Build Muscle and lose fat
SeanW95
Posts: 3 Member
I've been going to the gym a few months now and I've recently started recording my diet to try aid in losing weight.
I currently go to the gym 5 times a week.
Mon Wed Fri I do my strength routine from my local gym.
Tuesday and Thursday I burn around 500 calories on cardio equipment, mainly the Cross-trainer and treadmill.
My goal is to lose weight whilst building muscle...Is there anywhere I can improve, any help is appreciated.
I currently go to the gym 5 times a week.
Mon Wed Fri I do my strength routine from my local gym.
Tuesday and Thursday I burn around 500 calories on cardio equipment, mainly the Cross-trainer and treadmill.
My goal is to lose weight whilst building muscle...Is there anywhere I can improve, any help is appreciated.
0
Replies
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You can't do both at the same time (outside of noob gains or if you are morbidly obese), so pick one.
But how many calories do you eat, what is your macro break out and what are your stats (height, weight age)0 -
I'm not sure what you mean by macro but I'm
19 Years of age
Height : 179 cm
Weight: 93.6 Kg
I tend to aim for 2200 calories but I'm mostly sat around because I work in IT.
Even though my goal would be to lose weight should I still continue my strength training?0 -
It is difficult to build significant muscle and lose fat at the same time. You can lift (heavy, high weight, low reps), so some cardio and eat at or just below maintenance to do a body recomposition. It will be a very slow process, and results won't come fast.
If you want to lose fat, continue lifting heavy, do whatever cardio you like and eat at a deficit. This will help you to maintain the muscle you have while losing weight so that most of the weight will come from fat. Losing weight without a good resistance program will cause a loss of LBM as well as fat.0 -
Macros refer to macro nutrients ie Protien, fat and carbs.
As for your calories you will lose weight on that based on your stats even at sedentary.
Don't stop your lifting but don't expect muscle gains either.
You need to eat at a surplus of TDEE to gain muscle and along with that comes some fat.
You seem to be on the right track as far as weight loss...depending on how much you want to lose...you might even be able to eat more with your level of activity.0 -
Thanks for the info everyone.
Regarding the weight I want to lose ; around the area of 20-30lbs I think.0 -
Only other piece of advice I would give is get a kitchen scale and weigh your food to be as accurate as you can. With Cardio if it is steady state get a HRM with a chest strap...if not only eat back 50-75% of your burns, and with weight training it is hard to figure out those burns at all.
If you prefer to have a set number of caloires get your TDEE after you have your logging accuracy down.
To do this you do the following calculation.
Total calories consumed+weight loss in lbs*3500/#of days (I chose 21 days but you could do as little as 7)
That number gives you maintenance subtract off 15-20% and eat those calories everyday regardless of what exercise you do.
Reasses it periodically to make sure you are on track.
If you prefer an esitmate google scooby TDEE enter stats and it gives it to you.
As well if you are lifting and want to maintain Muscle eat enough protien. At least .8g per lb of Lean body mass.0 -
I know people say you can't gain muscle weight while losing your fat storages. But I find this quite funny, because I lost 45lbs and I must have gaind in muscle mass bacause I can lift so much more weight now when I'm in fitness, and I can do sooo much more push ups, even those with a clap in between, and I'm a girl. And I couldn't do that a few months ago. How do you explain this then?
I think you just can't go under you TDEE to much, so yout weigh loss will be much slower. If you only cut for about 200kcal and go to the fitness and do yout strength traing you should lose weight and gain muscle mass. Oh and you need to eat enough protein, this helped me a lot.0 -
I know people say you can't gain muscle weight while losing your fat storages. But I find this quite funny, because I lost 45lbs and I must have gaind in muscle mass bacause I can lift so much more weight now when I'm in fitness, and I can do sooo much more push ups, even those with a clap in between, and I'm a girl. And I couldn't do that a few months ago. How do you explain this then?
