Weight loss or build muscle 1st

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diontre840
diontre840 Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Should I lose weight 1st or build muscle 1st. Can you do both? If so, how?

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    No one knows anything about you and your goals. The more info you give the more personalised the advice can be.

    Yes you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time by eating at or close to weight maintenance levels and training effectively. Whether that is your best option depends on both your situation and your short and long term goals.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,529 Member
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    Depends how much you have to lose. If you're significantly overweight (not obese) and especially if you're a beginner to weights or returning to weights, yes you can build muscle on a small (10%-20%) calorie deficit. If you have more fat to lose, i.e. obese, focus on fat loss first. In all scenarios, get plenty of protein.

    Nippard breaks it all down here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4K0s792wAU
  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
    edited July 2022
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    I found it easier to lose some weight first for a couple of reasons: making a small set of changes before making a lot of changes made it easier to stay committed and on track, and exercise was a little easier (and more fun!) when I wasn't hauling quite so much weight around. It's also easier to get the scale to move downward consistently and stay motivated. Exercise is great for you, but it may affect how the scale moves (retaining water, losing inches but not weight, etc).

    You can certainly do both if you want to, and it's great for you, but there is no one size fits all approach. As with any suggestion on MFP, try it and see how it works for you. Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    You should do some kind of resistance training regardless. Resistance training will at minimum help you maintain the muscle mass you have while in a calorie deficit. Muscle is a use it or lose it thing and an expensive biological commodity.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I never heard anyone say I wish I waited to lift weights. 🤷‍♀️

    Yup.

    Your weight doesn't dictate your exercise needs. You should be exercising all along regardless of what your body composition goals are.

    It is hard to build muscle bulk while losing fat, but that doesn't mean that you don't get enormous benefit or additional strength from exercise along the way.

    It's not like weight lifting is useless while you're losing. Body builders don't stop exercising altogether when they're cutting.

    THAT SAID if you are out of shape, sedentary, and have a lot of weight to lose. Focusing on too many lifestyle changes at once can be problematic.

    So what you should do all depends on what issues you are facing and what changes are most important for you to make at this time.

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