Muscle Gains on Caloric Deficit

ArroganceInStep

Between May of last year and now I have gone from 41% body fat to 24%. In that same time I have gained 3 pounds of lean mass. I don't think it's possible, I know it's possible because I've done it.

I would need to know a bit more about what you've done to speak to this. It is possible that part of that LBM came towards the beginning of your workout push, as small muscle mass gains are possible when just starting a strength training regime or when very overweight. Regardless of the time period though those improvements are tremendous, and debate aside congratulations.

Edit to account for posts while I was typing mine up: I am currently able to gain a small amount of muscle mass while losing because of how high my bf % is. It's around where you started, I think that would account for the 3 lb gain you saw, particularly since you had already been lifting.

Reason I ask: If I'm doing nothing and then start a diet and exercise program, I could be getting stronger. Does this means I'm gainning muscle? Also, why am I not losing weight, but losing inches? I would think fat is being loss, water and other things may be retained, but my muscles sure look healthier and like they are bigger.

There's a fairly large debate over this in general. I, like a lot of folks (there is research behind this as well), believe that except for a few cases (being very obese to begin with or coming back to lifting after a long period off) it isn't possible to grow muscle mass without a calorie surplus to support that growth. That doesn't mean that you can't become stronger, as muscles can grow stronger without growing in size. Also lowering your body fat % can make muscles look bigger even though they haven't grown, simply because you can see them better.

erickirb

I love the answers so far. Didn't get as much of debate on this as I'd thought. The article was a great read also, very good insight. So in short:

It is possible by very fat people in the beggining of their workout and people who were once trained and started to train again after getting out of shape. It gets really hard once you are lean.

I was also thinking it depends on what you are eating, because if you are taking in High Protien very low carbs, where does your body get the energy? Wouldn't fat be easier to break down for energy than protien?

There seems to be sooo many variables involved.

Your body will store fat and burn muscle if your fat stores are not too large, this is done to lower your metabolism as the more muscle you have the more cals you burn at rest, so your body gets rid of muscle so that it will not use as many calories, and your fat stores will last longer (slower fat loss). Survival response

Scott613

If you never worked out and started or are heavier set it is possible however, you won't be gaining near as much muscle as you think.

Tujitsu56

I have read about the whole survival loss things as well and I'm not talking about going into that much of a caloric deficit. I'm thinking along the lines of a normal caloric deficit, but tailored diet for high protien. You won't have the carbs to burn as fuel for your exercise so where do you get energy? It just sounds bad to say that the energy pulled would be by breaking down muscle, but if you are doing strength gaining exercise, wouldn't that be STUPID of your body so to speak? lol, I am not making any sound statement here, more brainstorming and trying to understand. I defintiely appreciate your feedback.

I love the answers so far. Didn't get as much of debate on this as I'd thought. The article was a great read also, very good insight. So in short:

It is possible by very fat people in the beggining of their workout and people who were once trained and started to train again after getting out of shape. It gets really hard once you are lean.

I was also thinking it depends on what you are eating, because if you are taking in High Protien very low carbs, where does your body get the energy? Wouldn't fat be easier to break down for energy than protien?

There seems to be sooo many variables involved.

Your body will store fat and burn muscle if your fat stores are not too large, this is done to lower your metabolism as the more muscle you have the more cals you burn at rest, so your body gets rid of muscle so that it will not use as many calories, and your fat stores will last longer (slower fat loss). Survival response

ArroganceInStep

I have read about the whole survival loss things as well and I'm not talking about going into that much of a caloric deficit. I'm thinking along the lines of a normal caloric deficit, but tailored diet for high protien. You won't have the carbs to burn as fuel for your exercise so where do you get energy? It just sounds bad to say that the energy pulled would be by breaking down muscle, but if you are doing strength gaining exercise, wouldn't that be STUPID of your body so to speak? lol, I am not making any sound statement here, more brainstorming and trying to understand. I defintiely appreciate your feedback.

I'm not going to try to go too much into the technical aspects of it because I'll probably flub it up and misspeak. Check out bodyrecomposition.com for more info on this (there's other sites too but this is what I've been reading lately).

1) One of the reasons people strength train while cutting fat is to promote the preservation of lean mass. If you strength train on a deficit: you can increase your strength even though mass will most likely not increase, and you will slow or (ideally) stop lean mass loss as a result of your diet.

2) Carbs aren't the only way to get energy. Read this (and note the carb section):
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/a-primer-on-nutrition-part-1.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/a-primer-on-nutrition-part-2.html

efarrar13

http://www.shelterpub.com/_fitness/_office_fitness_clinic/OFC_wt_mgmt.html