Opinions needed on muscle building while lowering body fat

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  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Okay i get the lifting heavy thing ive been doing this....But ive read on here a thousand times you need to eat clean and cardio to burn body fat....no spot reductions exist so i need to keep pounding out the cardio to get my body fat % lower correct....Like i said end weight doesnt bother me long as i have low body fat %.

    I have been lifting heavy since i started weight loss and havent lost any strength actually have gained some...and a fair amount of toning for the length i have been doing it.

    I just want to know whats the best way to shed the body fat %....and weither im going to get any more muscle gains doing it or if ill have to wait until my body fat is low enough

    ETA: I echo the protein recommenations also.

    In your situation excessive cardio will be counter productive to a degree.

    Keep up the heavy lifting, eat at a reasonable deficit, do some cardio if you want to create a deficit that way - get the BF% down.
  • texastango
    texastango Posts: 309
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    Thanks Rach. I should point out I'm a sponsored Gaspari Athlete and also act as a private prep coach. I'm not some random giving out random advice. Its my job.

    I always recommend to the guys I prep (I currently have around 10 paying customers on my books) to cut fat first and lean bulk second. That way confidence improves as you feel lean and more muscled (even tho in reality you are just less fat) and when you bulk you are more anabolic and can register fat gain better as you put on muscle and retard calories as required.

    I have to say I agree with Matt here. I'm not a professional in this area, but I've read a lot of scientific literature about this area. More than most of you want to know. I can quote glycogen storage amounts, burn rates, benefits of carb loading in athelete runners...yada yada....I've also read a lot about dieting, I'm investigating Plateau Science, and Muscle building to sort out chaff from science. I use websites like SCAN (Sports Cardiovascular Wellness and Health Nutrition) and books like their manual for professionals......

    All that said...What Matt is saying, in my opinion, is a healthy wise approach to building muscle and dieting, unless as he mentioned in a prior quote, you are a genetic freak.

    I agree with him...from my experience..and from reading. He is giving you a balanced and grounded approach that in most cases will be successful. What more can you ask?

    PS I"m not one of his clients nor a sponsor! LOL

    http://www.scandpg.org/e-learning-and-events/a-practice-manual-for-professionals/

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  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    My bmr is 1850 cals it says....and maintance is 2450....My goal is set to 2lbs a week loss and it has me at 1490 cals a day and some days i go over it some i dont depends on how hungry i am.

    This close to your goal you should be set at 0.5lbs a week to 1lb a week. 1500 calories isn't enough for a man your size. I'm aiming for around 2000 and I'm a 160lb female.
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
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    Gaining muscle = calorie surplus

    Losing fat = calorie deficit

    Doing both at the same time = impossible unless genetic freak or new to training as the body adjusts.
    I think calorie surplus would be fat Gaining.
    I don't see where extra calories would make you gain muscle.

    WTH.jpg
  • jenniejengin
    jenniejengin Posts: 785 Member
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    bump
  • savageman69
    savageman69 Posts: 339 Member
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    My bmr is 1850 cals it says....and maintance is 2450....My goal is set to 2lbs a week loss and it has me at 1490 cals a day and some days i go over it some i dont depends on how hungry i am.

    This close to your goal you should be set at 0.5lbs a week to 1lb a week. 1500 calories isn't enough for a man your size. I'm aiming for around 2000 and I'm a 160lb female.

