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Gaining muscle weight, but not losing fat???
dfavela1988
Posts: 892 Member
Good afternoon, i have been back into getting myself in shape. I have been lifting weights 3-5 days a week. While i have been gaining weight, i know its due my increased protein intake and heavy lifting. I know that there is still alot of work to do to get the results that im looking for as well as cleaning up my diet as well. It seems that the fat in numerous parts of my body seem the stay there. Is there anything that can be suggested to help increase fat burning and keep the muscle that is building? I do want to lose weight, but dont want to lose the hard work that took me to get that muscle either.
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If you are gaining weight, muscle or fat, you are eating at a caloric surplus. If your goal is keep the same weight, you need to eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy. That will let you "recomp" your body and shed fat while gaining muscle. This process can be much slower than the standard bulk/cut cycles according to most.0
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Do you think you're eating at a deficit?0
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galgenstrick wrote: »
No, he said he is gaining weight.
Right or wrong, his post suggests that he might believe he is building muscle while eating at a deficit.
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If you are gaining weight, muscle or fat, you are eating at a caloric surplus. If your goal is keep the same weight, you need to eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy. That will let you "recomp" your body and shed fat while gaining muscle. This process can be much slower than the standard bulk/cut cycles according to most.
This. You'll either have to eat at maintenance with a cleaner diet and let your body lean out over time or do a cut. Cardio or plyo work also helps as much as I hate it.0 -
Right or wrong, his post suggests that he might believe he is building muscle while eating at a deficit.
If he's gaining weight he's gaining some amount of fat while gaining muscle. Like you said, a recomp is necessary to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, assuming he has newbie gains to be gained.0 -
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SunnyPacheco wrote: »
This. You'll either have to eat at maintenance with a cleaner diet and let your body lean out over time or do a cut. Cardio or plyo work also helps as much as I hate it.
Please don't agree with me and then throw in hogwash about "clean" diets
Thanks!
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galgenstrick wrote: »
If he's gaining weight he's gaining some amount of fat while gaining muscle. Like you said, a recomp is necessary to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, assuming he has newbie gains to be gained.
I know the process...lol. I was just saying that the guy who asked if he "thought" he was eating at a deficit. Not that he actually is. I think he was trying to gain some insight on what the OP thinks is happening. That is all.0 -
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I know the process...lol. I was just saying that the guy who asked if he "thought" he was eating at a deficit. Not that he actually is. I think he was trying to gain some insight on what the OP thinks is happening. That is all.
I know the process...lol. I was just saying that the guy who asked if he "thought" he was eating at a deficit. Not that he actually is. I think he was trying to gain some insight on what the OP thinks is happening. That is all.
Oh, gotcha. It's a valid question then.0 -
:shake:0
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Please don't agree with me and then throw in hogwash about "clean" diets Thanks!
I didn't say eat clean. I said cleaner as the OP said he felt he needs to clean up his diet. Eat clean, eat flexible. Doesn't matter to me. Whatever you feel like will give you the results you want.0 -
If you are gaining weight, muscle or fat, you are eating at a caloric surplus. If your goal is keep the same weight, you need to eat at maintenance and continue to lift heavy. That will let you "recomp" your body and shed fat while gaining muscle. This process can be much slower than the standard bulk/cut cycles according to most.
Yup0 -
SunnyPacheco wrote: »
I didn't say eat clean. I said cleaner as the OP said he felt he needs to clean up his diet. Eat clean, eat flexible. Doesn't matter to me. Whatever you feel like will give you the results you want.
All in fun. Promise0 -
SunnyPacheco wrote: »
I didn't say eat clean. I said cleaner as the OP said he felt he needs to clean up his diet. Eat clean, eat flexible. Doesn't matter to me. Whatever you feel like will give you the results you want.
But cleaner eating isn't necessarily going to give better results is the problem with the statement. Assuming you mean eat nutrient dense foods, then that's critical for overall health, but not necessarily muscle gains and fat loss which is OPs concern.0 -
Right or wrong, his post suggests that he might believe he is building muscle while eating at a deficit.
