Weight Loss and Muscle Gain

rutkowsm

I'm a little confused about how this works. Losing weight, I know, requires a calorie deficit. I understand that and it makes sense to me. I've (embarrassingly recently) learned that a calorie surplus is needed in order to gain muscle. I guess I'd just believed that if you exercise you gain muscle, but it makes sense (thinking about it now) that a surplus would be needed in order to gain anything.

I'd like to lose weight (fat) and gain a few pounds of muscle; is it possible to do these things at the same time? Does resistance training while losing weight only help to maintain muscle mass and not increase it?

iwantniceabs

bump - im in the same boat

brucedelaney

It depends on how much fat you have to spare basically. When you're in a caloric deficit you lose mass primarily from fat to supply you with energy. Technically the energy you're burning from fat can be used to do workouts which can increase lean mass. The gain of lean mass is however minimal.

Rae6503

I'd like to lose weight (fat) and gain a few pounds of muscle; is it possible to do these things at the same time?

The short answer is: No, you can't do both. (The long answer is maybe, sometimes, but pretty much never, here's why, blah, blah, blah).

I've decided to put further weight loss on hold for the winter and focus on muscle gain. I've heard 10% above maintenance is a good goal, or even 500 over. Of course this requires knowing what your maintenance calories are and well, not saying "fvck all" like I have been for a week or so....

In addition to the surplus you also need to lift heavy in a manner which builds strength and muscle mass (increasing weights as often as possible, doing compound lifts, changing things, taking lifting breaks), eating 1 gram of protien for every pound of lean mass, eating enough fat, getting enough sleep,,,,, and probably other factors.

Does resistance training while losing weight only help to maintain muscle mass and not increase it?

Pretty much just maintains it. Your existing muscle mass also can become stronger but it most likely won't increase in size or mass.

Megan2Project

I call BS.

I am in a deficit all the time, but through working out I am definately getting stronger. As long as you are getting the nutrients to repair your muscles from working out, you will gain muscle. Muscles grow from tearing and getting repaired with new protien essentially. So if you are working out and tearing your muscles, they will get repaired and grow stronger, and also larger.

I WILL say that the smaller you are, the closer to a surplus you would need to be. I have lots to spare so I'm not having that issue currently

love22step

I'm currently on day 28 of the 90 day Chalean Extreme program. The premise is that muscle burns fat by increasing your metabolism. It seems to be working. I'm getting stronger and leaner, and I'm still losing weight. I try to eat back most of my exercise calories, without going over, but I've stopped sweating it when I fall short. I know I need to lose the weight to have a flat tummy, but I'm more interested in my shape and how my clothes fit than in the scale numbers. I've read many articless that stress the importance of strength training as an important part of weight reduction.

love22step

Pretty much just maintains it. Your existing muscle mass also can become stronger but it most likely won't increase in size or mass.
[/quote]

Most of us ladies aren't looking for large muscles--we want muscle tone! I'm going for the lean, sleek look. :-)

msowens

I disagree that a calorie surplus is needed to gain muscle. I also disagree that you can't both lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. My own personal experience proves it.

For the last 10 months I have been getting fit. With the help of MFP I've been running a 500 calorie/day deficit (1 pound/week loss). During that time my weight has gone from 238 pounds to 212. I have also increased my muscle mass dramatically in that time such that my bench press and squat 1RM have increased by 50%. Chest and abdominal measurements are a little confounding, but clearly I've added about 2 inches to my arms, building both biceps and triceps. All muscle.

I track my body fat as well as weight. Some weeks I see my weight increase a bit but the body fat % stay the same or drop. Last week I did a hard weightlifting week. So today I weighed in and gained 2 pounds from last week, but my body fat decreased by 0.8%. That's 2 pounds plus of muscle gain.

Your body responds to a calorie deficit by burning fat. Your body also responds to muscle stimulus with hypertrophic changes. The two are separate processes. The body burns fat in response to a calorie deficit, and the body uses protein to build muscle.

