Can I build muscle in a defecit?

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RedheadedPrincess14
RedheadedPrincess14 Posts: 415 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay guys, so I'm 5 foot 8.5, 138ish pounds, (20 pounds down from my heaviest, which happened when I got on birth control) and I'm eating at a defecit to get down to my usual weight of about 130. I eat really healthy ( diary is open,) and have been losing steadily but I'm realizing that I have no definition or muscle mass after all this weight loss. It looks like I have less muscle then when I was this weight last year. So I've just started heavy lifting, 50 min sessions with a trainer, 4 times a week and I also go to a rock climbing gym twice a week but I just fool around there and have fun- nothing intense. I upped my calories by 100 and eat back some excercise calories but I'm being told that I will not be able to build any muscle eating at a defecit. So what am I supposed to do here? I want to lose the rest of my body fat but I also want to be strong and toned. Is there a system or order I should be doing this in?

thanks in advance! I study nutrition but I'm very ignorant with the fitness aspect and haven't learned much about it in school yet. Only been in school for a year and I have 3 left

Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Keep doing what you are doing. Now your GOAL is to lose fat, and maintain that muscle. So lifting in a deficit will help with that. Sometimes a beginner can gain some muscle in a deficit, but not everyone, and it shouldn't be the GOAL. What you are doing now will help your physique as you near your target weight.

    https://shreddedbyscience.com/can-you-gain-weight-in-a-calorie-deficit/

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    If you're brand new to lifting it's possible, but that gain will be minimal. Don't stop just because you won't gain, though. Strength training is an excellent tool in maintaining as much muscle as possible while you lose.
  • RedheadedPrincess14
    RedheadedPrincess14 Posts: 415 Member
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    Thank you all very much! I'll just ignore the trainer and let him just work my *kitten* and not tell me how to eat lol
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »
    Thank you all very much! I'll just ignore the trainer and let him just work my *kitten* and not tell me how to eat lol

    Tell him you still have some fat you'd like to lose so you'll continue with the deficit, and lift with a progressive overload to maintain lean mass as you lose.
  • figureitout87
    figureitout87 Posts: 126 Member
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    It's not as effective to eat at a deficit. This is why body builders bulk and cut weight to achieve a "shredded" look.

    That being said, it's not impossible. I'm 5'2 and 175 doing StrongLifts. At this point I have enough fat that my lifts are not suffering, and I'm enough of a beginner that I'm seeing progress. However, as I progress I will need to eat more to keep up with my programming and that may be what your trainer is trying to get across. Don't be afraid to eat more as your weights go up, you will continue to burn fat. You want to get away with eating as much as you can to fuel your workouts and see maximal results.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I'm being told that I will not be able to build any muscle eating at a deficit.
    Inaccurate and silly generalisation.

    You could challenge those people by saying:
    Even if my deficit is absolutely tiny?
    Not even a little bit?
    How does my body "know" I'm in a deficit and where in the body is the switch located that completely changes my physiology when I go to TDEE minus 1cal?

    Or you could just ignore the noise as even if it were true it wouldn't change what you are and should be doing. Your personal best possible results may vary from building some muscle though to maintaining the maximum amount of muscle you currently have whilst losing weight. But the method to achieve your best result is the same - good lifting routine, moderate to small calorie deficit, adequate to high protein.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    It is more difficult to gain muscle while in a deficit, but it is possible.
  • MikeyM1982
    MikeyM1982 Posts: 47 Member
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz3AG-oCXTE

    Watch this video. One of the most knowledgable in the business.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    As others said, keep lifting as you lose the last bit.. it will make a difference for those last few lbs. So definitely keep lifting, even if you don't end up building muscle it will help maintain what you have and greatly improve your muscle definition and body composition. Once you get to goal and you are still not happy you can reassess and decide your next steps, which may be to recomp.
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 513 Member
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    I absolutely gained muscle. I can't be all sciencey...but Dang...my arms are buff from doing strength training while losing 50+ pounds.
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
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    I've found Eric Helms to give the best answer to this question in his video series on youtube: Part 1 Part 2
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Please realize that you need protein to build any muscle that you do build. You maximize your opportunity to gain muscle by consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight per day. This can be done in your calorie deficit so that you continue to lose weight.
  • RedheadedPrincess14
    RedheadedPrincess14 Posts: 415 Member
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    Thanks for all the videos and information guys!
  • rmelton07
    rmelton07 Posts: 4 Member
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    Also something to note. Be sure you're taking account of the work you're doing into your caloric goals. Doing strength training 4 days a week burns a massive amount of calories because while you're working arms, you're still burning calories repairing your legs, back, ect from the days before. If you're eating at a deficit, and burning tons of calories on top of that, your daily intake could be much lower than it should be.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    cosmonew wrote: »
    I absolutely gained muscle. I can't be all sciencey...but Dang...my arms are buff from doing strength training while losing 50+ pounds.

    It's still pretty unlikely that you did. It's more from losing the fat over them that they look like they gained.
  • MontyMuttland
    MontyMuttland Posts: 68 Member
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    You can certainly maintain and even gain muscle mass whilst on a daily calorie deficit.
    However, as has been pointed out by at least one person replying here, to build muscles your body needs a good supply of protein.
    In your case, you don't consume anywhere near enough of it, your diary shows you eat well under 100g of protein a day which isn't going to do you any favours.
    Change your macro settings in MFP to increase the overall percentage of protein by a good 10%, you can safely do that by reducing carbs and fat intake by 5% each - you're trying to lose body fat, not lean muscle mass, so reducing those ones in favour of protein is a good choice.
    If you need ways to get the protein up without it costing you tons of calories, chicken and tuna (even from a tin) are great, plus don't be afraid to supplement with protein powder as there are plenty of products available that are protein-rich but not calorie-dense.
    As an added bonus, the extra protein will make you feel fuller for longer so you'll spend less time feeling hungry.
  • RedheadedPrincess14
    RedheadedPrincess14 Posts: 415 Member
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    MontyMuttland wrote: »
    You can certainly maintain and even gain muscle mass whilst on a daily calorie deficit.
    However, as has been pointed out by at least one person replying here, to build muscles your body needs a good supply of protein.
    In your case, you don't consume anywhere near enough of it, your diary shows you eat well under 100g of protein a day which isn't going to do you any favours.
    Change your macro settings in MFP to increase the overall percentage of protein by a good 10%, you can safely do that by reducing carbs and fat intake by 5% each - you're trying to lose body fat, not lean muscle mass, so reducing those ones in favour of protein is a good choice.
    If you need ways to get the protein up without it costing you tons of calories, chicken and tuna (even from a tin) are great, plus don't be afraid to supplement with protein powder as there are plenty of products available that are protein-rich but not calorie-dense.
    As an added bonus, the extra protein will make you feel fuller for longer so you'll spend less time feeling hungry.

    Thank you, I'm going to be upping my protein with green vegetables, lentils and beans. I eat a whole food plant based diet but I'll be only going up from around 17% - 25% protein since my personal opinion is that high levels of protein are hard on the body, just form what I be learned in school. I'll play it by ear though! Definitely, once I've lost all my fat and I'm really focused on building muscle at maintainer or slight surplus, I'll be able to tell if those macros are working for me and adapt from there. Thank you for your feedback though!!

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