Exactly and that's what I was trying to clarify. I believe the OP is trying to lose weight and thinks he's eating at a deficit and the weight gain is due to muscle.
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Exactly and that's what I was trying to clarify. I believe the OP is trying to lose weight and thinks he's eating at a deficit and the weight gain is due to muscle.
That's the impression I got as well.
FWIW, etc.0 -
All valid points. Maybe i should clarify a bit more. I do keep track of what i eat, but i wanted to gain more muscle while i was trying to burn the fat. My BMI last time i checked was 32% and can be seen mostly in the mid section. I know that cardio would help alot since i use to play alot of basketball, but now that im trying to gain the muscle while leaning out what can be suggested to achieve that goal. Also if i did happen to increase my cardio, should i increase my protein intake while decreasing calorie intake?0
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At 32% you have a lot of "leaning out" to do. Why not focus on that first? Keep the deficit moderate and stay active...
Are you looking to specifically make visually bigger muscles, or is the goal to get stronger?
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dfavela1988 wrote: »All valid points. Maybe i should clarify a bit more. I do keep track of what i eat, but i wanted to gain more muscle while i was trying to burn the fat. My BMI last time i checked was 32% and can be seen mostly in the mid section. I know that cardio would help alot since i use to play alot of basketball, but now that im trying to gain the muscle while leaning out what can be suggested to achieve that goal. Also if i did happen to increase my cardio, should i increase my protein intake while decreasing calorie intake?
Establish your goals, and then eat and train to attain them. It sounds like you want to recomp-that is done at maintenance calories. You can gain a little muscle and lose a little fat and it's a long process.
If you are lean enough, you can bulk and gain muscle mass by eating at a surplus. You'll also gain fat. If you're gaining, this is what you are doing-assuming you are training properly.0 -
At 32% you have a lot of "leaning out" to do. Why not focus on that first? Keep the deficit moderate and stay active...
Are you looking to specifically make visually bigger muscles, or is the goal to get stronger?
i do want to get the "look", bigger muscles. I know that one or the other has to be implemented. But i want to lose the "weight" while not losing the muscle mass.
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dfavela1988 wrote: »
i do want to get the "look", bigger muscles. I know that one or the other has to be implemented. But i want to lose the "weight" while not losing the muscle mass.
Now you are making more sense. So you need to keep lifting heavy to save muscle, and eat at a deficit to lose the fat.
How long have you been tracking calories?0 -
You'll need to eat at a deficit and lift to maintain the muscle mass. Once you're weight is down, you can focus on building muscle mass.0
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dfavela1988 wrote: »
i do want to get the "look", bigger muscles. I know that one or the other has to be implemented. But i want to lose the "weight" while not losing the muscle mass.
Well that's different than what you said to start with, and makes a whole lot more sense.
Moderate deficit + solid exercise regimen will limit the amount of lean body mass you're going to lose. There's no way to not lose any, the best you can hope for is to hit your genetic maximum LBM retention.
Good luck!
:drinker:
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Come...join the deficit club.0
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arditarose wrote: »
Now you are making more sense. So you need to keep lifting heavy to save muscle, and eat at a deficit to lose the fat.
How long have you been tracking calories?
On and off for a year now, but being more strict a little over a month now.0 -
Well that's different than what you said to start with, and makes a whole lot more sense.
Moderate deficit + solid exercise regimen will limit the amount of lean body mass you're going to lose. There's no way to not lose any, the best you can hope for is to hit your genetic maximum LBM retention.
Good luck!
:drinker:
Yea my target calorie intake is roughly 3200 and lately have been 200-300 under the goal.0 -
dfavela1988 wrote: »
Yea my target calorie intake is roughly 3200 and lately have been 200-300 under the goal.
Do you feel like opening your diary?
What are your stats?
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dfavela1988 wrote: »
Yea my target calorie intake is roughly 3200 and lately have been 200-300 under the goal.
That's a pretty high number. Are you sure you're in a deficit?0
This discussion has been closed.
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