Can I lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

danniej312
danniej312 Posts: 24 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Is it possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? I want to get rid of the rest of my baby belly but I also want to gain muscle because I have my first OCR race coming up and needs the muscle.

Can I lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? If so, how? How much protein should I be eating? Or can I at least gain muscle at maintenance? Or do I have to “gain weight?” What percentages should my macros be?

I weigh 150 lbs. I’m a 5 ft 8 female. I go to the gym three days a week but haven’t been getting any stronger because I’m specifically only watching calories and nothing else.

Please help me out.

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Do a search on the forum for "recomp" or recomposition. This is eating at maintenance and following a progressive lifting program - you should lose fat and gain muscle (both will happen slowly) without changing weight.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    And ^^^^^ She is the person who absolutely does know whereof she speaks.
  • danniej312
    danniej312 Posts: 24 Member
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Do a search on the forum for "recomp" or recomposition. This is eating at maintenance and following a progressive lifting program - you should lose fat and gain muscle (both will happen slowly) without changing weight.

    Alright, thanks! I don’t care if it’s slow, as long as I am losing and gaining! I’ll do a search!
  • danniej312
    danniej312 Posts: 24 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    If you are a beginner or obese it is possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Gaining muscle and gaining strength are not necessarily the same thing.

    You say you go to the gym three times per week. What are you doing when you are there? Do you follow a progressive lifting plan?

    Honestly, I just do a little bit of everything when I’m here because I do not have a specific plan. I lift some weights, practice the monkey bars, use the treadmill, the leg press, etc.

    Do you have a plan you’d recommend I try?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    danniej312 wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    If you are a beginner or obese it is possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Gaining muscle and gaining strength are not necessarily the same thing.

    You say you go to the gym three times per week. What are you doing when you are there? Do you follow a progressive lifting plan?

    Honestly, I just do a little bit of everything when I’m here because I do not have a specific plan. I lift some weights, practice the monkey bars, use the treadmill, the leg press, etc.

    Do you have a plan you’d recommend I try?

    I can't link it from my phone, but there's a thread in the gaining weight/bodybuilding section about which lifting program is right for you and it's got a lot of good programs. I also know Spartan puts out a OCR prep workout plan to help you meet your racing goal.

    Beyond the obstacle course race I do suggest finding an established and tested lifting plan to help you meet your fat loss/muscle gain goal. There are lots of good ones out there. You may try a few and hate them before finding one you enjoy. The most suggested programs for beginners are ones I hate because of my "gym personality" (or boredom), but others absolutely love them.
  • danniej312
    danniej312 Posts: 24 Member
    Thank you guys! You’ve been a big help!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    One thing to note is that muscle gain will be slow, but you can gain strength fairly quickly if you get on a structured program. If you are losing weight you might gain a few lba of muscle over an extended period of time, but you can double strength or more fairly quickly. To add perspective i started with a 1RM of 235, and in less than a year i can do 350 and that includes some time off for my second child.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    It's possible for a very short time if you are obese and new to resistance training.

    It's also possible if you are relatively low body fat and you alternate eating in a small surplus during a developmental block and eat in a small deficit in a overload block. This you will need either alot of experience lifting/coaching.

    There is also maintenance strategy which can have sucess, but IMHO feel it's much more difficult to adhere to and obtain results than simply bulk-cut cycles which also is for the more experienced.

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