Building muscle and losing fat

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There's two ways to look at this, building muscle through strength and size or building muscle through mass; don't confuse the two. You can build some muscle at a calorie deficit by weight training. For a muscle to get stronger it has to grow but not like massive growth. Then on the other hand you have mass growth which comes from a major calorie surplus. You probably already have your calorie deficity setup, so to give you an idea of what you would need for major mass gain here is a good calculator.

http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/july262002/na_masscalculator.htm

Ideally start a mass phase when you're already lean but you can do it whenever you want, it's just easier to manage your fat gain when you're already lean.

Like taso and others have said, regardless of your weight goals you should do strength training. It may vary based on your goals but you should always do some kind.

Hmm, down 76 lb, and I have more or less maintained the muscle mass I had before. Think of it this way - if you are lugging about an extra 76 lb of fat, and you *ARE* active then you will have a fair amount of muscle mass. Fat people are not just a load of blubber hanging off some bones. In fact, I would probably say that I'd LOST some strength in my legs since I lost the 76 lb, not from losing muscle mass, but from merely not having to move that amount of weight around.

So, if you want to maintain the muscle mass you had, and you've lost an enormous amount of weight, it stands to reason that you should keep doing strength training. Also, bear in mind that for women, (not sure if the OP was female) muscle mass gains will be quite slow, unless you are really competitively training. The only time I saw actual measurable muscle gains was when I was working out every day with a split strength training program/very little cardio and supplementing with a lot of protein.

I agree with Niner that would have to fall into one of three specific groups to be able to gain muscle whilst losing weight - obese/never trained before / returning athlete / newbie.

I have been watching my boyfriend gain muscle in the last six weeks (returning athlete) and it is just OBSCENE! You can actually see his body changing day by day. He is also genetically gifted wrt sports, but still - there are a lot of factors, and most of them are not fair (esp if you are female).

Read Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat book - really recommended.

Not sure where you got that information - but I have lost 100lbs in the past year - and built some muscle in the process.....I do two (maybe 3) weight training sessions a week with a PT - and the weights I now lift / move compared to a year ago is very different - and would not be possible without having built some muscle.....

Also with the fat dissapearing I can now actually SEE those muscles!!

I can also see the results in my every day life - my legs are much stronger - I can climb stairs, my knees are much better - as the right muscles now support them - my shoulder strength have increased dramatically - all these things because I have increased the muscle strenght in those areas....

Have I built as much muscle as someone that is not on a calorie defecit - maybe not - but I have definitely built muscle - and all the while losing 2lbs a week!!

Gaining strength and building muscle are two different things. Your muscles need to be trained. By strength training, you train the muscle fibers you have to work more efficiently. In other words, you get stronger. You didn't add any new muscle tissue, you just trained your muscles to work more effectively. In order to build muscle mass, you need a calorie surplus.

Ok, this is how my nutritionist explained it to me.

If you've got lots of weight to lose (say more than 10kg/20 pounds) then you should try to maintain muscle mass and reduce fat. Others have given good examples of how to do this through exercise and eating lean protein/lower carbs.

For example, let's say you weight 180 pounds and that consists of 100 pounds fat/80 pounds lean muscle (completely made up figures BTW). This would make your lean muscle percentage 44%. If you lost 30 pounds of fat but managed to maintain your lean muscle mass, your body composition would be 70 pounds fat/80 pounds lean muscle. This would mean your lean muscle percentage is 53%.

This is why people who lose a significant amount of weight can appear to 'build' muscle, their lean muscle mass may not be increasing, but the percentage compared to overall body composition is.

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Not much to add here that christian_finn and sugarbones didn't just say. If you're obese, like me, you can turn fat into muscle mass and gain muscle that way on a deficit diet, but it's not a one for one switch. If I'm dieting I won't end up a 247.5 pound mound of muscle if I'm lifting hard and eating only 1,800 calories a day.

In order to add MASS you have to add calories, fat and protein. Lean muscle will come with working out but, if you're at an ideal weight and doing a low calorie diet your body will start consuming muscle.

You have decide between three things when you're working out: strength / fitness, weight loss, mass gain. You can then tailor your regiment to those needs.

Check out http://www.livestrong.com/article/362906-can-you-build-muscle-on-a-calorie-deficit/

Gaining strength and building muscle are two different things. Your muscles need to be trained. By strength training, you train the muscle fibers you have to work more efficiently. In other words, you get stronger. You didn't add any new muscle tissue, you just trained your muscles to work more effectively. In order to build muscle mass, you need a calorie surplus.

It's well known that it is incredibly difficult, and impossible for your average dieter, to put on muscle MASS while eating a calorie deficit. Your muscles cannot create new matter out of thin air. However, working those muscles will cause them to strengthen (just not increase in size) explaining your strength improvements. Also, strength exercises help preserve your muscles as you lose weight, so more of them are left in the end, and they look bigger because less fat covers them.

If you ate at a deficit every single day I doubt you built muscle mass, though.

This MUST be what is happening to me. However, I can't help but feel I have built a little bit of muscle! :bigsmile:

I fall into the "obese and just started strength training" category.


When all is said and done, this post hits home with me the most:

Always weight train. Always eat your exercise calories (MFP will handle the deficit). Just work out intensely and eat till 0 calories remaining. It couldn't be simpler.