What am I doing
sunn_lighter
Posts: 7,891 Member
Can you build muscle while losing weight? If not, why?
I've lost about 75 pounds and have 15-20 more to lose, if that makes a difference.
I've lost about 75 pounds and have 15-20 more to lose, if that makes a difference.
0
Replies
-
Not significantly...no.
Simply put: Muscle building requires materials to do so. If your body is using all the 'materials' you're giving it just to function (ie - all the calories), it doesn't have the extra materials it needs to make new mass.0 -
While people who are very new to lifting or who have a lot of extra weight can sometimes build muscle in a deficit, generally no. Your body needs calories to build muscle and when you're in a deficit, your body is burning calories. This is why you'll see people referring to "cutting" and "bulking." They will lose weight to reduce fat and then attempt to put weight on while making as much of it muscle as they can.0
-
If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.0
-
This content has been removed.
-
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
I think we'd all like that. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen.0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
For one day, maybe it might...but even obese people don't have months and months worth of "500 extra calories" per day stored up.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
I don't have an answer other than it just doesn't work that way. If it did, there wouldn't be fat people walking around, everyone would just be super ripped. Building muscle isn't a priority. You have to eat MORE calories than you burn and lift heavy weights regularly to build muscle.0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »new question: how do people recomp?
Recomping was my specialty for quite a while. But first, I did gain newbie gainz in the beginning which tapered off after about 5-6 weeks.. Not a lot, but it was the start.
Then I moved to maintenance and with a wee small deficit, but usually ate at maintenance 90% of the time. I put in a lot of effort into a program that was heavy lifting 6 days a week. One day of rest.0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
My non-scientific way of looking at it... If you are in a deficit, your body will only pull what it needs to survive. Building muscle is not a priority and in fact it is a liability - ie muscle is expensive (calorie-wise). If you body were to think it was starving, it would deplete muscle before fat - muscle takes more energy to maintain, so getting rid of it will allow you to survive on less for longer.
Which is exactly why you want to build lots of muscles and do everything you can to avoid losing them while trying to lose weight - muscle burns calories. The more you have, the more you burn just existing. After 2 years of liftng and building muscles, I maintain my 60+ pounds lighter body by eating 2000+ calories on average. Before this, I was gaining weight on a 1500 calorie "diet" - because I was not burning that much just existing (despite weighing 60 pounds more), and I didnt want to exercise. I eat - a LOT - for a little person
0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
because... science.
the genetic composition of fat and muscle are not the same. you can not turn fat to muscle any more than you can turn a dog into a chair.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
because... science.
the genetic composition of fat and muscle are not the same. you can not turn fat to muscle any more than you can turn a dog into a chair.
Best quote of the day!!!!!!
0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »Can you build muscle while losing weight? If not, why?
I've lost about 75 pounds and have 15-20 more to lose, if that makes a difference.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html/
http://www.muscleforlife.com/build-muscle-lose-fat/0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
because... science.
the genetic composition of fat and muscle are not the same. you can not turn fat to muscle any more than you can turn a dog into a chair.
Not really a good explanation though... you can't turn fat to muscle, but your body could burn fat and use that energy to build muscle. Hypothetically.sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
My non-scientific way of looking at it... If you are in a deficit, your body will only pull what it needs to survive. Building muscle is not a priority and in fact it is a liability - ie muscle is expensive (calorie-wise). If you body were to think it was starving, it would deplete muscle before fat - muscle takes more energy to maintain, so getting rid of it will allow you to survive on less for longer.
Which is exactly why you want to build lots of muscles and do everything you can to avoid losing them while trying to lose weight - muscle burns calories. The more you have, the more you burn just existing. After 2 years of liftng and building muscles, I maintain my 60+ pounds lighter body by eating 2000+ calories on average. Before this, I was gaining weight on a 1500 calorie "diet" - because I was not burning that much just existing (despite weighing 60 pounds more), and I didnt want to exercise. I eat - a LOT - for a little person
To be fair, your higher TDEE is due to your increased activity, not to the extra muscle. The extra calories burned from muscles vs fat is minimal (like 3 calories per pound of muscle a day or something?).
To be honest - still no idea how recomp works but there are threads about it in the maintenance section. Just not sure how people manage to add muscle and lose fat while eating at maintenance or a small deficit if you need a surplus of calories to build muscle.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
My non-scientific way of looking at it... If you are in a deficit, your body will only pull what it needs to survive. Building muscle is not a priority and in fact it is a liability - ie muscle is expensive (calorie-wise). If you body were to think it was starving, it would deplete muscle before fat - muscle takes more energy to maintain, so getting rid of it will allow you to survive on less for longer.
Which is exactly why you want to build lots of muscles and do everything you can to avoid losing them while trying to lose weight - muscle burns calories. The more you have, the more you burn just existing. After 2 years of liftng and building muscles, I maintain my 60+ pounds lighter body by eating 2000+ calories on average. Before this, I was gaining weight on a 1500 calorie "diet" - because I was not burning that much just existing (despite weighing 60 pounds more), and I didnt want to exercise. I eat - a LOT - for a little person
@aylajane
Loads of misconceptions here I'm afraid.
Muscle tissue actually takes a tiny amount of energy to maintain.
Your body doesn't think and it certainly doesn't think you are starving when you aren't. Fat is fuel and muscle is only a fuel of last resort - true starvation not a moderate deficit.
Your TDEE has risen because of your exercise, not adding a few pounds of muscle - that would be a minimal difference.
