Lose weight and build muscle simultaneously?

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  • tridd3r
    tridd3r Posts: 2 Member
    Where there is a will there is a way!

    Dedication and motivation are going to be your best friends. I've experienced these "newbie" gains, and for the past 6 months have relished it!. Quick story, I'm 5'10" (178cm's), starting weight: 246pounds (112 kgs) currently 206pounds (94kgs) I'm eating at by all accounts would seem like a HUGE deficit, on average I think around 1500 per day, (i'm doing this through alternate day fasting - suits me fine), and I'm working out 5-6 days a week. At least 3 days of strength training, after doing a LOT of research I've decided on a routine that works for me, and I've had huge loss of fat, while increasing muscle size and strength.

    The logic/science behind it is stress your muscles and they will grow, given the nutrients to do so. The good thing about being "fat" is that your body has an excess of energy, and will utilise that excess to feed your muscles.

    I think when you say that you want to "put on" muscle, you're going to be surprised how muscular you will look once the fat starts melting off. Personally I'm not going for size, its been a pleasant side effect of what I'm doing, but I do plan on building mass once I've dropped the fat.

    Hope there's something there that helps.
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    Eat for your deficit no more then 1000 calorie deficit a day including the exercise but set nutrient levels for Protein to 40-45% - 1g per lb of Lean Body Mass minimum thats maintenance levels for the muscle unless you don't alreadyy have muscles inwhich case it's theoretical Body Mass for your height, age and weight. Carbs and Fats are purely upto you but it's advised to not eat a low carb diet if you plan to exercise like a machine. Eat all the protein (protein shakes may be better as they are easier to process for the body) and lift as heavy as you can without pulling a muscle also drink 8+250ml glasses of water every day, this is a must aswell, the muscles need water.

    You could eat at a surplus and gain muscle easier which would in turn burn more fat so you would be losing the unhealthy weight as opposed to healthy body mass technically aswell,

    Don't get confused with Muscles and Strength tho, you can have less muscles and still be strong, the muscles condition themselves to be able to perform better, same as cardio makes your cardiovascular system more efficient.

    Anyway doing the above my biceps, triceps, quads and core is definately growing while i'm still losing body fat and not retaining as much water weight.
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    as the above suggested, you may already be muscly under the fat, i always had larger arms and legs that weren't really fat, all my fat was in my torso and face. now at 5months to the day (today) i started my weight loss journey incorporating alot more weights and protein in the past 3 months my arms and legs are even bigger muscle wise, and under my gut there is definition if i really suck in that wasn't visible b4, pretty sure my pecs are bigger too :), i've still lost 22Kilo's, 17% body fat while my Body Mass has stayed around 29 for most of it which says the underlying body structure is maintaining and i haven't lost alot of muscle in the process..
  • SmartBlogz
    SmartBlogz Posts: 37
    Bumping this is great post.

    I'm 37 and I have similar goals. I want to shed my flab around the belly and gain muscles at the same time. Any incite on diet would be helpful...I'm trying to keep my cholesterol in check so I'm limiting fatty meats like no beef and no pork, no egg yolks.
    For exercise so far I starter bike riding to improve my endurance followed by weight lifting...only started this week. Any tips welcomed.
    You welcome mate. I figured a lot of people are in this same boat and create this post.
    Anyways I'm on a diet right now - google mens fitness rock challenge nutrition plan. Its low in carbs and high in protein which is essential to what you want to achieve. Mostly, I strength train now - just started (with the SL 5x5).
    My cardio is limited to mostly walking (about 2 hours/day) and some football (soccer) - on rare occasions. haha. (knee problem an all) and I drink water like waaaaaaaaaat! downside is you got to visit the gents very often.

    Anyways dedication and consistency and you will surpass even your targets.
  • SadFaerie
    SadFaerie Posts: 243 Member
    you wil gain weight on TDEE PLUS 15%
    Thanks. so what do you suggest?
    I suggest you lose fat first, whilst trying to preserve existing muscle mass with resistance training. Calculate not only your calories in/out, but also macro nutrients, to make sure you're losing just fat. Keep a slight defict, 15-20%, lift, do cardio. Once you lower your bodyfat to whatever level you're comfortable with add 15%, drop long cardio session in favour of tabata HIIT on non lifting days and start building lean muscle with weight training.
  • pbsask
    pbsask Posts: 5
    I am struggling with what people are saying in this thread, I know nothing about the subject, so I would like to ask a question.

    if I am lifting with a calorie deficit and I find myself getting stronger, where I can lift heavier and do more push ups doesn't thatean I am building muscle? Especially where I am losing inches but not weight?
  • ryandeceptacon
    ryandeceptacon Posts: 26 Member
    You cannot build muscle on a calorie deficit, it is simply not possible.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    You cannot build muscle on a calorie deficit, it is simply not possible.

    If there is stored fat, it is possible, in case you are implying that you can't create something from nothing. Many factors come into play, of course, but what is impossible about it exactly?
  • jasonheyd
    jasonheyd Posts: 524 Member
    I am struggling with what people are saying in this thread, I know nothing about the subject, so I would like to ask a question.

    if I am lifting with a calorie deficit and I find myself getting stronger, where I can lift heavier and do more push ups doesn't thatean I am building muscle? Especially where I am losing inches but not weight?

    To a point, size and strength aren't necessarily directly related or proportional. It's possible to strengthen muscle -- again, to a point -- without necessarily building new muscle mass. It won't work that way forever, but it's certainly possible that you're increasing strength while maintaining (or even slightly decreasing) muscle mass.
    You cannot build muscle on a calorie deficit, it is simply not possible.

    Without getting into too much of a semantic argument, I think that's a pretty simplistic assessment of a pretty complex organism.

    While in general that may be true, it's not always quite necessarily so. The reality of it will depend quite a bit on how much body fat and muscle a person starts with, how much conditioning he or she has done, the relative state of the existing muscle mass, and what the deficit is relative to. It's certainly possible for someone with a relatively low LBM and no recent strength training experience to eat "at a deficit" (relative to what it would take for them to maintain their current weight), lose fat, and still have sufficient fuel to build muscle mass. Again, it won't work forever. You need fuel to build mass, and unfortunately "exchanging" fat for muscle isn't as easy as trading baseball cards. :)
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Great answer :)

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