Lose fat first then build muscle?

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  • annabeladcock
    annabeladcock Posts: 99
    Also - I would like to see results by the end of September, so yes, I am being realistic about my time frame I think :) I have a holiday in 4 weeks time but I know that I will not be anywhere near where I want to be at by then...
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    NO! Lift weights now.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    NO! Lift weights now.

    Agreed! This needs to happen whether cutting or bulking.

    Bulking is best done on a low body fat.

    Lifting heavy will prevent any muscle loss, and may even build muscle if you're new to it, on a cut.

    By the time she bulks she will know how to lift too.

    Women can only gain approx .25lb of muscle per week, with sufficient protein, 3x full body heavy lifting and a calorie excess of 2/300 cals per day.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    While setting a figure on the scales doesn't always make sense, you could try aiming for your 10lb loss with a .5lb/week rate - so it will take 20 weeks, which is a fair bit of time.

    At that 'pace' and with 'newbie gains', hopefully you will also see strength improvements.

    I would drop calories from whatever you are 'maintaining' on by 250 a day and see how that goes - measure with libra or similar app/spreadsheet and move your deficit around based on that.

    Make sure you keep your protein levels up.

    As above - starting strength or strong lifts are a good start - heavy (for you) barbell work, but making sure you start light - you may want to start lighter than an Olympic bar for some exercises as the 20kg/45lb can be quite a lot (a female friend could just do the bar for her bench press, but I had her warming up on a smaller bar or my multigym.)

    Good stuff. Good luck OP. Please don't rush this, take measurements all the time. Don't cut without weight training, you'll not the results you're after.

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