Need to burn the belly fat but I lift (building glutes)

ellojenn
ellojenn Posts: 14 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm incredibly new to lifting. At first I was focused on shredding the belly fat by eating 1200 a day since I have a desk job. Now, since focusing more on weights, I've gone up in (muscle) pounds (but lost a half inch). Which is no problem. However, do I need to continue doing minimal cardio and up my calories in order to build my glutes? When I lost some weight I was focused on calories, burning and eating and it went pretty well for me. But now that I'd like to build a booty, I have no idea what to do. Any help would be great!

Replies

  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
    If you are trying to build muscle you need eat a surplus of calories (rather than a deficit like when you were trying to lose).

    To build your backside, squat, lunge, deadlift, leg curl, weighted bench step ups, romanian deadlift, cable kick backs, etc etc. There's lots of lifts for that posterior chain.
  • ellojenn
    ellojenn Posts: 14 Member
    Thank you!!!!! How much extra would you say?
    If you are trying to build muscle you need eat a surplus of calories (rather than a deficit like when you were trying to lose).

    To build your backside, squat, lunge, deadlift, leg curl, weighted bench step ups, romanian deadlift, cable kick backs, etc etc. There's lots of lifts for that posterior chain.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    You can either lose fat or gain muscle (and probably some fat with it). You can't really do both at the same time :)

    If you want to gain muscle, eat about 200-250 calories over your TDEE and lift like a boss. You will gain weight.

    If you want to lose fat, eat about 10-15% below your TDEE and lift like a boss (to keep the muscle you have). You will lose weight, though if you are new to lifting you might see a small increase in weight primarily caused by water retention (which happens during muscle repair. The scale will start going back down if you're eating at a deficit).
  • ellojenn
    ellojenn Posts: 14 Member
    Okay it's just a tiny bit of belly fat I need to shred. So maybe I'll focus on that for the next month (I shred pretty easily when cardio goes into play) and then start on bulking up!
    You can either lose fat or gain muscle (and probably some fat with it). You can't really do both at the same time :)

    If you want to gain muscle, eat about 200-250 calories over your TDEE and lift like a boss. You will gain weight.

    If you want to lose fat, eat about 10-15% below your TDEE and lift like a boss (to keep the muscle you have). You will lose weight, though if you are new to lifting you might see a small increase in weight primarily caused by water retention (which happens during muscle repair. The scale will start going back down if you're eating at a deficit).
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Okay it's just a tiny bit of belly fat I need to shred. So maybe I'll focus on that for the next month (I shred pretty easily when cardio goes into play) and then start on bulking up!
    You can either lose fat or gain muscle (and probably some fat with it). You can't really do both at the same time :)

    If you want to gain muscle, eat about 200-250 calories over your TDEE and lift like a boss. You will gain weight.

    If you want to lose fat, eat about 10-15% below your TDEE and lift like a boss (to keep the muscle you have). You will lose weight, though if you are new to lifting you might see a small increase in weight primarily caused by water retention (which happens during muscle repair. The scale will start going back down if you're eating at a deficit).

    Sounds like a plan! :) When you get to the "bulk" part, there's a good group on here, "Women Who Bulk" - you might want to check it out, there's good info and support!

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