want to gain muscle and lose fat any suggestions?

rnroadrunner

I would like to gain several pounds of muscle while losing body fat. I am open to any suggestions. High protein diet? what?

sara_xo

Well, high protein and moderate carb and lower fats. try the 60p/20c/20f formula.

Bearface115

i agree cardio and strength train

Charlie001

oNLY WAY IS WHAT THEy JUST SAID. You must do your cardio. Do moderate strength training. If you have no experience, it is worth it to get a trainer for a few months. Diet, Diet , Diet.

carl1738

It's actually very hard to gain muscle while losing fat, simply because you're not eating enough calories to promote muscle growth. However, it's not impossible. I've added two inches to my arms over the last six months while losing eight inches off of my waist. I try to eat a lot of protein (about 40% of my calories). I try to consume most of my carbs after my workout, along with a whey protein shake, when your muscles need them the most to start repairing themselves. I also have a protein shake of casein protein before bed because casein is a slow digesting protein, and helps give your body a steady source of protein while you sleep. Check out a couple of sites like Men's Health or Muscle and Fitness. They should have more and better information on how to lose weight while trying to keep or increase your present muscle than I can really provide. Hope this helps out a bit!

msbanana

: It's really not hard to gain muscle and lose fat. Granted it doesn't happen over night but all you have to do is... ARE YOU READY??? Lift heavy stuff and do cardio. Eat within your calorie limit (eating back some but not all exercise cals) and get lotsa protien. That's it. If you need suggestions on lifting heavy stuff hit me up. I don't use machines- just free weights and bodyweight exercises. I keep building muscle and losing fat... It's amazing how our bodies respond once we remove them from the couch and stop stuffing them with junk. :drinker

lilmissy2

It's actually much easier to lose fat and gain muscle than just to simply gain muscle. You need to have adequate protein (about 1g/kg body weight) but there isn't really any benefit in terms of muscle building to consuming extra protein. Basically, to build muscle you need to a) have calories available (this can be from food or from body fat, it doesn't really matter although of course it is important for your health that you aren't following a super low cal diet) b) Do exercise, both cardio and strength training help build muscle but it really depends on the type of look you are going for. A combination of both is usually and good idea and c) Eat adequate protein, excess will just put unnecessary pressure on your kidneys and not really contribute to what you are trying to achieve.

So basically, you should be able to build muscle and lose fat by eating a range of food that fits into the calorie plan you have chosen, including any exercise calories and exercising.

Hope that helps

Egger29

Building Muscle and Losing fat are two separate working and eating plans. This is where periodization comes into play for your workouts.

To effectively build new muscle, you need an increase in your daily protein intake along with your total calories (Protien as the primary building block of tissue and carb/fats as the energy stores inside each individual cell.

Losing fat requires a reduction in your daily calorie intake while continuing your strength training in order to maintain the muscle tissue (lean mass) already in your body.

There are alot of resources that'll give you workout plans for each, and an average periodization plan is 8-12 weeks. If you like I can recommend some good resources that can help you to set up a plan for the next 6 months.

Most people generally go for the fat loss program first since that brings results they can see alot more visibly (since fat loss is more visually apparent than a lean mass gain due to the pound to pound size ratio of each. Plus, the healthy eating habits you'll gain in doing a fat loss program will enable you to more easily modify your diet to put on additional muscle, since you'll be looking at finding ways to increase your daily intake but without putting on fat.

binary_jester

Most people generally go for the fat loss program first since that brings results they can see alot more visibly (since fat loss is more visually apparent than a lean mass gain due to the pound to pound size ratio of each. Plus, the healthy eating habits you'll gain in doing a fat loss program will enable you to more easily modify your diet to put on additional muscle, since you'll be looking at finding ways to increase your daily intake but without putting on fat.

I gave found my muscles appear bigger as I lose weight.

edorice

Lift weights, eat 40-50% protein, lift weights, rest, repeat...

tross0924

: It's really not hard to gain muscle and lose fat. Granted it doesn't happen over night but all you have to do is... ARE YOU READY??? Lift heavy stuff and do cardio. Eat within your calorie limit (eating back some but not all exercise cals) and get lotsa protien. That's it. If you need suggestions on lifting heavy stuff hit me up. I don't use machines- just free weights and bodyweight exercises. I keep building muscle and losing fat... It's amazing how our bodies respond once we remove them from the couch and stop stuffing them with junk. :drinker

I did it this way too.

binary_jester

Lift weights, eat 40-50% protein, lift weights, rest, repeat...

I have to lift weights repeatedly? Hmm that explains a lot.

jtsmou

Read this, and formulate a plan.

http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/Lift-Weight-to-Lose-Weight.htm

rnroadrunner

Awesome advice everyone thanks

Egger29

Most people generally go for the fat loss program first since that brings results they can see alot more visibly (since fat loss is more visually apparent than a lean mass gain due to the pound to pound size ratio of each. Plus, the healthy eating habits you'll gain in doing a fat loss program will enable you to more easily modify your diet to put on additional muscle, since you'll be looking at finding ways to increase your daily intake but without putting on fat.

I gave found my muscles appear bigger as I lose weight.

Exactly! As body fat takes up more space as you become leaner, muscular definition comes naturally as a result!

alantin

The thing is, my muscles are smaller than I thought..

Please, post those recommendations, you wrote about!
I'm pretty soon at a point where I'll want to build some muscle too so I'm thinking about some kind of perodization..
How does it usually go? Does your weight leap up at first when changing diet? How soon can a total beginner expect to see results? I have only lifted to preserve muscle while on a weight loss program so this is pretty new for me..
I do martial arts about 4-5 times a week which includes a lot of kicking and also body weight exercises. In addition I go wall climbing about once a week. Do you think I should add some additional resistance training? I don't aim for any massive muscle gain. Just want to get stronger and getting from ex-fat skinnyish look to athletic would be welcome too..

rnroadrunner

bump

MisdemeanorM

You may want to eat at maintenance level or just a very small deficit. Though you don't necessarily need to eat back all your exercise cals then. That's more conducive to putting on the muscle weight, but as you put on muscle you will burn your fat, and when you are more muscley, it'd be easier to burn more fat later. Don't necessarily focus on trying to lose weight (undereating) while doing this.

It's like P90x. They don't feed you at a deficit on that program (though you don't eat all your exercise cals, so you end up with some deficit), but on a program set to build muscle.