Gaining muscle while losing fat

cj778449

I've spent hours researching this topic on here, other forums, and online and the general consensus seems to be that to gain muscle you have to eat at a surplus then cut to lower your body fat percentage in order to see the muscles.

Is this appicable to someone who already has a high body fat percentage? I'm eating 10% below my TDEE to lose about 1/2 -1pound a week, I workout 6-7 days a week (lifting 4 days a week and at least an hour of cardio each day), and my bf% is now 32%.

I've read articles that suggested gaining muscle at a deficit is extremely hard for someone with an already low bf% but mines is nowhere near 4-8%. Will the lifting be just for fat loss only if I continue eating at a deficit or is it possible for me to put on muscle AND lower my bf? P.S. I've been working on modifying my diet slowly and lowering my daily fat and sodium consumption (in case you look at my diary).

Thanks in advance!

chivalryder

I'm going to have to go with the general concensus and say no, no you cannot build muscle mass while on a caloric deficit.

That being said, you can build strength while on a caloric deficit.

vismal

Certain conditions exist where it is possible to gain muscle whilst losing fat. They include people new to weight lifting, teenagers, people who are obese, those using PEDs. Whether or not you fall into any of those categories or not, you should still train with 1 goal in mind. If your main goal is to lose fat, then diet and train to lose fat. If you are lucky enough to gain small amount of muscle while doing so, good for you, if not, no worries. Once you have lost enough body fat that you are comfortable with your body, you can shift to a muscle gaining phase.

cj778449

@chilvaryder. And eating at maintenance while lifting would lend the same result as eating at a deficit? Just curious.

debsdoingthis

Build strength, absolutely. A small increase in muscle size may happen in a calorie deficit. I believe that's it referred to as a "newbie gain". However, as you reduce your body fat % you REVEAL more muscle. So you definitely look more muscular without having increased muscle size.

Galatea_Stone

Are you new to lifting?

Do you have a high body fat percent?

Are you returning to lifting after a very long hiatus?

If yes, then yes, you can add muscle while losing fat. People spout the whole "you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time while eating at a deficit", but they misunderstand that the general rule applies to people who have been lifting a long time, are already in shape with a relatively high LBM ratio, or have come close to their genetic potential.

If you're a novice, then you can add muscle and lose fat at the same time. MOST of the people asking this question fall into the CAN category.

cj778449

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely very new to lifting (nearly a month in) and have lost inches and weight since implementing it into my workouts.

cj778449

Are you new to lifting?

Do you have a high body fat percent?

Are you returning to lifting after a very long hiatus?

If yes, then yes, you can add muscle while losing fat. People spout the whole "you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time while eating at a deficit", but they misunderstand that the general rule applies to people who have been lifting a long time, are already in shape with a relatively high LBM ratio, or have come close to their genetic potential.

If you're a novice, then you can add muscle and lose fat at the same time. MOST of the people asking this question fall into the CAN category.

Thanks!! I remember reading that somewhere as well now that I think about it.

Galatea_Stone

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely very new to lifting (nearly a month in) and have lost inches and weight since implementing it into my workouts.

Have you worked out your macros? Keep your protein macro relatively high. Between 1 gram per pound lean mass and 1 gram per pound body weight, and don't go too low on carbs if you can avoid it. And make sure you're getting plenty of rest between workout days.

darkguardian419

The general idea behind lifting while being in a deficit is to preserve your current muscle mass as you will not build it.

Lifting while bulking is to build muscle mass, unfortunately you also gain fat mass.

Lifting at maintenance is an attempt to keep your body exactly how it is.

cj778449

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely very new to lifting (nearly a month in) and have lost inches and weight since implementing it into my workouts.

Have you worked out your macros? Keep your protein macro relatively high. Between 1 gram per pound lean mass and 1 gram per pound body weight, and don't go too low on carbs if you can avoid it. And make sure you're getting plenty of rest between workout days.

Yes, I've used a few calculators for my macros and got 42g for protein (but I felt this was low so I eat at least 80), 208g for carbs, and 103 for fat. I have 105 lbs of lean muscle so my protein should be 105g daily?

ksy1969

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely very new to lifting (nearly a month in) and have lost inches and weight since implementing it into my workouts.

Have you worked out your macros? Keep your protein macro relatively high. Between 1 gram per pound lean mass and 1 gram per pound body weight, and don't go too low on carbs if you can avoid it. And make sure you're getting plenty of rest between workout days.

