Gaining muscle without gaining fat?
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jako607
Posts: 3 Member
Really hoping to pick the brains of all the experts here, so here's my issue:
I am 39 years old and weigh 140 lb and have been working with a personal trainer for about 3 months now with the goal of gaining muscle mass and having a general look of being defined but not bulky. I follow my trainers work out guidelines and work with him several times a week, doing weight training of various muscle groups four times a week, with cardio and rest days interspersed. I think all things considered the workout and training portion of my plan is going really well, and I'm getting stronger for sure, but I don't really*look* much different. I still have a "skinny-fat" belly that just won't seem to go away. As far as diet goes we've done the calculations and determined that I need 2,500 calories per day and we are using my fitness pal app to track my calories and macros, where I have it set to help me get to that calorie goal each day comprised of 40% protein, 25% fat, and 35% carbs. so even though I feel like I am making some progress in the training area, I don't feel like I'm making much progress in the loss of belly fat area. Do I just need to give it more time or is there some Diet change that I could be doing that could be better? Right now I eat the 2,500 calories per day every day and I don't change that on workout or resting days. I've talked about potentially eating more on rest days because that is when the muscle building actually happens, but I'm not sure if I can realistically eat more than 2500 calories a day with the proper macro balance. So does anybody have any advice on how I can continue to gain muscle without my pesky belly growing along with it? Should I change my macro percentages? What do people do when they're in a "cutting" phase? I thought maybe that could help with the belly fat loss. Any advice is welcome, thanks!
I am 39 years old and weigh 140 lb and have been working with a personal trainer for about 3 months now with the goal of gaining muscle mass and having a general look of being defined but not bulky. I follow my trainers work out guidelines and work with him several times a week, doing weight training of various muscle groups four times a week, with cardio and rest days interspersed. I think all things considered the workout and training portion of my plan is going really well, and I'm getting stronger for sure, but I don't really*look* much different. I still have a "skinny-fat" belly that just won't seem to go away. As far as diet goes we've done the calculations and determined that I need 2,500 calories per day and we are using my fitness pal app to track my calories and macros, where I have it set to help me get to that calorie goal each day comprised of 40% protein, 25% fat, and 35% carbs. so even though I feel like I am making some progress in the training area, I don't feel like I'm making much progress in the loss of belly fat area. Do I just need to give it more time or is there some Diet change that I could be doing that could be better? Right now I eat the 2,500 calories per day every day and I don't change that on workout or resting days. I've talked about potentially eating more on rest days because that is when the muscle building actually happens, but I'm not sure if I can realistically eat more than 2500 calories a day with the proper macro balance. So does anybody have any advice on how I can continue to gain muscle without my pesky belly growing along with it? Should I change my macro percentages? What do people do when they're in a "cutting" phase? I thought maybe that could help with the belly fat loss. Any advice is welcome, thanks!
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Replies
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I’ve read several articles online regarding losing fat while also building muscle. It isn’t impossible, but it is very difficult. Science says that in order to lose fat, you must create a caloric deficit. In order to gain muscle, you must create a surplus. While it IS true that the more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn, the time it will take to increase your muscles *enough* to make a noticeable difference in your fat burn efficiency will be a good several months at the very minimum. You won’t reeeally see much fat loss if your goal is to build or sculpt muscles, and you’re eating to support your muscle growth, which is why many people go through cycles of building and then leaning out. I’m actually trying to lean out first before I build any muscle because I feel like I’ll be happier noticing a fat loss first, then I can go ahead and start slowly building muscle by upping my caloric intake carefully while trying to gain the least amount of fat possible. I’m curious what others’ opinions of this are, too! I hope this helps.5
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yeah to lose the belly fat you need to be in a deficit sorry. One of the things that I notice the most when I am cutting/bulking. Belly goes out and in LOL. Maybe do a bit of a cut and once you get to where you want your belly to be at, then eat at a small surplus (don't go mental and gain back all the fat) and build more muscle. And stop doing cardio.
When I am cutting I eat lower calories for 5 days and around maintenance for 2 days (otherwise I get too sad and miserable and start to feel weak). When i'm not cutting I don't track I just attempt to eat like a normal person and not a crazy food addict (doesn't always work though... often i'll eat for the sake of eating because I like it and "hey, i'm not dieting anyway" but then the belly just gets bigger and bigger and bigger)2 -
I would honestly just pick either losing fat or gaining muscle and go for it. Like stated above, if you arent comfortable with the fat you currently hold then eat in a slight caloric deficit for a while then slowly up the cals till you are gaining around 2 to 4 lbs a month. Best of luck to you. We are similar stats so i feel your pain. Personaly, im trying to accept the fat (something ive not ever worried about before) because im pretty sure i will have no issues getting rid of it when im ready. Good luck mate0
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To gain muscle without gaining fat you can eat at maintenance calories or at such a small surplus than your rate of muscle gain is faster than your weight gain - that going to be a tiny surplus due to how slow it is to gain muscle mass and very hard to manage.
