Can you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

Spartan_Maker

Yes: it is possible for most people to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously. Building muscle requires three things: resistance training, sufficient calories for energy, and adequate protein. Losing fat generally requires that a person maintain a calorie deficit.

People who are obese or overweight have plenty of excess calories stored in the form of body fat that they can utilize for energy to build muscle. If a person is 50 lbs. overweight, they have 175,000 extra calories that they can tap. These same people can also lose fat by eating at a calorie deficit.

It's that simple, but optimizing this process requires some macronutrient juggling and other dietary tricks.

sgthaggard

Can you lose inches and still stay the same weight? Isn't that why people will tell you to trust your measuring tape, not your scale?

If you are losing inches over a longer period, you are losing fat. If you are losing fat but staying the same weight, you are gaining something, right? That would be muscle.

ahmommy

i used to have muscle before i gained 60 lbs this year. how can i tell if i still have muscle definition? i'm a little confused about the whole muscle under fat thing. once you have defined muscles, how long does it take before they i dont know, dissolve? in other words, how many pizzas and nights on the couch until your muscles aren't under the fat anymore?

Your muscles aren't going to "dissolve". I suppose if you are extremely inactive over a long period of time, they could atrophy. But most likely they're still there. Maybe not as strong as before, but they're not gone. The problem is that if you eat at a deficit and lose weight via diet and cardio without strength training - that's when you start to lose muscle mass. So it's best to use strength training to maintain the muscle mass you have as you lose weight, so that the muscles are still there when the fat goes away. This can be difficult, though, because you lose weight slower this way.

fitnhealthy21

Thanks for all of the replies

MzzFaith

Idk this is what I need to know

thisismeraw

If you are new to strength training you can build a few lbs of muscle along the way while eating at a slight deficit however it's not much. To really build muscle you need a calorie surplus.

A lot of people 'think' they are building muscle but they are either gaining strength or they are just seeing more muscle as they have burned away the fat on top of the muscle. You cannot build any real amounts of muscle while at a calorie deficit. You normally will lose muscle while eating at a deficit.

Personally, I don't think most of the DVDs out there are enough to build muscle. You need to be lifting HEAVY to build muscle.

supplemama

You can make minor gains but for the most part your body just doesn't biologically work that way - it isn't going to break into its reserves and build new tissues in a deficit, why would it? The awesome transformations you see are the muscles that are already there becoming nice and defined because the layer of fat on top of them goes away.

Edit: Reading responses, it's worth noting that making strength gains doesn't necessarily mean muscle gains.

This right here.

I don't know why people think they don't have muscles already. Especially if you're obese, you've got an impressive set of muscles under all that fat. Strength is needed to carry all that flab around. When the excess padding is gone, the muscles already there are revealed.

supplemama

i used to have muscle before i gained 60 lbs this year. how can i tell if i still have muscle definition? i'm a little confused about the whole muscle under fat thing. once you have defined muscles, how long does it take before they i dont know, dissolve? in other words, how many pizzas and nights on the couch until your muscles aren't under the fat anymore?

Seriously? Is this a real question? Do they even teach basic biology in schools anymore?

Ok. Look. Your muscles are what you use to move around. Your bones are the structural framework of your body. There are other things like skin and eyeballs and organs and whatnot. Your muscles move your bones and such around. How to tell if you have muscles? Can you walk? Can you talk? Can you blink? Can you raise your arm? Can you move your pinkie finger? Can you fart? Etc.?

All these things require muscles. Even in people who cannot do many of these things, such as paraplegics and people in comas, full muscle atrophy is rare and takes years to happen (and highly unlikely in this age of occupational/physical therapy). You, a person who is in presumably ok health and is fully ambulatory, most definitely have muscles.

They will not get dissolved by eating too much pizza and too much sitting on the couch. What happens in that case is the excess fat will just continue to pile on, covering the muscles. The muscles themselves will not go anywhere.

neanderthin

It's one of those answers that make newly indoctrinated nutritional nerds feel superior in that they might have a leg up on people. The reality is it doesn't matter, it going to be miniscule if at all and if someone is actually out to change their life, it's a blip in time and real muscle and body composition is better tackled head on over many months and years of discipline and where this question is inconsequential.

MorgueBabe

Well this thread just confused me.

thisismeraw

They will not get dissolved by eating too much pizza and too much sitting on the couch. What happens in that case is the excess fat will just continue to pile on, covering the muscles. The muscles themselves will not go anywhere.

While your muscles don't dissolve, too high of a calorie deficit and not enough protein will cause you to lose some muscle mass in the process of losing weight. While in a deficit, especially a high one without lifting, your losses will be part muscle, part fat, part water.

