided you are a healthy weight for your height), I don't know what LIFT4 entails but if it is a resistance/lifting program that has you progressing over time then it could work, also adequate protein and lots of patience. If you are doing these things you can slowly build muscle and lose fat to change your body composition and lower your bodyfat.

Hi there! Yes, LIIFT4 encourages you to increase your weights as you progress. It’s an 8 week program but you can always repeat the 8 weeks as many times as you want and going as heavy as you’d like until you meet your goals. I have already increased from last week (just two lbs or so). This is different for me because usually in the past I have lifted so infrequently I just tend to stay at the same weight forever. So I’m actively making sure I progress. You are right, lots of patience! But I can’t wait to see how far I go!

lollie1285

ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »

I think the only other introductory tip to offer is that you should make sure that your lifting program is *progressive.* If you don't push yourself to lift *more* weight on a relatively continuous basis, you will just be doing cardio, rather than prompting your muscles to get *bigger* to support your "new" activity of lifting like... 2# more than you did last week. There are a ton of proven progressive lifting programs out there (I liked New Rules of Lifting for Women) so shop around and find something fun that feels right.

So true. And this is the rut I found myself in over the last year or so. I was so infrequent with it that I just stayed at the same weight forever. Not this time! I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for other programs that will help me. Thank you!

sardelsa

Also if you want more information on recomp and to see some success stories you can check out this thread

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

lollie1285

sardelsa wrote: »

Also if you want more information on recomp and to see some success stories you can check out this thread

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Fabulous! Thanks!

AnnPT77

lollie1285 wrote: »

ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »

Lifting will help your fat/lean mass ratio, but you'll want to keep an eye on your protein macro and make sure you're eating enough to actually *build* muscle. A calorie is a calorie, but you can't actually build a muscle with energy alone. Your body will need building materials.

Thank you for your response! Yes, eating enough protein is definitely not an issue for me. I’m about two weeks in and am already seeing an increase in my strength and I’m really excited! I already had a good base to work off of, so I think I really need to just push myself and find that edge.

Maybe you already know this, but it's good to be aware that usually the initial stages of strength increase can happen pretty fast through "neuromuscular adaptation", basically recruiting and utilizing existing muscle fibers more effectively for this new activity. This can be accompanied by some visual "toning" (as people usually use that term).

This is a great thing, and can be very exciting/motivating. As that phase starts to wind down, and additional strength gain begins to depend relatively more on adding new muscle fiber, the progress can become a little slower. That's not a bad thing at all, but not realizing/expecting that might allow it to be demotivating.

It shouldn't be a worry; you've probably found a similar thing with cardiovascular exercise, with faster gains initially and more gradual - but still useful and rewarding - gains later. The strength changes tend to have objective numbers attached to progress, though, which can shine a light on that shift in progress rate.

Best wishes!