Building muscle and gaining fat

JoeyFitness1718

So for building muscle and losing fat have I literally just got to get a lot of protein in me in a day but also stay in a caloric deficit. I have had people tell me that I need to eat more to put on muscle and people tell me to eat less and to be honest I’m just confused.

psuLemon

For optimal muscle growth, a surplus is required but you will gain fat. You can recomp, but its slow but will keep at bay any fat gains; things months to years. You can gain some muscle in a deficit while losing fat, but it won't be a lot and will taper off quickly.

If you want to lean out, stay in a deficit, get around .8-1g of protein /lb of weight, and most importantly, follow a structured lifting routine (not self designed) that is focused on progressive overload and hits each muscle 2-3x a week.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

CipherZero

Mind also that getting stronger may not require a calorie surplus.

Strength gains are a combination of factors, the two most important being:

• Muscle mass gain
• More muscle fiber recruitment

The latter happens the most in early weight training as the body learns to use a single nerve impluse to drive more muscle fibers to contract.

Eating more is required to put on significant muscle mass, but it doesn't have to be TDEE+1000 daily. I've been able to add more muscle mass on TDEE+200 and minimize the fat gains.

Cycling on and off calorie surpluses is the way to go to continue ot drive up weight training.