JoanB5

It's one of those answers that make newly indoctrinated nutritional nerds feel superior in that they might have a leg up on people. The reality is it doesn't matter, it going to be miniscule if at all and if someone is actually out to change their life, it's a blip in time and real muscle and body composition is better tackled head on over many months and years of discipline and where this question is inconsequential.

Persevere in good habits without obsessing over the "how" and especially the "how fast" and we'll get there. I needed this answer today. A slow month. Little gains seen after watching macros, moving to 15% off haybales TDEE, and running light 1-2 mile runs on off days. Started progressive lifting. Dropped extra cardio, HIIT, and some circuit training to focus on lifting. Feel like I'm adding stomach weight instead of seeing it leave. Hungry all the time, and eating extra lean protein.

Copy me replies by message if anyone has encouragement surviving transition from dieting to muscle gain. I don't want to miss them.

HeidiHoMom

In the last year I have lost 45 lbs of fat and put on 12 lbs of muscle. So yes you can do it.

I did this by eating a small deficit and lifting heavy weights 3 days a week.

RobynMWilson

OP deactivated her account...

craigmandu

This is what I love about lifting.

Other than the initial gains a person will get (while not much can still be noticeable), is that by doing a lifting regimen your body will only consume a very very small amount of muscle during weight loss, if any at all.

Nomally, your body doesn't care all that much whether it takes excess muscle (based on your activity, or lack thereof of a muscle group) or excess fat as its source of energy. This is how people get skinny fat. When you prevent that from happening (while getting a small gain for the first few months, some report it up to 6 months), you ensure your body will burn its fat at a higher rate than it would have had you not been doing that lifting. It forces your body to get more efficient, as it will be reminded to send nutrients/water to those muscles you are tearing down, and thus consume more of your fat stores.

thisismeraw

Most people who lose weight gain muscle along the way. I think it's 100% possible. Just make sure you're getting enough food.

Most people actually lose muscle along the way. Getting enough food isn't enough... you also need to ensure you are lifting heavy enough weights.

JoanB5

Okay, so the OP jumped ship, but the thread is still relavant, so here we go:

1. To see abs, lose BF. Eat at a deficit 10-15% TDEE.
2. To see abs, lift heavy.
3. To lift heavy and build muscle, cannot eat at deficit. (This is where my brain starts turning to mush).
4. Cannot lose BF while eating more cals than you consume. (Similar confusion after 1and 2)
5. Eat .7-.9g lean protein per lean body mass. (Makes sense, clear directive.)
6. HIIT over too much cardio, not so much HIIT as to interfere with goal #2. (Check, makes sense).
7. Diet. (Got it, MUFAS, watch white starches, boost grean veggies and lean protein).

Is it just me, or does any other woman wanting flat belly abs, Killy Rippa arms, an decent runner's legs (close to goal there), get lost in the above series if equations? I wonder if "building muscle" means the same to women as to men in this discussion. For instance, how much added muscle are we needing for Kelly's arms anyway? : ) Do we have to get abs while dieting and arms while bulking?

runfreddyrun

yep you can. depends on a few factors like: are you newer to strength training, are you eating enough protein, and are you eating enough calories and maybe are you doing too much cardio. not too sure about the last one but i've read some stuff that suggests lots of cardio can diminish your strength gains.

i got my BF checked at the bod pod last week. from last time (5 months) ago until now, I lost 10 lbs on the scale. Out of that I lost 13.8 lbs of fat and gained 3.5 lbs of muscle.

i have been consistently eating at least 1 gram (usually more) protein for my LBM but also eating at a fairly decent deficit - around 1450-1500 calories a day. i do not eat back my exercise calories because i've been eating at TDEE - 20%.

i have also been doing strength training 2x and sometimes 3x a week with some cardio (around 2 hours a week or less).

i'm happy with my progress but i want to see if i can gain even more muscle if i raise my calories up a bit.

stevenleagle

I've often wondered this. I've worked out for myself that yes you can! And I'm in my mid 40s. I've added 0.5kg muscle whilst losing 4.5kg fat over the last 2 months or so according to my scales (which measures bf percentage)

But have to qualify. I do eat more when strength training (aim for twice a week) and aim to eat less other days. I aim to do cardio to lose weight rather than overly restricting calories but I get best results when eating as cleanly as I can (though my diet is certainly not perfect). Also while I am often well in the green I am often well into the red too - I look at my weekly average as a guide zigzagging calories on a daily basis to suit.

Of course it is a lot easier to add muscle whilst eating more - I guess that's why bodybuilders cycle between bulking and cutting phases.