As long as you are eating a healthy balanced diet, you can lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. If you are trying to build muscle and lose weight then you should increase the ratio of protein in your diet but keep the calorie intake the same.

jyork5407

Bumping to learn more.

genmills2001

Anecdotal evidence is not proof >.>. Just saying

Sidesteal

Lyle McDonald has good info on this.

Very briefly put and anecdotally (which I agree, is NOT proof, but until we see sufficient and accurate testing....)

1) Poeple returning to training or people who were once in good shape can effectively recomp or even show lean gains in a deficit.
2) Obese people who are new to weightlifting.

Muscle memory is a huge factor in 1) above and I've experienced this myself. I had substantial recomp success eating at maintenance and not being in a surplus, but when I started a year ago I fit into 1) above, as I was in decent shape in my 20's.

For 2), my understanding is that the effect isn't long lasting and the lean gains aren't substantial.

Also, strength gains do NOT necessarily indicate lean mass gains. Rate Coding can account for a substantial amount of strength increase and I'm also experiencing this in my last 2 months of cutting. Bodyweight went down from 190 to 181, bodyfat from approximately 16 to 12%, and ALL my lifts are UP. I am not gaining lean mass.

EDIT: But if you don't fall into either the above categories, I don't think you should plan on gaining much lean tissue in a deficit. You'll likely get better results choosing to cut or bulk according to your current physique and your goals.

Yanicka1

I'd like to lose weight (fat) and gain a few pounds of muscle; is it possible to do these things at the same time?

The short answer is: No, you can't do both. (The long answer is maybe, sometimes, but pretty much never, here's why, blah, blah, blah).

I've decided to put further weight loss on hold for the winter and focus on muscle gain. I've heard 10% above maintenance is a good goal, or even 500 over. Of course this requires knowing what your maintenance calories are and well, not saying "fvck all" like I have been for a week or so....

In addition to the surplus you also need to lift heavy in a manner which builds strength and muscle mass (increasing weights as often as possible, doing compound lifts, changing things, taking lifting breaks), eating 1 gram of protien for every pound of lean mass, eating enough fat, getting enough sleep,,,,, and probably other factors.

Does resistance training while losing weight only help to maintain muscle mass and not increase it?

Pretty much just maintains it. Your existing muscle mass also can become stronger but it most likely won't increase in size or mass.

this is the only answer that make sens and is based on scientific evidences.

joeykimura44

This is a big misnomer. You can both lose BODY FAT(not 'body weight, per say) & STILL gain muscle. Its not impossible, it can be done, in fact it is done all the time on a regular basis. The only way you are going to accomplish it is through a meticulously clean diet. As they say, muscles are made in the kitchen and not in the gym. This holds true for body fat, or 'loss of body fat.'

Simple breakdown is: Find your metabolic type, customize the proper fat burning diet to cater to your individual goals and commit to a cardio/strength training program 5 times a week. That's it really! Combing a physical training program along with a clean diet you will simultaneously gain muscle which in turn will naturally burn body fat. With consistency you will automatically program the body to burn fat damn near all the time.

Most important thing is diet, diet, DIET! I can not stress this enough! Equip yourself with the right nutritional knowledge and fundamental principles and the rest will naturally fall in place. Without the right type of diet customized just for the specific individual you are doomed to failure. Singledigitbodyfat.net

Sidesteal

Singledigitbodyfat.net

^ Random site that sells weight loss systems/products. Just FYI.

Silverkittycat

to the OP, it really depends on whether you're defining "gain muscle" as in muscle mass or muscle strength and conditioning.

rutkowsm

to the OP, it really depends on whether you're defining "gain muscle" as in muscle mass or muscle strength and conditioning.

I'm looking to do both. I want to up my lean body mass while I reduce my body fat percentage (which I had calculated recently and it was both encouraging and discouraging).

Rae6503

Just losing fat will reduce your body fat percentage. Eat a lot of protein, strength train to help maintain the existing muscle you have. Then once you are satisfied with your fat loss (or just need a break from it) you can focus on building new muscle. Again, this is what I am doing.

ninerbuff

I call BS.