    Okay...anyone else feel im eating to low of cals? 1500 to low?
  • Barbellsandthimbles
    Barbellsandthimbles Posts: 205 Member
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    Yes...you're eating too little. Upping your calories while still keeping it at a 200-500 cal deficit, you should still lose weight.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    You need to be eating above maintenance to gain muscle. If you eat at a deficit the strength training I think can help you maintain the muscle that you have but you are not going to gain muscle eating so little. I would stick to a moderate deficit (maybe 200 calories below maintenance) and keep the strength training. You should shed body fat and maintain your muscle mass.
  • cckellympls
    cckellympls Posts: 39 Member
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    Protein is a must for me. If i dont get enough i don't drop weight and it is important for building muscle which burns fat.
  • savageman69
    savageman69 Posts: 339 Member
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    i changed my weight loss goal to 1lb a week thats giving me 1950 cals a day ill try that for a couple days and see what happens
  • allisonmrn
    allisonmrn Posts: 721 Member
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    I have a really great article that addresses this very topic by Dr Jade Teta. I am thinking about using this protocol in a few weeks...
    www.blog.metaboliceffect.com/2012/02/10/metabolic-multitasking-protocol/
    I am not sure the science behind it, but I'm willing to give it a try.
  • cruiseking
    cruiseking Posts: 338 Member
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    I went from 230 lbs. to 173 lbs. over one year. I lifted pretty hard through it all, just to slow the muscle loss, and look tone. I def lost a good amount of muscle. I started testosterone shots about two months ago, and upped my calorie count to neutral. I gained 18 lbs of muscle in 7 weeks. If you don't believe this I wouldn't blame you; I don't even believe it. But it happened. I would concentrate on getting to your goal, while lifting to try and stay even, then when you get there, up the calories, and start some big lifts. Good luck. (My total testosterone was 273, and my "free" testosterone was really low). Testosterone Rocks! When you start to gain muscle, you can't live by the scale, you have to live by the mirror.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    i changed my weight loss goal to 1lb a week thats giving me 1950 cals a day ill try that for a couple days and see what happens

    Trying anything for a few days isn't going to tell you whether its working or not. Minimum to see an effect is a couple weeks, and there will likely be a slight gain while your body readjusts to how little you've been feeding it.

    Try it for a minimum of 30 days...if you worked your calculations right, you'll be right on track.

    And for the record, I'm 5'7" tall, 37yrs old, 195lbs (right now), with a goal weight of 175lbs or so. My MAINTENANCE is 2700cal. That's moderately active (construction, heavy lifting 3x a week, no cardio...God I hate cardio). A 20% deficit puts me at almost 2200cal. You should not be eating over a 20% deficit, if you want to keep your lean mass (also, protein...mandatory!).

    *shrug*

    Something to think about.
  • savageman69
    savageman69 Posts: 339 Member
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    okay thanks ill see what happens in the next couple weeks then...i try to focus my food base on protein thats for sure
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    okay thanks ill see what happens in the next couple weeks then...i try to focus my food base on protein thats for sure

    As another anecdotal piece of evidence. I am female and quite a bit older, both of which mean I should theoretically be eating less than you. I weight train 3 - 4 x a week, do no cardio and have a desk job - I was on 1900 calories a day and was losing about 1lb a week. I am upping to about 2200 this week as I am nearing my goal weight and really want to maintain my LBM as much as possible. Even at 2,200 my predicted loss is about 0.5lb a week.
  • aroby001
    aroby001 Posts: 16
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    you gain muscle when having a surplus in your diet that is based on lean protein and good carbs and fats. But of course if you only eat mcdonalds you'll only gain fat
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    bump
  • vietwalin
    vietwalin Posts: 1
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    totally agree. with an intake of 1500kcal, it's really hard to gain muscle. I have studied dietetics with emphasis in sports nutrition. I've done a diet plan on a body builder who also does some martial arts (karate) a few times a week. and that guy doesn't weigh much-standing at 5'10 weighing 165 lbs. bulky? no. and for him, to maintain his weight, he ate any where between 4000 to 4500 kcal/day. so for you, if you want to gain muscle, you need to increase your energy intake and making lean food choices as you have done make sure you total energy intake contains no more than 20% fat (but less than this may affect the absorption rate of fat soluble vitamins A, D,E, and K in the long term (we're talking about years here). one more input: sports nutrition classes put this rule: never advise anyone to eat more than 3grams of protein per KILOGRAM body weight even if the athlete is the world class power lifter. the reason? it's well documented that going over 3grams of protein/kg body weight does not help you gain muscle mass-what it does is two things: make you gain weight (fat) if you go over what your energy intake is recommended only to stuff more protein into your body, another thing is that it puts stress on your kidneys. the guy I worked with ate more than what his body weight demanded as most folks from the gym did.
  • aalina_22
    aalina_22 Posts: 10
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    Thanks for all you views and advices everyone. Lowering body fat is a difficult task.
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
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    Gaining muscle = calorie surplus

    Losing fat = calorie deficit

    Doing both at the same time = impossible unless genetic freak or new to training as the body adjusts.
    I think calorie surplus would be fat Gaining.
    I don't see where extra calories would make you gain muscle.


    Omg. THIS is why I love the forums so much. Serious entertainment.

    Look at matt_wild's physique. I'm guessing he knows about gaining muscle.

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