Losing Weight & Gaining Muscle?

new_joe

Hi guys! So I've always been wondering, people say abs are made in the kitchen, so it's mainly a matter of proper dieting. They also say that it doesn't matter if you're doing 100 crunches a day if your diet is poor because your ab muscles will just be hidden under all your fat. What I'm wondering is if your diet is good and healthy, would doing those crunches be more beneficial even though you still have some fat hanging around? I've always steered away from doing any intensive strength workouts because I still have some fat that I would like to shed from proper dieting and I'm just scared that if i still have that fat hanging around and i start building muscle, it'll just double up in my thickness. So if my diet is good, is it recommended that I do go ahead and start building some muscle or should I just keep w/ shedding fat from good dieting and THEN start building muscle? What is the actual science that goes on when you have a good diet and you're doing strength training, still w/ some fat?

thavoice

Hi guys! So I've always been wondering, people say abs are made in the kitchen, so it's mainly a matter of proper dieting. They also say that it doesn't matter if you're doing 100 crunches a day if your diet is poor because your ab muscles will just be hidden under all your fat. What I'm wondering is if your diet is good and healthy, would doing those crunches be more beneficial even though you still have some fat hanging around? I've always steered away from doing any intensive strength workouts because I still have some fat that I would like to shed from proper dieting and I'm just scared that if i still have that fat hanging around and i start building muscle, it'll just double up in my thickness. So if my diet is good, is it recommended that I do go ahead and start building some muscle or should I just keep w/ shedding fat from good dieting and THEN start building muscle? What is the actual science that goes on when you have a good diet and you're doing strength training, still w/ some fat?

Muscle do burn more calories, but not a whole heck of alot.

Ever watch the biggest loser and see many of them lose weight yet gain muscle?

The crunches will be beneficial to do now, no doubt about that. They may not be visible until the dieting gets the fat burned but it most def will work.

A big misconception by people who dont want to weight train is that they know muscle weighs more than fat so they think it will be counterproductive, but in reality most people who lift arent bulking up to big time.

Go ahead and do your crunches, lift you weights, etc. It will be more beneficial than not doing it at all.

chrisdavey

When you lose weight it will either be fat or LBM.

If you lose it through diet alone it is unlikely that you will keep very much LBM. Maybe 20% fat, 80% LBM.

If you do some cardio it may change to 50% fat, 50% LBM.

If you do resistance training (with progressive tension overload) you may change to 70% fat, 30% LBM.

All random numbers but you get the idea.

You can only actually gain muscle while losing fat if:
A: you are a beginner to strength training
B: you have previously trained and have muscle memory
C: you are on drugs

So go ahead and do your crunches. If you can do more than about 20 though you are going to primarily work the aerobic system anyway so not optimal for retaining or building LBM.