I am in a deficit all the time, but through working out I am definately getting stronger. As long as you are getting the nutrients to repair your muscles from working out, you will gain muscle. Muscles grow from tearing and getting repaired with new protien essentially. So if you are working out and tearing your muscles, they will get repaired and grow stronger, and also larger.

I WILL say that the smaller you are, the closer to a surplus you would need to be. I have lots to spare so I'm not having that issue currently

You can call BS, but the Journal of Sport and Exercise Science as well as others have done studies on this and the outcomes have been consistent.

Unless you fall into one of the 3 (athlete returning to lifting after a long layoff, overweight or obese person new to exercise, a total newbie with no exercise history) then the chances of gaining muscle is not probable while on calorie deficit. Even if your nutrition, training and rest were spot on, it's almost impossible. If it were true then competitive bodybuilders would ALWAYS be cut and they aren't. I'm more than sure they have much much better nutrition, training and rest than others do and their life revolves around putting on pure muscle. They all know you HAVE to be in surplus to do it.

You can get stronger without muscle increasing in mass. Especially if you train heavy.

ninerbuff

I disagree that a calorie surplus is needed to gain muscle. I also disagree that you can't both lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. My own personal experience proves it.

For the last 10 months I have been getting fit. With the help of MFP I've been running a 500 calorie/day deficit (1 pound/week loss). During that time my weight has gone from 238 pounds to 212. I have also increased my muscle mass dramatically in that time such that my bench press and squat 1RM have increased by 50%. Chest and abdominal measurements are a little confounding, but clearly I've added about 2 inches to my arms, building both biceps and triceps. All muscle.

I track my body fat as well as weight. Some weeks I see my weight increase a bit but the body fat % stay the same or drop. Last week I did a hard weightlifting week. So today I weighed in and gained 2 pounds from last week, but my body fat decreased by 0.8%. That's 2 pounds plus of muscle gain.

Your body responds to a calorie deficit by burning fat. Your body also responds to muscle stimulus with hypertrophic changes. The two are separate processes. The body burns fat in response to a calorie deficit, and the body uses protein to build muscle.

As long as you are eating a healthy balanced diet, you can lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. If you are trying to build muscle and lose weight then you should increase the ratio of protein in your diet but keep the calorie intake the same.

Anecdotes aren't evidence. Increase in strength doesn't mean increase in muscle. And you gained 2lbs of muscle in a week? What is your measure device for body fat? If it's bio electric then influx of water can change the reading in minutes of drinking more water..................
Not that I really know anything because I've been doing it for over 28 years..............

ninerbuff

This is a big misnomer. You can both lose BODY FAT(not 'body weight, per say) & STILL gain muscle. Its not impossible, it can be done, in fact it is done all the time on a regular basis. The only way you are going to accomplish it is through a meticulously clean diet. As they say, muscles are made in the kitchen and not in the gym. This holds true for body fat, or 'loss of body fat.'

Simple breakdown is: Find your metabolic type, customize the proper fat burning diet to cater to your individual goals and commit to a cardio/strength training program 5 times a week. That's it really! Combing a physical training program along with a clean diet you will simultaneously gain muscle which in turn will naturally burn body fat. With consistency you will automatically program the body to burn fat damn near all the time.

Most important thing is diet, diet, DIET! I can not stress this enough! Equip yourself with the right nutritional knowledge and fundamental principles and the rest will naturally fall in place. Without the right type of diet customized just for the specific individual you are doomed to failure. Singledigitbodyfat.net

There's a difference of gaining lean muscle and losing body fat to see it. Unless there is peer reviewed studies to back this up, then it's another anecdotal statement.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I just want to basically quote what ninerbuff, Rachel, and sidesteal said . . . it is possible in certain situations and categories, but unlikely and anecdotal evidence does not make a fully researched study. However, the great thing about weight training on a deficit is that you can decrease the percentage of weight loss attributed to lean mass by incorporating regular heavy lifting into your training program if it's not there already (none of that bro science that women should lift light with lots of reps and myths about women and easy bulkiness). For example before I was lifting heavy and just lifting I was losing 25% lean mass per pound and after I started lifting heavy in short reps I was losing 10% lean mass per pound. Muscles are beautiful!! Good luck!!