Gaining muscles while burning fat?

nirsky · May 2011

So per bodybuilding.com I need to be at 3170 calories per day with Protein & Carb intake of 317g, and 70g of Fat.
No way I can eat so much….maybe I can increase my daily take to 2500 calories.
On my weight loss, I was eating 1200 calories, and last week, I raise it to about 1700 calories.
I am afraid that more calories, will lead to more fat, and Yes, I will work out hard and call the gym my second home.
I know it takes at least 3 months to see muscles growth, how would I know if my calories intake are above or below what I need.
I know that the more muscle you have, so supposed to burn fat, and be lean…..

So:
1) Should I continue to burn fat with lower calories intake, until I get my flat belly and then bulk up?
2) Or should I start bulking up now, while doing some cardio and the muscle gain will help me burn fat and flatten my belly into six-pack.
If you are trying to gain muscles, how much are you eating, and did you also lost fat in your belly area during that time?

Thanks all, I appreciate your time and answers.
Also feel free to add me to your friend circle. I have a great group of friend who gives me lots of motivation to continue on.

erickirb · May 2011

So per bodybuilding.com I need to be at 3170 calories per day with Protein & Carb intake of 317g, and 70g of Fat.
No way I can eat so much….maybe I can increase my daily take to 2500 calories.
On my weight loss, I was eating 1200 calories, and last week, I raise it to about 1700 calories.
I am afraid that more calories, will lead to more fat, and Yes, I will work out hard and call the gym my second home.
I know it takes at least 3 months to see muscles growth, how would I know if my calories intake are above or below what I need.
I know that the more muscle you have, so supposed to burn fat, and be lean…..

So:
1) Should I continue to burn fat with lower calories intake, until I get my flat belly and then bulk up?
2) Or should I start bulking up now, while doing some cardio and the muscle gain will help me burn fat and flatten my belly into six-pack.
If you are trying to gain muscles, how much are you eating, and did you also lost fat in your belly area during that time?

Thanks all, I appreciate your time and answers.
Also feel free to add me to your friend circle. I have a great group of friend who gives me lots of motivation to continue on.

When you are in bulk phase, you will add fat. It is very hard to gain muscle without gaining fat. And FYI a man should never eat below 1500 cals, the 1200 minimum is for women, you may have slowed your metabolism down if you ate 1200 for any length of time.

dxing · May 2011

So per bodybuilding.com I need to be at 3170 calories per day with Protein & Carb intake of 317g, and 70g of Fat.
No way I can eat so much….maybe I can increase my daily take to 2500 calories.
On my weight loss, I was eating 1200 calories, and last week, I raise it to about 1700 calories.
I am afraid that more calories, will lead to more fat, and Yes, I will work out hard and call the gym my second home.
I know it takes at least 3 months to see muscles growth, how would I know if my calories intake are above or below what I need.
I know that the more muscle you have, so supposed to burn fat, and be lean…..

So:
1) Should I continue to burn fat with lower calories intake, until I get my flat belly and then bulk up?
2) Or should I start bulking up now, while doing some cardio and the muscle gain will help me burn fat and flatten my belly into six-pack.
If you are trying to gain muscles, how much are you eating, and did you also lost fat in your belly area during that time?

Thanks all, I appreciate your time and answers.
Also feel free to add me to your friend circle. I have a great group of friend who gives me lots of motivation to continue on.

Let me break it down for you buddy. It's very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat, the two completely counteract each other. If you're new to this, then yes, for the first month or so you probably can do both at once. But for someone who's experienced, it becomes VERY difficult, but not unheard of. Fact is, you probably will eventually need 3000+ calories to build noticeable mass. And unless you have the PERFECT diet, you will gain fat.

Do you know what your bodyfat percentage is right now? If you're around 15% I suggest a bulk. So basically, if you can see even a small outline of your abs. Otherwise, I'd recommend cutting. 1700 calories should be fine for a cut, but don't expect dramatic increases in size and strength.

stevemcknight · May 2011

So per bodybuilding.com I need to be at 3170 calories per day with Protein & Carb intake of 317g, and 70g of Fat.
No way I can eat so much….maybe I can increase my daily take to 2500 calories.
On my weight loss, I was eating 1200 calories, and last week, I raise it to about 1700 calories.
I am afraid that more calories, will lead to more fat, and Yes, I will work out hard and call the gym my second home.
I know it takes at least 3 months to see muscles growth, how would I know if my calories intake are above or below what I need.
I know that the more muscle you have, so supposed to burn fat, and be lean…..

