Fat loss vs. muscle building

tprice90

Hey guys, I've been running this question past my friends and there seems to be some disagreement. I am a 5'7 male down from 190 lbs to 150 lbs in the last 3.5 months or so. My current body fat percentage is about 19%, and my lean mass is definitely below where I would like it to eventually be. My success in evicting some of my fat has been great, but instead of having the "chubs" look I'm starting to to look a little bit twiggy (I've dropped some more weight since my current profile picture).

This is understandably true... my go-to exercises are running and biking. While I do try to throw in some strength training to maintain lean mass, I've done a whole lot more cardio overall.

I sort of walked into this journey with the expectation that I would drop a great amount of fat, then switch gears and try to build muscle. As I understand it, losing weight involves calorie deficits, and building muscle requires calorie surpluses. These are often stated as immutable truths, and they do make sense.

Ideally I would like to get down to about 125-130, on the lower end of a healthy body mass index. Unsurprisingly this last 20-25 pounds is primarily abdominal fat. I figure that after I get down into that weight range, I should shift over to doing much more strength training & less cardio, as well as create calorie surpluses to put on muscle. My goal isn't to get big, just lean.

So my question is this: should I continue my daily deficits with a focus on cardio to take off the last 20 lbs of fat, then switch gears to muscle building? Or should I really start emphasizing strength training now, as I know that muscles are caloric furnaces? If I focus on building strength, and stimulate those muscles regularly but continue with caloric deficits, will my body put on any lean mass, thereby providing the dual benefit of burning off the flab & putting on a little muscle? In other words, should I keep on the path I'm currently on then focus on strength training once I reach my goal weight, or should I already be shifting the emphasis to strength training, given that I still have fat deposits that need to go, and thus must maintain consistent calorie deficits?

Thanks for your input.

bbateman123

I would add the resistance training immediately. Even though you wont gain much muscle while eating at a deficit it will tone and shape you. Consume enough protein in grams as your lean body mass.

heybales

No, lift heavy for you now, get the muscles primed and stop losing muscle unnecessarily.

You know how easy it is to lose muscle now, do you know how hard it is to build it back up?

And take a more reasonable deficit too, 1/2 lb weekly, in the hopes you can gain some LBM, maybe even some muscle, as you switch over.

That LBM will help increase metabolism too, to help with the last of your fat.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/778012-potential-muscle-gain-lifting-and-metabolism-improvement

Now, these guys don't appear to have change their diet at all, just did lifting now. So that's their ease of losing fat and gaining the same amount of LBM.
Sadly they didn't measure to see how much muscle they actually gained compared to the total LBM.

And yes, if using MFP method, you should still eat back your exercise calories to fuel that workout. And yes, strength training in the MPF database seems low compared to cardio, but it is, doesn't burn nearly as much as cardio during the workout, so you have to eat less.
But it burns fat during recovery while cardio burns basically nothing extra.

Chief_Rocka

Start lifting now.

And you don't want to get down to 125, trust me.

Sarauk2sf

Lift now to maintain the LBM you have. Cut down cardio unless training for something specific. Eat at a slight deficit.

sunsnstatheart

What everyone above has said. Lift.

mmapags

Start lifting now.

And you don't want to get down to 125, trust me.

^^^ this!! At 5'7", 125 will look emaciated! I'd suggest that you would view the whole thing differently and that a weight target should not be your focus. One of the things I've read that made the most sense to me was from one of our members Steve Troutman who is a respected fitness and nutrition expert. He said that if you optimize health, functionality, performance and physique, weight will settle where it should. Congrats on your progress so far, but I'd get on the lean muscle mass immediatly and that would be my priority. As Heybales said, it is not easy to build lean muscle mass and keeping it is sure easier than replacing it!!

tprice90

Thanks for the advice everyone. It has been tough for me to not get stuck on a particular number on the scale... a residual complex from my teenage chubster years no doubt. Now it's time to really push myself and hit the weights it seems.

Kudos on everyone's progress and best wishes in achieving future goals!