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Possible to gain strength whilst losing fat?

getfitcharles
getfitcharles Posts: 78
edited January 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi. Probably not a smart question but I've come across loads of conflicting advice and am unclear.

I'm at a 'healthy' weight but have a high percentage body fat, which I want to decrease. I'm also not that strong, and would like to improve that too. Everything I've read seems to imply it's impossible to do both. If you cut calories and lose weight, you'll lose fat but maybe muscle too. To get strong, people seem to always suggest eating insane amounts of food. For someone like myself who's not muscular naturally, it'd probably only increase my fat percentage. I don't want to be a bodybuilder anyway. I'd just like to be able to lift heavier stuff, have greater endurance, and really want to be able to do pull-ups.

I go to the gym several times a week to weight-train.

Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Can gain strength without gaining muscle mass.

    Also can gain muscle mass, with an appropriate diet and weights setup.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Are you trying to get bigger or stronger? It's hard to gain significant muscle while in a calorie deficit but you can definitely get stronger while cutting.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    You are confusing strength and muscle growth - they are only very loosely related.
    For example my arms and chest are much bigger than my son's but he is stronger.

    A beginner can make a considerable improvement in strength without adding muscle mass at all.
    The big benefit from strength training while losing weight is that you will tend to retain your existing muscle.

    Eating "insane amounts of food" is a very old fashioned interpretation of someone doing a bulk to build muscle.
    To build any significant amount of muscle mass requires a calorie surplus but both beginners and overweight people can make some limited gains.
  • getfitcharles
    getfitcharles Posts: 78
    Thanks. As I said, I know I'm uninformed so am glad for the clarifications.

    I genuinely don't care much for getting big arms or large muscles - I just don't want to be a weakling.

    I'm not overweight. I'm in the middle of the 'healthy bmi' range, just have a higher fat percentage and probably not much muscle to start with.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Thanks. As I said, I know I'm uninformed so am glad for the clarifications.

    I genuinely don't care much for getting big arms or large muscles - I just don't want to be a weakling.

    I'm not overweight. I'm in the middle of the 'healthy bmi' range, just have a higher fat percentage and probably not much muscle to start with.
    Eat TDEE -15% and do starting strength and add on dips and pull ups.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Are you trying to get bigger or stronger? It's hard to gain significant muscle while in a calorie deficit but you can definitely get stronger while cutting.

    She is saying there is a difference to some degree "muscle size" and "strength." You need calories to grow muscles. People who are over weight or just starting out can gain some on a calorie deficit. More advanced members can't.

    Strength is mostly neurological, it's a signal to your brain to contract the muscles more forcefully has nothing/(very little) to do with calories).

    ^ yep, for more info google "myofibrillar hypertrophy vs. sarcoplasmic hypertrophy"
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