The muscle and weight loss paradox

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rtreit
rtreit Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Eating more than your maintenance calories is necessary to build muscle.
Eating less than your maintenance calories is necessary to lose weight / burn fat.
The best way to lose weight is to build muscle.

I am wondering the best way to approach this apparent paradox.

Using MFP I've been trying to bring my net calories in line with the goal of losing weight.

At the same time I've been doing pretty intense weight training plus cardio on Mon / Wed / Fri.

I'm 5'8, currently at about 171 Lbs.

My workout today for example is fairly typical:
Bench Press: 145 lbs, 5 sets of 5 reps
Military / Overhead press: 80 lbs, 5 sets of 5 reps
Inclined sit-ups: 5 sets of 20
Pull Ups: 6 sets of 5
Squats: 135 lbs, 5 sets of 5 reps (lower than normal weight - working on form)
Dumbbell bicep curls: 30 lbs, 5 sets of 5 reps
2000 meter row
50 minutes on stationary bike maintaining HR around 145

For me this is pretty intense but I love it. I feel alive all day.

Note I use a Polar HR monitor to track my calories burned during workouts.

Typically on a day like today I would aim for my net to be around 1,500 calories.

So far results have been ok - I'm getting stronger week to week and weight has been slowly decreasing / clothes fitting better, fat seems to be marginally less looking in the mirror. Still a gut to get rid of but smaller than before.

My question is really: am I sabotaging better gains? Should I be eating more to build more muscle (and probably adding fat at the same time) or ease up on the weights and focus on cardio / HIIT to get rid of the fat and then try building muscle? Or just keep doing what I'm doing? Again, I'm getting results and leaning towards just sticking with my program but wanted to tap into the collective wisdom of you all.

Thanks!

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Keep lifting. Once you get down relatively lean, then you can start bulk/cut cycles. If what you are doing is working, stick with it.
  • tracydr
    tracydr Posts: 528 Member
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    That seems like very few calories for your size and amount of activity.
  • rtreit
    rtreit Posts: 8 Member
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    That seems like very few calories for your size and amount of activity.

    Well that's my MFP net calorie goal (calories eaten - calories burned). So today I burned something like 1,200 calories according to my HR monitor. I'll probably eat around 2,500 - 2,800 calories total today.

    Hopefully that's a good approach for weight loss without sabotaging strength too much - that's really what I'm trying to figure out.
  • oldantired
    oldantired Posts: 24 Member
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    I'm no expert but I figure if it ain't broke don't fix it. We tend to get very caught up in our technology and formulas while forgetting how important it is to listen to your own body. If you are energized, making gains and losing weight you're on the right track.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Building muscle is not "the best way to lose weight." Building muscle is the best way to build muscle. The best way to lose weight is to eat at a calorie deficit.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    The information in this thread might interest you. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/724405-resistance-training-tidbits, particularly the part titled SO HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO YOU?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    "The best way to lose weight is to build muscle."

    A pound of muscle burns around 6 calories a day, so building muscle is a pretty lousy way to lose weight/fat.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
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    "The best way to lose weight is to build muscle."

    A pound of muscle burns around 6 calories a day, so building muscle is a pretty lousy way to lose weight/fat.

    6-7 calories per hour. Not day. And being muscular is a great way to burn calories. Ask anyone that is in a deficit at 3000-5000 calories per day. :)
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    It is really going to depend on how you feel and how you are progressing.

    If 1500 net is not causing you to crash then stick with it for a little bit. (As long as you are getting in enough nutrients with that). If it starts to drag you down then you have room to add calories and keep on losing body fat. You could do that all the way up to maintenance or until you reach your body fat goal.
  • millsrobm
    millsrobm Posts: 62 Member
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    I don't think anyone has yet pointed out that HRMs are only meant to be worn for steady state cardio; they are in no way reliable for weight lifting or to wear all day. This may or may not impact how you are figuring out your calorie intake.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    "The best way to lose weight is to build muscle."

    A pound of muscle burns around 6 calories a day, so building muscle is a pretty lousy way to lose weight/fat.

    6-7 calories per hour. Not day. And being muscular is a great way to burn calories. Ask anyone that is in a deficit at 3000-5000 calories per day. :)
    No, it's 6 calories per day. Are you trying to say that someone with 15 pounds of muscle in their entire body burns 2160 calories just from the tiny amount of muscle, and then another 1000 or so from everything else in their body? Nope sorry, muscle really isn't the "metabolic furnace" that the fitness book sellers desperately want you to believe it is. Muscular people burn a lot of calories because it takes a high level of activity to remain that muscular.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    Sounds like if you are getting stronger and losing some, you are in "the zone" and should not change anything. Yes, you will build strength much faster on a surplus, but you don't really want a surplus since your aim is to lose fat, and on a surplus you will always gain some fat.

    Its also not as much of a paradox as you may be thinking since as you build more muscle, your appetite increases generally, so...you want to eat more. Decide which is most important to you and focus on that, it really sounds like you have a good mix where you are, and if you really want to change things to build muscle, you can switch to a "maintenance" level of intake calories and increase your lifting and try to gain more strength in a "recomp". This is again slower than caloric surplus, but faster than strength gain at a deficit and you can still lose fat while building muscle slowly recomping...its just very hard to maintain correctly (not slipping into deficit or surplus).

    Also, glancing at your diary, your protein is kind of low and increasing it should help prevent muscle loss and help muscle building, especially if you increase your cals, shoot for 1g/ 1lb lean body mass /day.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Building muscle is not "the best way to lose weight." Building muscle is the best way to build muscle. The best way to lose weight is to eat at a calorie deficit.

    building muscle is different than MAINTAINING muscle- and it's different than building STRENGTH.

    mucles =/= strength

    the point of lifting while on a deficit is to optimize fat loss- and minimize muscle loss.
    Bonus- you get super strong and sexy while you're doing it.

    this prevents the dreaded "skinny fat" which means- you've lost all the techncial weight you wanted to- but you have no defintion- no "tone"... you just look like a smaller version of the person you once were- often times when this happens- weight loss was a combination of fat and muscle- which is not so good.

    Keep lifting- lifting more is always the answer!

    moar squatz
  • Onderwoman
    Onderwoman Posts: 130
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    MFP people are all going to argue all day on what rules they believe, what equals what, and if you really are gaining muscle when you gain strength or if someone means muscle actually weighs more than fat or its per volume, just do what you were doing and keep at it if you are getting stronger and losing! :D
  • rtreit
    rtreit Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the insight and perspectives! I'll check out the other forum post and, for now, stick with my program as long as I see progress (my energy levels have never been better so I'm definitely not dragging). I'll try and bump up my protein intake also. Really appreciate the feedback.

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