This sounds interesting!
Yesterday we began a series on losing fat and gaining muscle simultaneously, and with that first post I posed the question:
Can it be done?
The answer? Yes. BUT, only with a VERY strategic approach.
Now, in order to understand how these seemingly mutually exclusive goals can be accomplished simultaneously, we need to understand a few things about achieving your goals in general.
First, your goals are a direct result of both your training and nutrition program.
Second, optimal training for fat loss and optimal training to gain muscle are different.
Third, optimal nutritional strategies for fat loss and optimal nutritional strategies for gaining muscle are different.
Let’s take a look at each.
From a caloric balance perspective, in order to gain muscle you need to be taking in surplus levels of calories – there is simply no way around it. Fact is, it’s nearly impossible to gain muscle mass while in a caloric deficit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Period.
Conversely, if your goal is to lose body fat, you need to create some sort of caloric deficit (i.e. you are eating less than you burn).
Now, those two situations may indeed seem mutually exclusive, but they’re not.
More on that in a minute.
On to training.
Optimal training for fat loss consists of very metabolically demanding resistance training (think circuit training) coupled with high intensity interval style cardio sessions.
Optimal training for gaining muscle is more a product of using heavier weights, more rest, while still performing a large number of repetitions per session (volume).
Those two things also seem mutually exclusive – but they’re not.
Here’s how:
TIMING.
What if you alternated the two types of workouts throughout the week?
Could you burn fat and gain muscle?
Perhaps, but not likely due to the nutrition issue.
But what if you were to feed your muscles with a surplus of calories on muscle building workout days, and remain in a caloric deficit on other days?
Or what if you were to feed your muscles with a MEGA surplus of calories for the several hours after your muscle building workout (when your muscles are most primed to suck up nutrients and much less likely to convert those extra calories to fat)?
Or what if you were to take small bursts of time to concentrate on building muscle – say, two weeks. And then follow it up with an intense one week fat loss phase? Essentially, over a twelve week period you’d be losing fat and gaining muscle “simultaneously,” unlike those who only do one or the other in that time frame.
Or what if you were to do exclusively muscle building workouts (with a caloric surplus on those days), and then burn excess calories via interval training (and not resistance training) combined with dieting on other days?
There are SO many different ways to do this.
Give me at least 300 comments and I’ll be back tomorrow with a number of different specific ways to approach the goal of building muscle and losing fat simultaneously.
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
P.S. Check out the below video from my buddy Kyle explaining one of the NEWEST methods we’re using for simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain:
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332 comments - add yours
It all comes down to the correct diet for your body type and combining the correct type of training as well.
gee, and all i want to do is lose fat, maybe when i reach a weight that i find pleasing i’ll start worrying about muscle gain so please do tell…
Yes, it’s possible do gain muscle and lose fat at the same time but it’s like Joel said very difficult and you have to cycle your macronutrients. 2 weeks in protein surplus then 2 weeks in protein deficit. Using supplements like BCAA’s and good fats helps a lot. I can vouch for tabata style training, and circuit training with resistance for maximum fat loss, I’ve lost many pounds of fat both ways and I’ve gained more explosive power in consequence.
Get out of your comfort zone and you will lose fat like crazy, same goes for gaining muscle (target your weak points the most), if you hate doing pullups or can’t do them at all then you know what to do :).
Seems great but it has been around for ages and it’s called CARB CYCLING !!
Really works great, but to be honest you wont get great results, it is good if you allready have a great physique and just want to maintain it with some very litlle gains, bulking and cutting, if done in smaller phases, not six months like most do, has better results in my oppinion..
In the text accompanying Kyle’s video, all of pictures are of men, and the testimonials talk about not losing size. I am a female, and I know women’s bodies will not build muscle the same way as males, so that does not make me nervous. My goal, however, is to reduce size & bodyfat and have muscle definition in a relatively short period of time. Have been working out consistently for 10 weeks & drinking 100+ ounces of water daily for 2-3 weeks. Muscles are developing & bodyfat has gone down 6%; however, have only lost 5-6 lbs & waist size is not much different. Know nutrition is key. Is this program for me?
Hi Joel,
Makes sense to me! I really have some fat to lose but want to gain muscle at the same time. I am going to have my cheat days on my strength building days and carry a calorie deficit on cardio interval days and see how it goes. I have lost 100 pounds and have been struggling to get rid of the final 15 pounds. It just won’t seem to budge. Can’t wait for the next post!
