Deficit while building muscle?

CorlissaEats
CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi there.
Ive set the aggressive goal to lose 10% body fat. This means that while I want to lose weight but I also want to increase strength and gain muscle. I have an estimated 30lbs still to go so my exercise is currently split between yoga (stretching), couch to 5k training (cardio), and fitness classes with weights (strength training). I am considering adding lifting as I get closer to the goal weight- I am a plodder and a planner so Im still in the reading/research stage.

Now the questions: Because I have a definite amount I need to lose to even see the muscle, I am working on a calorie deficit of 20% of my TDEE for the day, or around 500 on average. Is 500 calories too great a deficit for building muscle? What is your deficit when trying to lose weight/gain muscle?

*Disclaimer* I am a WOMAN. Obviously advice should be applicable or translatable to my gender. :wink:

Looking for responses from people who have similar goals and ACTUALLY do/have done strength training or lifting! I have myself up to workingout 6 days a week, and my TDEE is currently hovering between 2500-2600. I want to be able to stick with this long term and not get run down or burned out. Food is fuel, you need enough. As I have increased my fitness, so have my calories. Im eating 80-120g of protein daily and trying to get that number closer to 150. My diary is NOT open to the public.

Most of the websites I have already perused specifically talk about male biology and are geared towards already being at the bulking stage, deficits are not discussed in the ones I have looked at...I welcome HELPFUL advice or links to info. :happy:

Replies

  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    You really cant build muscle while eating at a deficit. You can however retain most of the LBM you currently have with a good resistance training program. I lost roughly 8% body fat while only losing about 2 lbs of LBM. If you are new to lifting, you can build a small amount of lean mass while at a deficit, "noob gains" but it is a small amount and only at the beginning. You will see claims of muscle building with the explaination, "i definantly see more muscle" reason is as fat burns away it exposes the muscle underneath making you look leaner.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    You can certainly increase strength on a caloric deficit. However, gaining muscle mass will be, at a minimum, a challenge.

    Why do you want to gain muscle mass?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Any deficit is too much for building muscle. The human body will not build any significant new muscle mass while it's faced with prolonged caloric deficit, especially so for a woman.
  • BobGoodin
    BobGoodin Posts: 7 Member
    For the most part it is not possible to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time.

    What I did (and my recommendation to you) would be to go about your body transformation in two phases: lose the weight (caloric deficit) then start to bulk up once you've reached your target weight (caloric excess)
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    you're really not going to be building any muscle while you're in a deficit. but don't worry about it. you probably have more muscle mass than you think, it's just covered by layers of fat right now. keep lifting while you're in your deficit, and you'll shed some fat while retaining most of the muscle and once uncovered, it will look pretty darn good. so keep lifting while you're losing.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    you're really not going to be building any muscle while you're in a deficit. but don't worry about it. you probably have more muscle mass than you think, it's just covered by layers of fat right now. keep lifting while you're in your deficit, and you'll shed some fat while retaining most of the muscle and once uncovered, it will look pretty darn good. so keep lifting while you're losing.

    Yup this ^^^^

    Also, don't wait to start a proper lifting program. Take out your class with weights and start in on something like Stronglifts, NROLW, or Starting Strength in place of.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    To answer your question 500 calorie deficit is too much to gain muscle. At that deficit you would lose fat and some muscle depending on how much protein you consume.

    It is possible to gain muscle when eating at your TDEE while losing fat. I've done it as others have, but your diet has to be on point, and it isn't easy for most. Its also a very slow process.

    If your looking to bulk or gain muscle its best to eat at a slight surplus 200-400 calories so your weight gains is limiting the the percentage of fat that you will gain also. The lesser on calories the less fat % you will gain, but also the slower you will gain muscle.
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    You can certainly increase strength on a caloric deficit. However, gaining muscle mass will be, at a minimum, a challenge.

    Why do you want to gain muscle mass?

    Good question. I think the problem lies in the way I worded my question. :blushing: Some muscle gains would be nice because I am tall/large, the right kind of minimal bulk would help balance the way I look. Strength increases would be nice to see long term. I used to be able to pull about a 2000lb chain of greenhouse racks from a full stop to the other end of the floor (about 600 ft). (Obviously the wheels helped.) I am a lot weaker now that I am doing office work. I had almost zero health problems with my old self, I'd like to get back there.

    And I really DON'T want to sacrifice my LBM with my deficit. I am working out a lot these days, trying to eat enough to support it. Not hurting my LBM is actually a huge focus hence the question.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    You can certainly increase strength on a caloric deficit. However, gaining muscle mass will be, at a minimum, a challenge.

    Why do you want to gain muscle mass?

    Good question. I think the problem lies in the way I worded my question. :blushing: Some muscle gains would be nice because I am tall/large, the right kind of minimal bulk would help balance the way I look. Strength increases would be nice to see long term. I used to be able to pull about a 2000lb chain of greenhouse racks from a full stop to the other end of the floor (about 600 ft). (Obviously the wheels helped.) I am a lot weaker now that I am doing office work. I had almost zero health problems with my old self, I'd like to get back there.

    And I really DON'T want to sacrifice my LBM with my deficit. I am working out a lot these days, trying to eat enough to support it. Not hurting my LBM is actually a huge focus hence the question.

    Don't stress about it at this point. Worry about proper strength training, hitting your protein macros and you will be fine in the LBM department. You won't lose the fat without a deficit, that's just the way it goes. Check out my pics....this is what I, like many other ladies on here have done, and have achieved fantastic results. :smile:
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    All you can really do is be reasonably active, and make sure your deficit isn't too large and contains sufficient protein. If you do that, you've set your body up for the best possible weight loss outcome. Beyond that, it will do what it will do, there isn't any point stressing out over it.

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