Replace fat for muscle

mikerg_nz

Hi there.

What are every ones thoughts on how to replace body fat with muscle gain? I'm a tall slender man @ 45 yrs old with a fast metabolism that has started to slow down. I would like to gain some mass but dont want the bulky look. Muscular without huge muscles... What the communities advice be to achieve this?

psuLemon

Semantically, you can't replace fat with muscle, but what you are likely referring to is a recomp where you are focused on lift heavy, eating high protein, eating around maintenance, and working to gain muscle and potentially lose fat. Also, no one just randomly gets bulky. That is an intention thing that would take years. That shouldn't ever be your worry.

ninerbuff

Recomp and have a lifting program that accomplishes that goal.

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

MidlifeCrisisFitness

I hate to over-simplify this but it really is this.

• Less fat - put yourself in a caloric deficit.
• More muscle - stimulate the recovery repair process by putting your muscles into progressive overload.

Essentially you can build muscle when leaning out, at maintenance or while bulking. I am 49 and not interested in bulking. I built muscle while leaning out and while in maintenance.

The trick is your nutrition has to be pretty good if you are going to workout while restricting calories and expect your body to properly repair and recover and grow all simultaneously.

Jeff at Athlean-X has lots of videos on this topic.
https://youtu.be/_9pWLqaULjQ

DoubleG2

I am also a tall, slender man - 57. Was skinny fat. I started lifting 3 years ago and began lifting with more intensity 2 years ago. As the previous posters noted - slight caloric deficit + structured lifting program will achieve your goals And protein; you ought to target .7 - 1g of protein for each lb of lean mass. I am by no means 'huge', but I am proportionately larger. It's a slow process - but for an old dude like me, the journey is worth the results. (and I'm no longer embarrassed to shed my shirt at the beach) There is a ton of great advice in this forum by others who have a ton more experience than me. Good luck!

Chieflrg

Consistent resistance training that includes sufficient volume with appropriate intensity sprinkled with enough calories and patience.

Depending on you current body composition there are a few avenues for efficiency how to get to your goal. You might consider hiring a experience trainer.

GaryRuns

There are a lot of factors that come into play when attempting to gain muscle while losing fat:

1. What's your current body fat percentage?
2. How much weight training have you done up until now?
3. Are you eating sufficient protein? 2g/kg is a good starting point, although you can get away with slightly less. And you can certainly go with more if that helps you feel more satiated while in a calorie deficit.
4. Are you using a well structured, progressive program for lifting? Don't just go in the gym and lift whatever machine is free, although if you're brand new to lifting you'll probably still make gains doing that. Best to find a well structured program (see this forum discussion for a good start).
5. Are you keeping your calorie deficit reasonably small? Generally you don't want to lose more than 1% of your weight per week, and 0.5% might be even better if you want to more efficiently gain muscle while losing fat. I've also heard there are studies saying that if you keep your weight loss rate small you're more likely to be successful keeping it off long term.
6. Gaining muscle is never a fast process, but especially so if you're trying to lose fat at the same time. Be aware that it can be a slow process, depending on all the factors above. Are you prepared to make a commitment for the amount of time necessary?

ndj1979

mikerg_nz wrote: »

Hi there.

What are every ones thoughts on how to replace body fat with muscle gain? I'm a tall slender man @ 45 yrs old with a fast metabolism that has started to slow down. I would like to gain some mass but dont want the bulky look. Muscular without huge muscles... What the communities advice be to achieve this?

Replacing fat with muscle is the holy grail of lifting and is essentially not possible. However, you can run a recomp to do this over time but it is a loooong process...

Theoldguy1

mikerg_nz wrote: »

Hi there.

What are every ones thoughts on how to replace body fat with muscle gain? I'm a tall slender man @ 45 yrs old with a fast metabolism that has started to slow down. I would like to gain some mass but dont want the bulky look. Muscular without huge muscles... What the communities advice be to achieve this?

Lots of good suggestions above.

To be honest, yes there is a slight slowing of the metabolism with age but not much. Your resting metabolic rate (calories burned just "existing") decreases about 5% each decade after 40. So if it was 1600 when you were 40 at age 50 it will be 1520, or around the calories in a typical slice of bread.

Sample article
https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/fighting-40s-flab#1

ninerbuff

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

mikerg_nz wrote: »

Hi there.

What are every ones thoughts on how to replace body fat with muscle gain? I'm a tall slender man @ 45 yrs old with a fast metabolism that has started to slow down. I would like to gain some mass but dont want the bulky look. Muscular without huge muscles... What the communities advice be to achieve this?

Lots of good suggestions above.

To be honest, yes there is a slight slowing of the metabolism with age but not much. Your resting metabolic rate (calories burned just "existing") decreases about 5% each decade after 40. So if it was 1600 when you were 40 at age 50 it will be 1520, or around the calories in a typical slice of bread.

Sample article
https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/fighting-40s-flab#1

Yep. For me the biggest issue is losing strength. Every year I seem to lose a little more. But I've come to terms with it the past 6 years now. I just focus more and more on the contractions. Especially eccentric.


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

Sportertje354

For me, besides proper food, cycling and swimming to burn fat, and calesthenics and doing weights for building muscle. Climbing with cycling can be great for some muscles like in the legs, don't go too much endurance because you will burn your muscles