Short term which is more important to you - losing your belly or adding muscle?
Long term what is your end goal as regards weight? Do you want to end up at 140lbs and lean or be heavier and still lean/defined?
What is your weight actually doing when you stick to your 2500cals diet?
Your calorie balance determines your weight gain / fat gain not "eating the proper macro balance" or percentages - you seem to be choosing a very restrictive way of eating with set percentages which really isn't necessary. Minimum goals for protein and fat and the rest of your calorie allowance coming from any macro is far more flexible. There are no bonus points for making things harder for yourself!
"I've talked about potentially eating more on rest days because that is when the muscle building actually happens" - that's just a saying to encourage people to take adequate recovery not reality, muscle protein synthesis is happening all the time. If you have an early morning workout your body doesn't stop repair until the following day for example.6 -
I’ve read several articles online regarding losing fat while also building muscle. It isn’t impossible, but it is very difficult. Science says that in order to lose fat, you must create a caloric deficit. In order to gain muscle, you must create a surplus. While it IS true that the more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn, the time it will take to increase your muscles *enough* to make a noticeable difference in your fat burn efficiency will be a good several months at the very minimum. You won’t reeeally see much fat loss if your goal is to build or sculpt muscles, and you’re eating to support your muscle growth, which is why many people go through cycles of building and then leaning out. I’m actually trying to lean out first before I build any muscle because I feel like I’ll be happier noticing a fat loss first, then I can go ahead and start slowly building muscle by upping my caloric intake carefully while trying to gain the least amount of fat possible. I’m curious what others’ opinions of this are, too! I hope this helps.
Thank you I love this!0 -
Gaining muscle without gaining fat is known as recomp. Basically, you eat at or slightly over maintenance while on a progressive weight lifting program. It works if you stick with it but is verrrrrrry slow; be prepared to be extremely patient. Here is a great thread to help you out:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p12 -
Thanks for this. Sounds like exactly what I'm doing, although my trainer never really referred to it as "recomp". I just said I was tired of working out 6 days a week and looking like I never work out, so he's got me doing weight training 4 days/week and eating enough calories to meet my calculated TDEE (which for me feels like a LOT). I feel bloated more than I used to, mainly because I'm eating every 1.5-2 hours. But always healthy and within my macros, so I guess I'll just stick with it. From the recomp thread, 3 months doesn't seem like nearly long enough to obtain visible results. But at least I'm getting stronger! Went from being able to do no pull ups to doing 8, which for me is amazing as I've never been able to do a pull up in my life before this.3
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Resistance training with progressive overload while eating at slight deficit if your a newbie you will still gain or at least reveal muscle you had no idea you haf2
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Cahgetsfit wrote: »yeah to lose the belly fat you need to be in a deficit sorry. One of the things that I notice the most when I am cutting/bulking. Belly goes out and in LOL. Maybe do a bit of a cut and once you get to where you want your belly to be at, then eat at a small surplus (don't go mental and gain back all the fat) and build more muscle. And stop doing cardio.
When I am cutting I eat lower calories for 5 days and around maintenance for 2 days (otherwise I get too sad and miserable and start to feel weak). When i'm not cutting I don't track I just attempt to eat like a normal person and not a crazy food addict (doesn't always work though... often i'll eat for the sake of eating because I like it and "hey, i'm not dieting anyway" but then the belly just gets bigger and bigger and bigger)
fat comes off where it wants when it wants so for some they can get down to a very low weight and still have belly fat percentages in higher ranges. for some it means not enough muscle underneath, for others its just the last place they lose.for me it took 5 yearsfor the fat to come off. I ate in a deficit,took diet breaks and so on now its coming off doing a recomp,I still have fat in other places though still to this day that may or may not come off.0 -
I recomp and can say that it is very, very slow going in both muscle gains, and fat loss, but easier on the ole stomach and you maintain more consistent energy levels. Getting down to a 4 pack is easy. A 6 pack more difficult, and shredded abs are like playing a video game on the hardest difficulty.1
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For some people It's just genetics
The very last place I lose fat is my stomach. It's so bad that I start losing fat on my face before I get close to visible abs. So for me it's a choice of having a skinny face and looking malnourished or accepting the belly fat and having a normal face in which case it's better to have some belly fat and not look like you've just been through a famine.
Can't do anything about it just have to accept it. I get super skinny legs arms face before the abs appear so it's not not worth it for me.2 -
The way I approached it from the off was to cut first and see what actual muscle I had and then slowly bulk for about 3 years, as others have said bulking and staying lean is painfully slow also your diet and training need to be bang on,I then starting to compete as a bodybuilder did 2 shows then did a full off season bulk taking my calories up to 7300 a day of clean food then cut again to compete this year. It’s all about being patient and very consistent I’ve taken maybe 8-9 days off my plan in 4 years2
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