So:
1) Should I continue to burn fat with lower calories intake, until I get my flat belly and then bulk up?
2) Or should I start bulking up now, while doing some cardio and the muscle gain will help me burn fat and flatten my belly into six-pack.
If you are trying to gain muscles, how much are you eating, and did you also lost fat in your belly area during that time?

Thanks all, I appreciate your time and answers.
Also feel free to add me to your friend circle. I have a great group of friend who gives me lots of motivation to continue on.

Let me break it down for you buddy. It's very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat, the two completely counteract each other. If you're new to this, then yes, for the first month or so you probably can do both at once. But for someone who's experienced, it becomes VERY difficult, but not unheard of. Fact is, you probably will eventually need 3000+ calories to build noticeable mass. And unless you have the PERFECT diet, you will gain fat.

Do you know what your bodyfat percentage is right now? If you're around 15% I suggest a bulk. So basically, if you can see even a small outline of your abs. Otherwise, I'd recommend cutting. 1700 calories should be fine for a cut, but don't expect dramatic increases in size and strength.

geez... yes - perfect advice. I would generally cut the cardio out almost completely. Lift and walk with 100% nutrition and you'll get there quickly.

JoeKrueger · May 2011

I started working out 6 months ago with pure weight training. I started running in February and now run 5 days a week and lift 2 or 3. My weight stayed the same until I started using this website and dieting, but everybody kept telling me I moved the weight from belly fat to upper-body muscle. Once I started dieting the weight really started coming off. It's up to you: If muscle is more imprtant than loosing more fat, then lift more, and vise versa. You can achieve both goals at the same time. Remember that excersise allows you to eat more calories and if you are lifting heavy, don't get too concerned with your weight because you will be gaining muscle.

If you want to gain muscle, you absolutely have to be drinking protien shakes within a half hour after your workout. I lifted for years and ignored this and now realize that I was missing out on half of the gains. There are a lot of great tasting protein shakes out there now that are about 24 grams of protein and only 130 calories. Plus whey protien (the kind you need) makes you feel full. Work out, drink the protien then eat one of your meals after a shower - you will eat less, but have the protein you need for muscle gains Plenty of water is important all day long too.

Another great way to go is P-90-X. The whole premis of it is mixing cardio with lifting, a diet plan, and a recovery (protein) shake to give you muscle gains while loosing fat.

Hope this helps...

Glucocorticoid · May 2011

To the OP, the muscle that you will gain won't help you burn fat, it will burn a negligible amount of calories.
Also, I wouldn't do p90x.

In most cases, I would recommend you diet down first, but that would depend on your specifics.

dxing · May 2011

To the OP, the muscle that you will gain won't help you burn fat, it will burn a negligible amount of calories.
Also, I wouldn't do p90x.

In most cases, I would recommend you diet down first, but that would depend on your specifics.

What's backing this claim up?

baldzach · May 2011

To the OP, the muscle that you will gain won't help you burn fat, it will burn a negligible amount of calories.
Also, I wouldn't do p90x.

In most cases, I would recommend you diet down first, but that would depend on your specifics.

What's backing this claim up?

Oh my, if we had to start backing up claims on this site, the forums would almost completely shut down.

It's my pet peeve. So many people opine as if they are experts and cite no sources and propagate myths and half-truths as if they were gospel.

Glucocorticoid · May 2011

To the OP, the muscle that you will gain won't help you burn fat, it will burn a negligible amount of calories.
Also, I wouldn't do p90x.

In most cases, I would recommend you diet down first, but that would depend on your specifics.

What's backing this claim up?

Oh my, if we had to start backing up claims on this site, the forums would almost completely shut down.

It's my pet peeve. So many people opine as if they are experts and cite no sources and propagate myths and half-truths as if they were gospel.

If you hadn't noticed, this is a forum where people look for casual advice. With that being said, I agree with you completely if you are indeed implying that there is a bunch of bullsh*t being spread on this forum.

Regarding this specifically, why would I have to back this claim up? The OP made the claim, I simply said that it is not true. The onus would be on him to prove that gaining muscle burns a significant amount of calories.

You can find various articles via google, but I would prefer to look at the actual scientific data. If you want to read the studies, be my guest. Here are a few:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20962155
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/87/3/1004

But the bottom line is this, the OP is clearly mistaken in his notion that "hey I'll just bulk first because the muscle will help me burn the fat faster". It is understandable, since this is what most people hear, but it's bad information. The fact is that for each pound of muscle he gains, he will probably burn six more calories each day. Pretty negligible, as I originally stated.

Gaining muscles while burning fat?

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