gaining muscle, losing fat

Pascua_j · May 2012

I have met my weight loss goal through cardio, diet, one round of P90X and now Bodypump classes. I am happy with the # on the scale, but my lower body still needs more firming up and my upper body needs to be filled out. You can see the bones in my shoulders and back and I do NOT like it! I want to be a little thicker, but not fatter, ya know? The best example of a body type I like is Jamie Eason, but it would take a miracle, so that is less a goal and more just for you to have an idea of the size/ thickness I would prefer. I know weights are the key.

I have switched my calories to maintenance = 1760 and I know it needs to be protein heavy
I am doing bodypump 2-3 times a week and walking/jogging intervals 2-3 times a week for anywhere from 30 min- one hour.

1. I am looking at the 5X5 info and buying the book on TNROLFW- opinions on which is better?

2. Anyone have a suggestion for books (besides the Eat Clean series, I have them all) on the nutrition end of increasing muscle mass for women? I am a culinary arts teacher, I love to cook. This is just a whole new set of "must have" ingredients. T

3. Is the setting for gaining muscle on MFP maintenance or more or less? Nervous already about the higher # of calories...

4. Should I start the new training plan (TNROLFW or 5X5, whichever one gets the most/best votes here) AND continue bodypump as cardio, running as cardio or both? Or neither?

Just in general- help!

I would appreciate general advice/suggestions. I thought losing the weight was going to be the most difficult, turns out it is putting on the muscle I need in order to have the shape I want. Go figure,

Pascua_j · May 2012

somebody has to know something about this???

Rae6503 · May 2012

It's difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Most people chose to gain muscle first, lose fat second. That's what I'm trying to do. I gained 10lbs this winter. There's a link to my results in my profile if you are interested.

1. I like Stronglifts 5x5 better than New Rules. It's just the basic simple compound moves. New Rules contains a lot more complicated moves and changes often.

2. As far as nutrition, you don't need to "eat clean".

3. You might actually want to eat ABOVE maintenance to gain muscle. I netted around 2800 calories when I was gaining. Start with 10% above and see where that puts you. You probably want to be gaining about a half pound a week.

4. You can continue with your cardio, but not as high of intensity. I'd probably stop the body pump class though.

phinphanbill26 · May 2012

Muscle building requires calories...especially those found in protein. You may want to switch from a standard cardio routine to a HIIT routine (high intensity intervals) since this will burn your muscles in a similar way to weight lifting.

Feel free to add me for continued support.

_Bob_ · May 2012

I finally got my wife to start weight training with me, she does a regular lifting routine with us guys and then does whatever cardio workout she wants and it has been awesome

Abells · May 2012

Eat at maintenance and start lifting. I hear great things about NROLFW. I currently do crossfit and lift on my own but for starters that is the way to go. You won't be "gaining muscle" per se but you will increase your strength and create more definition in your body from lifting. You stated you wanted to fill out so I would go with it.

If you want to increase muscle you need to eat in surplus. I would go to barnes and nobles or online and read reviews on books that will help you with how to eat correctly to gain muscle and not fat. YOu cannot just go and eat whatever you want. I would slowly increase your cals and not use MFP Settings as they could be off. Play with it until you find your right number.

Martucha123 · May 2012

It's difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Most people chose to gain muscle first, lose fat second. That's what I'm trying to do. I gained 10lbs this winter. There's a link to my results in my profile if you are interested.

1. I like Stronglifts 5x5 better than New Rules. It's just the basic simple compound moves. New Rules contains a lot more complicated moves and changes often.

2. As far as nutrition, you don't need to "eat clean".

3. You might actually want to eat ABOVE maintenance to gain muscle. I netted around 2800 calories when I was gaining. Start with 10% above and see where that puts you. You probably want to be gaining about a half pound a week.

this exactly
I also need to lose fat in my lower body and gain muscle in my upper body
unfortunately both at the same time will not happen.
I decided that I hate sticking out bones more then the flab so after summer I will start eating above maintenance to built muscle, then I will go under to shed the fat...

