You can't build muscle at a calorie deficit? Why lift??

I've never heard that before, I lift some and I build muscle just because the scale doesn't move doesn't mean you aren't burning fat, take your measurements and you will see the difference.

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses. This has reaffirmed not only my desire to start lifting, but really my fitness goals in general. Very very helpful. And I'm very glad I posted my question!!!

This is perhaps one of the best questions ever asked on these forums. So much misunderstanding concerning this. Others have commented thus but I shall briefly reiterate:

On a deficit you cannot
1. Gain muscle mass (due to catabolic state)

On a deficit, you CAN.
1. Gain strength
2. Increase muscle tone
3. Maintain lean mass
4. Increase fat burning potential.
5. Create an underlying muscle base that will shine through once the rolls of fat have dissolved over them

Let me ask you a serious question. I don't know what your credentials are but you seem pretty confident, so I wanted to get your opinion.

Is this article, and the study that it references, complete BS?

http://muscleevo.net/calorie-deficit/

from the summary of the article:

In summary, some people can and do build a decent amount of muscle while they’re in a calorie deficit.

But it’s a phenomenon that’s generally limited to people who are very overweight and have never lifted weights before, or those who are returning to exercise after a layoff, where muscle memory comes into play.

Once you’ve move past the “overweight beginner” stage, building a significant amount of muscle while losing fat is a goal that becomes progressively more difficult and will normally require some kind of calorie cycling strategy if you want to see decent results.

What this article refers to is "newbie gains" in obese beginners which is possible; however, after about 4-6 months of training this will stop and it becomes harder and harder to gain muscle and eventually said trainer will have to go into calorie surplus to put on additional muscle.

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses. This has reaffirmed not only my desire to start lifting, but really my fitness goals in general. Very very helpful. And I'm very glad I posted my question!!!

This is perhaps one of the best questions ever asked on these forums. So much misunderstanding concerning this. Others have commented thus but I shall briefly reiterate:

On a deficit you cannot
1. Gain muscle mass (due to catabolic state)

On a deficit, you CAN.
1. Gain strength
2. Increase muscle tone
3. Maintain lean mass
4. Increase fat burning potential.
5. Create an underlying muscle base that will shine through once the rolls of fat have dissolved over them

Let me ask you a serious question. I don't know what your credentials are but you seem pretty confident, so I wanted to get your opinion.

Is this article, and the study that it references, complete BS?

http://muscleevo.net/calorie-deficit/

Ok, I am just going to ask for a recommendation here.

I used to be very fat, 5'11 and 274 pounds. Now I am 186 pounds...no longer fat.

But...I still have I estimate about 10-12 pounds of belly I want to lose. You can't tell it when I have a shirt on but I want to not be able to tell when my shirt is off lol. I think I could continue my calorie deficit and cardio and ab workouts and get that done, but I want to be building some more muscle in my upper body and I'd like to rebuild my flat *kitten* too.

How should I cycle my calories and my workouts to try and get both done at the same time? Any knowledgeable guidance is appreciated.

- Full-body weight workouts, twice a week. Focus on the major compound lifts (squat, dead lift, bench press, overhead press, chin-ups, dips - add some curls at the end if you want)

- Conditioning work in-between. Not just steady state "aerobic" but also HIIT/sprints/etc

- Make sure you're consistently getting enough daily protein (1gram per pound of lean body mass)

- Eat a moderate calorie surplus in the 36 hours surrounding your weight workouts

- Eat at a slight calorie deficit the rest of the time

When you eat at a deficit, you lose weight. This includes body fat and muscle. When you lift, you keep the muscle loss to a minimum.

Thank you dude, that is very helpful. So if I am going to work out on a Monday night at 8 PM, I should be at a moderate surplus for say all day Monday and eat a nice big breakfast on Tuesday? Or be at a surplus for the entire day Tuesday as well?

I would say starting eating a surplus mid-day Monday through Tuesday evening. You want some extra calories in the hours leading up to your workout to fuel your training, and in the 24 hours after to maximize recovery.

And how often should I do sit ups, planks, crunches, leg lifts etc? I see a lot of different opinions on the internet about the frequency of ab workouts.

Ab muscles respond to training stimulus in the same way as other muscles. Not much point in working them more than every 72 hours or so.

And frankly, just because you want to lose fat in your mid-section doesn't mean you need to be doing a bunch of ab work, that's not really the way it works (spot-reduction is a myth).

The compound lifts I mentioned above will all hit your abs to varying degrees. The only ab-specific exercise I do is a few sets of ab-wheel rollouts at the end of my weight workouts.

How should I cycle my calories and my workouts to try and get both done at the same time? Any knowledgeable guidance is appreciated.