I think you just can't go under you TDEE to much, so yout weigh loss will be much slower. If you only cut for about 200kcal and go to the fitness and do yout strength traing you should lose weight and gain muscle mass. Oh and you need to eat enough protein, this helped me a lot.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
So it's best to get to how much weight you want to lose, but still do weight training, and when I'm there, no cardio, just the weight training? And no calorie deficit? Kinda new to weight training, I've been focusing on weightloss for the past year and two months, and still have some to shed.0
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I know people say you can't gain muscle weight while losing your fat storages. But I find this quite funny, because I lost 45lbs and I must have gaind in muscle mass bacause I can lift so much more weight now when I'm in fitness, and I can do sooo much more push ups, even those with a clap in between, and I'm a girl. And I couldn't do that a few months ago. How do you explain this then?
I think you just can't go under you TDEE to much, so yout weigh loss will be much slower. If you only cut for about 200kcal and go to the fitness and do yout strength traing you should lose weight and gain muscle mass. Oh and you need to eat enough protein, this helped me a lot.0 -
So it's best to get to how much weight you want to lose, but still do weight training, and when I'm there, no cardio, just the weight training? And no calorie deficit? Kinda new to weight training, I've been focusing on weightloss for the past year and two months, and still have some to shed.
Weight training is merely for strength and lean body mass retention. You should continue it to achieve fitness goals, even when you hit your ideal weight. It's even possible that once you hit your weight, you will want to improve your look which could either require you to add mass or just do recomp. When people add mass, they minimize cardio to minimize the amount of calories they need... especially making it easier to get adequate calories. When I add mass, I need 3250-3700 calories if I cardio. It's a ton of calories, so if I want to eat less, I drop cardio.0 -
I'm not sure what you mean by macro but I'm
19 Years of age
Height : 179 cm
Weight: 93.6 Kg
I tend to aim for 2200 calories but I'm mostly sat around because I work in IT.
Even though my goal would be to lose weight should I still continue my strength training?
You probably don't know it, but your goal really is fat loss, not weight loss. If you want to be lean and cut, then maintaining your muscle is critical; so yes, you should always weight train. If you only care about a number, then cardio is fine. But keep in mind that muscle is lean and tight, so the more you have, the more fit you will look.0 -
It always makes me laugh when people say you can't lose weight and gain muscle. I have lost almost 85 pounds in 300 days and gained about 30 pounds in muscle weight. It's a balance for sure and I rarely have huge loss weeks but I am taking it off steady and seeing results in my waist and my upper body is showing the growth in muscle. I make sure I eat healthy protein and limit my carbs and I am able to lift heavier every week. Make sure you take measurements because the fat comes off but the muscle may offset the scale. I have dropped 4 pant sizes and 2 shirt sizes. I work out 5-6 times a week and do my cardio after I lift on lift days. I also swim 3-4 times a week for added burns. Good luck!0
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I've been going to the gym a few months now and I've recently started recording my diet to try aid in losing weight.
I currently go to the gym 5 times a week.
Mon Wed Fri I do my strength routine from my local gym.
Tuesday and Thursday I burn around 500 calories on cardio equipment, mainly the Cross-trainer and treadmill.
My goal is to lose weight whilst building muscle...Is there anywhere I can improve, any help is appreciated.
This is exactly what I've been doing and I'm down 19 lbs. and counting (15 lbs. before I joined MFP). I powerlift on M,W,F and run hill sprints and row 5k's on a C2 rower on T,TH. My bench is 405, squat is 455 and deadlift is 520. So yes it is possible to lose weight(fat) while building muscle. You're on the right track if you ask me. This site has helped me dial in my nutrition and now the weight is falling off. Good luck.0 -
It always makes me laugh when people say you can't lose weight and gain muscle. I have lost almost 85 pounds in 300 days and gained about 30 pounds in muscle weight. It's a balance for sure and I rarely have huge loss weeks but I am taking it off steady and seeing results in my waist and my upper body is showing the growth in muscle. I make sure I eat healthy protein and limit my carbs and I am able to lift heavier every week. Make sure you take measurements because the fat comes off but the muscle may offset the scale. I have dropped 4 pant sizes and 2 shirt sizes. I work out 5-6 times a week and do my cardio after I lift on lift days. I also swim 3-4 times a week for added burns. Good luck!