I am doing 1st stage of New rules, but it seems to be overcomplicated with all the stages, so when I complete 1st one I will move to stronglifts (I didn't want to start with stronglifts, because I read that for newbies 6-12 reps are more recommended then 1-5 reps, allows the small muscles responsible for stabilization to develop before you start lifting really heavy --> decreases risk of injuries)

erickirb · May 2012

It's difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Most people chose to gain muscle first, lose fat second. That's what I'm trying to do. I gained 10lbs this winter. There's a link to my results in my profile if you are interested.

1. I like Stronglifts 5x5 better than New Rules. It's just the basic simple compound moves. New Rules contains a lot more complicated moves and changes often.

2. As far as nutrition, you don't need to "eat clean".

3. You might actually want to eat ABOVE maintenance to gain muscle. I netted around 2800 calories when I was gaining. Start with 10% above and see where that puts you. You probably want to be gaining about a half pound a week.

4. You can continue with your cardio, but not as high intense. I'd probably stop the body pump class though.

^This is info is great and advice. I would also suggest looking into the program "Starting Strength" similar to stronglifts but less working sets.

I would like to add that they way you can add lean muscle and lose fat is by treating each day as its own instead of week to week. To gain lean mass you need a caloric surplus, so on strength training days you would have to eat at a caloric surplus to gain the muscle, then on off or cardio days you would eat at a deficit to burn fat. This process is quite slow in both gaining muscle and losing fat, but if you are against bulk and cut cycles it is the way to go. You can achieve results faster by doing traditional bulk and cut cycles, but for some the though of gaining fat while bulking is enough to not go for that method.

Here is a link regarding body re-composition if you are interested: http://ca.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_900/988b_body-recomposition.html

iWaffle · May 2012

Eat at maintenance and start lifting. I hear great things about NROLFW.

I think this is pretty much exactly what you should do if you're looking to add some muscle to your frame. It's not totally true that you can't gain muscle while losing fat especially for those new to strength training. Those who already have large amounts of muscle will have this hurdle but as a beginner or intermediate strength training person you will not. It can be done if you're willing to do the exercises and eat correctly. If you want to do both at the same time your diet has to be really strict. It is easier to just add in extra calories and build muscle and then strip the excess fat off later but just be cautious about how much fat you allow yourself to add on if you're doing this.

I didn't lose a pound at all this last week but I've cut another half-inch off my waist. What does that mean? Obviously I lost some fat and added something else in it's place to compensate the weight difference. Realistically you won't gain huge amounts of muscle over night. It takes time and effort to add muscle so if you're willing to put in the work over an extended period of time then you'll eventually start seeing and feeling the difference.

This guy has a lot of good commentary about gaining muscle and keeping the body fat down.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-up-and-gaining-muscle/

Pascua_j · May 2012

Thank you for all of the suggestions!

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo · May 2012

It's difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Most people chose to gain muscle first, lose fat second. That's what I'm trying to do. I gained 10lbs this winter. There's a link to my results in my profile if you are interested.

1. I like Stronglifts 5x5 better than New Rules. It's just the basic simple compound moves. New Rules contains a lot more complicated moves and changes often.

2. As far as nutrition, you don't need to "eat clean".

3. You might actually want to eat ABOVE maintenance to gain muscle. I netted around 2800 calories when I was gaining. Start with 10% above and see where that puts you. You probably want to be gaining about a half pound a week.

4. You can continue with your cardio, but not as high of intensity. I'd probably stop the body pump class though.

This I agree...

I actually gained 5-6 lbs. & right now I'm on cutting cycle (fat loss). When I was gaining, I set my MFP goals to gain 1/2 pound a week & right now I switch it back to my maintenance calories. I can't set it to lose 1/2 pound a week as the numbers are way too low for my BMR.

When it comes to food, the most important thing is eat enough protein rich foods. Protein is should be about 0.5g-1g per lb. of bodyweight. I follow the 1g of protein/lb. of body weight although many times I only averaging about 105g of protein (I'm 120lbs.)

TheFunBun · May 2012

Jamie Eason has a free plan on bodybuilding.com that actually doesn't look too bad. So that may be an option to consider as well. It's definitely a body building routine, though, with lots of isolation moves in addition to compound lifts.

NewLIFEstyle4ME · March 2013

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gaining muscle, losing fat

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