Building Muscle

Try the H.I.I.T (high intensity interval training) on a treadmill or bike for your cardio. 20 minutes is all you need. Hard to beat that. I hate cardio-but 20 min is perfect.

So YES, you can gain muscle and lose fat and here's how:

1.) Constant influx of protein. 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day taken 5-6 equal portions spaced evenly through out the day - otherwise your nuclear power plant will have to turn on between meals and burn muscle, you don't want that.
2.) Consume enough calories to keep your body from thinking its starving but not so many calories that you gain fat, 10% under your TDEE is a good value to use. My calorie calculator will tell you exactly what that is for your type metabolism. Make sure to set your goal in step 6 to "10% calorie reduction"
3.) Proper nutrition, make every calorie count!
- eat unprocessed or minimally processed foods
- eat lots of fresh vegetables
- eat less than 30% of your calories from fat and eat only good fats like olives, nuts, and avocados
- eat whole grains and low G.I. carbs - no simple carbs like sugar, alcohol, or white flour
- eat omega-IIIs daily, flax or salmon are great sources
4.) Hardcore, consistent weight workouts. You can use my custom workout plan generator to design a workout plan appropriate for you.
5.) Daily cardio, 30-40min. Cardio will not burn muscle, it will help you gain muscle while losing fat at the same time.

Many beginners to fitness ask if they should lose their fat first or start lifting to gain muscle first, the answer is that they should do BOTH at the same time!!! Especially for beginners, it is very easy to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time!

Now lets talk about the exceptions to this, those who can't gain muscle and lose fat:
1.) Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is very difficult for advanced bodybuilders. Many of them are close to their genetic limits so adding muscle is very difficult and slow for them even under the best of circumstances. Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is something that only beginning and intermediate bodybuilders can do. (By my somewhat arbitrary definition, an advanced bodybuilder is someone who can do 8 flawless, ultra slow-motion pullups and 20 flawless, ultra slow-motion pushups.)
2.) Skinny teens who can't gain either fat or muscle even when they eat as much as they can.
3.) Advanced bodybuilders with low bodyfat (under 8%).Your body needs some fat so when you get to a certain point, your body will start choosing to burn muscle instead of fat if you have a caloric deficit. If you are 8% bodyfat and want to get down to 4-6% bodyfat you wont be able to add muscle why you do this, at best you can do is to maintain your muscle mass. With regular dieting, its tough to drop down to 4-6% without losing muscle mass but carb cycling seems to really help for this specific purpose.

Have you heard of Scooby before? He runs a really popular fitness website. Almost everything on there is true. I'll just quote what it says on his website so it doesn't look like I'm advertising.

So YES, you can gain muscle and lose fat and here's how:

1.) Constant influx of protein. 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day taken 5-6 equal portions spaced evenly through out the day - otherwise your nuclear power plant will have to turn on between meals and burn muscle, you don't want that.
2.) Consume enough calories to keep your body from thinking its starving but not so many calories that you gain fat, 10% under your TDEE is a good value to use. My calorie calculator will tell you exactly what that is for your type metabolism. Make sure to set your goal in step 6 to "10% calorie reduction"
3.) Proper nutrition, make every calorie count!
- eat unprocessed or minimally processed foods
- eat lots of fresh vegetables
- eat less than 30% of your calories from fat and eat only good fats like olives, nuts, and avocados
- eat whole grains and low G.I. carbs - no simple carbs like sugar, alcohol, or white flour
- eat omega-IIIs daily, flax or salmon are great sources
4.) Hardcore, consistent weight workouts. You can use my custom workout plan generator to design a workout plan appropriate for you.
5.) Daily cardio, 30-40min. Cardio will not burn muscle, it will help you gain muscle while losing fat at the same time.

Many beginners to fitness ask if they should lose their fat first or start lifting to gain muscle first, the answer is that they should do BOTH at the same time!!! Especially for beginners, it is very easy to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time!

Now lets talk about the exceptions to this, those who can't gain muscle and lose fat:
1.) Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is very difficult for advanced bodybuilders. Many of them are close to their genetic limits so adding muscle is very difficult and slow for them even under the best of circumstances. Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is something that only beginning and intermediate bodybuilders can do. (By my somewhat arbitrary definition, an advanced bodybuilder is someone who can do 8 flawless, ultra slow-motion pullups and 20 flawless, ultra slow-motion pushups.)
2.) Skinny teens who can't gain either fat or muscle even when they eat as much as they can.
3.) Advanced bodybuilders with low bodyfat (under 8%).Your body needs some fat so when you get to a certain point, your body will start choosing to burn muscle instead of fat if you have a caloric deficit. If you are 8% bodyfat and want to get down to 4-6% bodyfat you wont be able to add muscle why you do this, at best you can do is to maintain your muscle mass. With regular dieting, its tough to drop down to 4-6% without losing muscle mass but carb cycling seems to really help for this specific purpose.