Yes, I've used a few calculators for my macros and got 42g for protein (but I felt this was low so I eat at least 80), 208g for carbs, and 103 for fat. I have 105 lbs of lean muscle so my protein should be 105g daily?

That protein is really low. Especially when doing weight loss and wanting to make some gains. As Galatea said, you need 1gm per lb of lean body mass. I don't know what calculator you used but I would recommend IIFYM.com. There are multiple out there but that one seems to be the most thorough.

Good Luck!!

cj778449

Again, thanks everyone. Got a ton of great (easy to understand) info

srmchan

My experience... I am a newbie lifter. I started lifting in May with 44% body fat. I'm eating at a deficit, my body fat is currently around 34-35%, and my current macros are 25% carbs, 40% fat and 35% protein. I eat at a 500 calorie deficit (based on a resting metabolic assessment) not including exercise burn. I've dropped a significant amount of body weight, but my lean body mass has increased approximately 4-5 lbs since May.

Sam

Galatea_Stone

My experience... I am a newbie lifter. I started lifting in May with 44% body fat. I'm eating at a deficit, my body fat is currently around 34-35%, and my current macros are 25% carbs, 40% fat and 35% protein. I eat at a 500 calorie deficit (based on a resting metabolic assessment) not including exercise burn. I've dropped a significant amount of body weight, but my lean body mass has increased approximately 4-5 lbs since May.

Sam

My LBM did the same thing when I started lifting. I read a study from the Mayo clinic not that long ago that found increase in muscle among sedentary obese participants from simply walking. I wish I could find it. I should have saved it as a file.

One of the things I think people confuse is muscle volume increases with increase in muscle fiber weight. Obvious hypertrophy does take eating at a surplus, but adding muscle mass to the body does not necessarily result in increased overall leg volume or bigger guns. I've seen cross-sections of thigh muscles showing the difference between sedentary people and active people, and it is rather eye-opening. A person who eats at a deficit while lifting can increase the actual size of the muscle, decrease the amount of fat, and shrink quite a bit in size. The same weight of fat has a far higher volume than the same weight of muscle. It doesn't mean that muscle wasn't gained simply because overall volume did not increase. For example, if a person were to lose 8 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of muscle, their overall size would be smaller.

Hell, if a person were to lose 5 pounds of fat and gain 8 pounds of muscle, their overall size would be smaller. Of course, that scenario just isn't going to happen without certain hormonal enhancements no matter who the person is.

srmchan

A friend of mine told me about the **** meal replacement shakes.

And here comes the spam. I see you've posted this same message to 4 other threads. :explode:

Here's a tip... you can make your own shakes without paying premium prices.

My personal post-workout shake is as follows. You can call it BodyBySam and the recipe is FREE. :smokin:
1/4 cup Fage Greek Gods full fat yogurt
1/2 tbsp almond butter (no-sugar added)
1 scoop of DaVinci Vanilla Whey Protein powder
1 scoop Dynamic Greens
1 cup Silk almond milk
small handful of ice cubes

Note while I use volumes in the recipe, I actually weigh out everything in grams. I think this is especially important for calorie dense food like almond butter since small errors can add up to a lot of calories. It's pretty fast; just put the blender container on the scale and tare it after adding each ingredient. The above comes out to 296 calories: ~38% fat, ~26% carbs and ~37% protein. Tastes better than ice cream and most (if not all) ingredients are available at the grocery store.

Sam

srmchan

A person who eats at a deficit while lifting can increase the actual size of the muscle, decrease the amount of fat, and shrink quite a bit in size.

Anecdotally, that's consistent with my experience. My biceps, triceps, quads and calves are noticeably larger - especially the leg muscles as I've been working my lower body more than my upper body. I think my glutes have grown as well because I can flex/squeeze them much better than I could in the past - but there's still too much fat in the way to tell for certain.

I'm looking forward to reaching lower body fat numbers so I can see what lies beneath. The fun part is as I feel muscles getting larger and harder, it motivates me to eat better and work-out more. The process is sort of feeding itself.

Sam

alereck

Read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818594-building-muscle-and-losing-fat-at-the-same-time

Which tells you to read this:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

I put the first link there because these guys know their stuff, join the group and read it up. They also give advice when you are stalled in progress.

Good luck!