Can you gain muscle on a deficit?

wattsy84

Ok so I'm down to 162lbs and am happy with weight but want basically a bit of definition as I still have fat covering my belly I have a lifting plan to do 3 times a week but my question is...........

Can I burn body fat by building muscle whilst on a deficit?

concordancia

Only on the tiniest of deficits. The error of margin is so small that the general advice to eat at our above maintenance, then lose the fat (aka "cut")

If you are at a good weight for your height, try eating at maintenance for a couple of months while doing the strength training.

cwolfman13

Not really...not appreciable muscle gain anyway. But, you will preserve muscle mass that you have...so as you shed the fat, your muscles will still be there, and they'll show. A lot of people mistake shedding fat and now showing their muscle for actual muscle growth...but it's really not...it's just the muscle that was already there coming through.

Lift and preserve that muscle...

phildawson75

It really doesn't take much ab work at all to have nice abs, its 95% about losing the fat covering them and getting your BF % down to below 12 to make them visible. You do crunches till the cows come home but if you have that fat layer then they'll never be seen.

If you exercise whilst on a deficit then you'll more likely to retain the same muscle, but gain will be minimal if at all. It's usually the loss of fat that makes it look like your muscles are more defined.

Lt_Starbuck

you can gain strength

wattsy84

Not really...not appreciable muscle gain anyway. But, you will preserve muscle mass that you have...so as you shed the fat, your muscles will still be there, and they'll show. A lot of people mistake shedding fat and now showing their muscle for actual muscle growth...but it's really not...it's just the muscle that was already there coming through.

Lift and preserve that muscle...

Ok cool so that's probably better for me as I don't want to get ripped, just nice slim and lean,so if I keep my deficit and do my lifting then I should start to see my muscle? Then if I want it bigger..eat more and lift heavier?

dixiewhiskey

Not really...not appreciable muscle gain anyway. But, you will preserve muscle mass that you have...so as you shed the fat, your muscles will still be there, and they'll show. A lot of people mistake shedding fat and now showing their muscle for actual muscle growth...but it's really not...it's just the muscle that was already there coming through.

Lift and preserve that muscle...

Good explanation

Sheila_Ann

bumping...curious