How do you know you gained 30lbs of muscle mass, and as others have said.....if you're morbidly obese, you can have minimal gains.
If you put on 30lbs of muscle in 300 days, you have entered professional body building territory.........while in a deficit..........and doing 5-6 cardio days a week...........you must market this.0 -
Low calorie high protein. Chicken chicken chicken0
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Do NOT give up the strength training or you are going to lose lean mass and will kick yourself further down the road. Do some research on body recomposition and do not rush the weight loss.0
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Weight training WILL help you build muscle, which will in turn increase your LBM and increase your metabolism and help you burn fat. If you are trying to burn fat you will need to increase your cardio - more days a week. You don't have to do it as intensely as you are on your non-weight days, but try to get in 30 minutes of moderate cardio (working at about 70-80% of your MHR) - AND most important - you can NOT exercise away a bad diet! Eat fresh foods, lots of protein and cut out refined and processed foods. You will see results doing this, and maybe quickly depending on your body!0
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I think the key here is that Muscle weighs more than fat, and the scale does not necessarily reflect your fitness level.
I think you should work on gaining the muscle, and replacing fat, rather than concerning yourself as much with the number on the scale (assuming you're a relatively normal size and weight).
On the other hand, if you have a LOT of weight to lose, then focus on getting the diet under control and cardio.
Measure your strength, the way you feel, and maybe the inches around your waist, arms, and legs.
But the moral to the story is that the best way to measure your fitness level is how well your pants fit and how comfortable you are in the them. The weight scale is secondary.0 -
Weight training WILL help you build muscle, which will in turn increase your LBM and increase your metabolism and help you burn fat. If you are trying to burn fat you will need to increase your cardio - more days a week. You don't have to do it as intensely as you are on your non-weight days, but try to get in 30 minutes of moderate cardio (working at about 70-80% of your MHR) - AND most important - you can NOT exercise away a bad diet! Eat fresh foods, lots of protein and cut out refined and processed foods. You will see results doing this, and maybe quickly depending on your body!0
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It always makes me laugh when people say you can't lose weight and gain muscle. I have lost almost 85 pounds in 300 days and gained about 30 pounds in muscle weight. It's a balance for sure and I rarely have huge loss weeks but I am taking it off steady and seeing results in my waist and my upper body is showing the growth in muscle. I make sure I eat healthy protein and limit my carbs and I am able to lift heavier every week. Make sure you take measurements because the fat comes off but the muscle may offset the scale. I have dropped 4 pant sizes and 2 shirt sizes. I work out 5-6 times a week and do my cardio after I lift on lift days. I also swim 3-4 times a week for added burns. Good luck!
how did you measure this, because it equates to about .7lbs of muscle gain per week. Even if you were morbidly obese it would be nearly impossible to gain that kind of mass, especially on a deficit. Heck, that be difficult on a surplus.0 -
Weight training WILL help you build muscle, which will in turn increase your LBM and increase your metabolism and help you burn fat. If you are trying to burn fat you will need to increase your cardio - more days a week. You don't have to do it as intensely as you are on your non-weight days, but try to get in 30 minutes of moderate cardio (working at about 70-80% of your MHR) - AND most important - you can NOT exercise away a bad diet! Eat fresh foods, lots of protein and cut out refined and processed foods. You will see results doing this, and maybe quickly depending on your body!
You don't have to cut out refined or processed foods to lose weight. It's all based on calories. But I agree you can't out train a bad diet, but its more about total caloric intake than the type calories, although for muscle retention, it's all about protein. But pending you hit your protein goals and weight train, it doesn't matter if you get your protein from a cow or from mcdonalds.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/903628-one-year-of-barbells-and-ice-cream-my-story-so-far-pics?hl=a+year+of+lifting+and+ice+cream0
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