Want and needd to know more! :D
Thanks for this man. Kind of new about it before, well did it naturally, but having someone else reiterate it gives it more credibility. (I) find I loose fat and build muscle by having a larger breakfast, mini meals through the day and working out intensely towards the end of the day. I make the last mini meal before my workout a good one that gives me a little suger spike and then I do high intensity circuits. I try and go hard at the start to burn the calories from the food I just ate and get into fat burning zone. I normally feel im there when I have a little energy dip and then it comes back again. When im there, moderate intensity with weight training. After working out have a large balanced meal a lot of good fats, protein, veg carbs within hours and let your body “feed” while you sleep. This meal needs to be well thought through so you can last till morning and have the right nutrients to repair throughout the night. You can tailor this to your needs if you think about the hours you sleep for. I sleep pretty long so if I need to loose fat sometimes i’ll limit carbs, eat metabolism boosting foods with protein at night and then sleep to go into deficit. 10 hours without food is a long time so then I can eat a big breakfast with a quick bodyweight workout before/after to wake my muscles up and start burning/feeding throughout the day. Its just structuring your body needs according to your traing/goals. I dont know if this will work for everyone though because I’m used to training a lot for my sports, athletics, basketball, bboying.
@ Linda Thomas:
Have you looked at Kwasniewski’s Homo Optimus diet? Many patients with MS have found relief from their symptoms eating this way; lots of fats, controlled amounts of carbs, and adequate protein. very old-style eating (like great-grandma on the farm!) but appetizing, and certainly do-able. thousands of enthusiastic patients have formed Optimal Diet groups around the world (in Australia, one of the biggest english-speaking support groups).
hope that helps
bill
ok. i wanna know
This is great information, and something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. Your analysis makes sense and is something that I have thought about trying, but don’t have the resources for at the moment. I’m going to definitely try out new things in a couple months when I have a chance to actually get back in a real gym.
So it’s not really “Simultaneously” you are just changing time frames. So as with all these things different time frames will suit different people. What would be interesting is how mixing up the order of low calorie days, high calorie days and different training types affect the results over say a quarter or a year. If we take a year from now which me would look the best 6 months gaining muscle then 6 months losing fat or alternating each day backwards and forward or some other combination. The other question is which method are people most likely to stick with.
As to losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time, few things work as well as doing Heavyhands for one’s cardio. If you aren’t trained, you can’t do much more than to pump five pounders with each hand – you have to pump, not carry, which is useless – but with five pounders you can burn significant fat and hang on to your muscle.
check out Heavyhands or Heavyhands. Both available for pennies via amazon.com, both out of print. Take a look at fifty something Schwartz, the author, and you will see someone who has a carved musculature from using only small weights.
Marty Gallagher says, rightly so, that you also have to eat well and hit the gym a few times a week to hit heavier weights for best effect.
It seems to me all the scenarios that you described will work to some extent, but what’s the optimal way?? Hope you reveal it soon
Would love to hear more. I am a 61 year old man with a BMI of 29. My cardiologist says LOOSE WEIGHT!!!
I have been working with a trainer and have gained a lot of muscle, but also my weight is up 10 pounds. I would love to know how to loose weight while loosing fat and gaining muscle.
Thanks for all your valuable advice.
I’d love to have some specific guidelines to go by!
I want to know more too – I am in a fat burning phase but I really don’t want to sacrifice the muscle I’ve put on!
Hi Joel,
Is this part of your ExtremeFatLoss Program including strategic eating coupled with the right types of exercise to produce the muscle gain and fatloss??????
really interested in.
Remember Rest is your friend. Proper nutrition and rest will have a huge impact on building muscle and losing fat.
@ Linda Thomas:
Dear Linda; Pick up the weights dear! Doing so will help you from losing more muscle mass than you already have. It will also help with the MS and the strength loss on the one side. And I’m not talking about the “little pink” weights either–though you will have to build up to the heaver ones. I am 60 and do the following; rolling step mill–20 min, 7 mile hike on Pine Mountain Trail in GA, lift weights three days a week and a cardio box class once a week. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
Hey Joel
These solutions sound kind of “too good to be true”. Ok say we build muscle (and eat accordingly to accomplish that) for 2 weeks then for the next week or 2 we focus on fat burning. Won’t that also consume the muscle we worked hard to gain the previous 2 weeks? And vice versa? But you definitely know way more on this subject than we do so I’m eager to learn more. Like I said in my post yesterday it’s 2 months left until summer and I’m nervous! Do tell us more!:) Thanks
What number post am I? ;) Looking forward to tomorrow’s info.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...