A big calorie deficit will certainly kill any chance of building muscle but at what point what an individual's tipping point comes depends on loads of factors - one of the biggest is your starting point or current training stage.
My totally personal tipping point was somewhere between losing lean mass at 1lb a week deficit and gaining LBM at 1lb a month deficit. But that only applied to me a few years ago and wouldn't even apply now.
The leaner you get, the closer to your training potential you are, the more training years you have makes it harder.
@Francl27
Recomp is just your body reacting to stimulus and having sufficient nutrition and energy to do so.
Eat at or around maintenance and train hard - no magic required!0 -
This content has been removed.
-
sunn_lighter wrote: »sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
My non-scientific way of looking at it... If you are in a deficit, your body will only pull what it needs to survive. Building muscle is not a priority and in fact it is a liability - ie muscle is expensive (calorie-wise). If you body were to think it was starving, it would deplete muscle before fat - muscle takes more energy to maintain, so getting rid of it will allow you to survive on less for longer.
Which is exactly why you want to build lots of muscles and do everything you can to avoid losing them while trying to lose weight - muscle burns calories. The more you have, the more you burn just existing. After 2 years of liftng and building muscles, I maintain my 60+ pounds lighter body by eating 2000+ calories on average. Before this, I was gaining weight on a 1500 calorie "diet" - because I was not burning that much just existing (despite weighing 60 pounds more), and I didnt want to exercise. I eat - a LOT - for a little person
@aylajane
Loads of misconceptions here I'm afraid.
Muscle tissue actually takes a tiny amount of energy to maintain.
Your body doesn't think and it certainly doesn't think you are starving when you aren't. Fat is fuel and muscle is only a fuel of last resort - true starvation not a moderate deficit.
Your TDEE has risen because of your exercise, not adding a few pounds of muscle - that would be a minimal difference.
A big calorie deficit will certainly kill any chance of building muscle but at what point what an individual's tipping point comes depends on loads of factors - one of the biggest is your starting point or current training stage.
My totally personal tipping point was somewhere between losing lean mass at 1lb a week deficit and gaining LBM at 1lb a month deficit. But that only applied to me a few years ago and wouldn't even apply now.
The leaner you get, the closer to your training potential you are, the more training years you have makes it harder.
@Francl27
Recomp is just your body reacting to stimulus and having sufficient nutrition and energy to do so.
Eat at or around maintenance and train hard - no magic required!
I will try that ^^^ thanks
My story is similar to yours. Of course, I'm a guy and that makes a difference. I've been doing "that" (eating at maintenance and training) and I'm now in my fifth week. It seems to be working, slowly, but working. I'm trying to lose that last little bit of fat. Add me if you want!0 -
The body will selectively use it's calories (units of energy) to survive before thrive. You will use that energy (calories) to move your heart muscle, move your breathing muscles, make body heat, repair or replace essential tissue (blood cells) etc. before you will build unnecessary muscle.0
-
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
Because your body prioritises things like staying alive, over aesthetics.0 -
sunn_lighter wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »If your body uses 2000 calories, and you only supply it with 1500, it's going to use all of those 1500 calories (plus an additional 500 of stored energy, like fat and muscle) to support your normal bodily functions and activities. It's not going to use any of those calories to build muscle mass. The energy isn't there. People generally lose muscle mass when they lose weight.
this may be a stupid question but why wouldn't my body use 500 stored calories to build muscle?
like why won't it take the fat and make muscle???
that's what I'd like to have happen anyway
My non-scientific way of looking at it... If you are in a deficit, your body will only pull what it needs to survive. Building muscle is not a priority and in fact it is a liability - ie muscle is expensive (calorie-wise). If you body were to think it was starving, it would deplete muscle before fat - muscle takes more energy to maintain, so getting rid of it will allow you to survive on less for longer.
Which is exactly why you want to build lots of muscles and do everything you can to avoid losing them while trying to lose weight - muscle burns calories. The more you have, the more you burn just existing. After 2 years of liftng and building muscles, I maintain my 60+ pounds lighter body by eating 2000+ calories on average. Before this, I was gaining weight on a 1500 calorie "diet" - because I was not burning that much just existing (despite weighing 60 pounds more), and I didnt want to exercise. I eat - a LOT - for a little person
@aylajane
Loads of misconceptions here I'm afraid.
Muscle tissue actually takes a tiny amount of energy to maintain.
Your body doesn't think and it certainly doesn't think you are starving when you aren't. Fat is fuel and muscle is only a fuel of last resort - true starvation not a moderate deficit.
Your TDEE has risen because of your exercise, not adding a few pounds of muscle - that would be a minimal difference.
A big calorie deficit will certainly kill any chance of building muscle but at what point what an individual's tipping point comes depends on loads of factors - one of the biggest is your starting point or current training stage.
My totally personal tipping point was somewhere between losing lean mass at 1lb a week deficit and gaining LBM at 1lb a month deficit. But that only applied to me a few years ago and wouldn't even apply now.
The leaner you get, the closer to your training potential you are, the more training years you have makes it harder.
@Francl27
Recomp is just your body reacting to stimulus and having sufficient nutrition and energy to do so.
Eat at or around maintenance and train hard - no magic required!
Lol thats why I said "My non-scientific way of looking at it" -- this explanation makes enough sense in my head to keep me moving and motivated to keep my muscle. My brain doesnt need it to be right - only to make sense to me I agree you are correct, but if I look at it that way, I lose all motivation to keep up the protein and muscle.
Weight maintenance is completely a mental game to me You use what works! 0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions