If this is indeed possible would love to hear specifics on how to approach it. As I started @ 184cm tall 94kgs and 30% body fat and now am 83kgs and 23% body fat, have lost 9.1kgs of body fat and 1.5kg of LBM BUT if I continue to my goal of 8% fat I will end up weighing to little. So wanna increase muscle as I go if possible :) Thought this was an impossible task though………..
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
Whaaa? I’m confused…
What you have mentioned so far intrigues me… do tell!!
Seems to be possible, but is it just the lean look that makes you look like you gained some muscles or is it real?
Some Fighters are lean and have good amount of muscles, but there are a lot of fat guys just gain weight for there weight class. The most lean guys are fighting in lower weight classes
We need a lot more comments if we want to hear step 3! Let’s do this.
What about for most of us women that desperately want to burn fat, but still building and maintaining sleek feminine muscles? I know I have built some great muscles, but there is just still alot of fat sitting on top! It won’t budge and the more I am strength training (2-3 times a week) the bigger I seem to look!
oh cool
Those were some sound strategies; however, you have to be careful not to over train when doing HIIT and weights along with caloric deficit days. Yes, it can be done, but you have to do it with a strategy that I am sure Joel will share in his next post. Jon Benson talks about it in 7MM and Vince DelMonte talks about short intense workouts with 30-second rest periods during weight training sessions. This burns fat and builds muscle!
Combine that with carb-cycling and a mostly high protein/vegetable diet and your have it! Everyone is different and your body is built to adapt, so you have to work with it. The idea is to trigger your body into burning fat for the long-haul instead of these fat loss gimmicks that “yo-yo” your body back into a fatter person in the end. You have to plan a strategy that you will stick to and Joel has hinted on it.
My advice: stick with organic foods and stay away from processed junk!! :-)
We await your next post Joel. ;-)
stay tuned for part 3 of…Lose Fat, Gain Muscle
Great idea Joel, never thought that there was a way to this puzzle….But what if you gain FAT during the muscle building part and then you are trying to lose it in the fat losing session, its a waste of time!!!!!!!
You take a complete week to burn that fat off and hey what do you know, its back again.
some good ideas =)
Looks a difficult task but makes sense, will it work thru. I mean, for people who have a 9-6 job to keep, following a routine, be it nutrition or a workout is a challenge. I have managed to do it for a couple of years now but micro-managing it to an extent where you consume extra and cut-out excess on respective days would be a task. but its worth a shot for all its worth. I eagerly await the next post. Thanks.
I think you were spot on when you said one had to strategize which means making plans for whatever approach will work best – keeping track of where one is up in the schedule can be problematic especially when so busy with other things – interested to see what you propose
Well it seems like it should be possible. Can it be looked at as an exchange of muscle for stored fat. The workouts and diet certainly will help to burn the fat – and if weight training and high protein supplements and foods are the meal plan, I would expect to exchange the fat for muscle – but I am sure you have better info and ideas – let’s have em, please!!!
sounds really interesting, be more specific
crikey you get a lot of comments!
dont stop there
can’t wait to hear more
This makes sense so far – looking forward to hearing the rest of the story. I’m curious as to how this works – especially specific work-out plans.
Good tips there man… Another good way to take in higher levels of calories on workout days (on muscle building days) is to consume more starchy carbs, and then on days off try and consume more fibrous/water based carbs when the bodies energy requirements are generally lower.
This is a twist of zig-zag carb cycling that is very effective and easy to follow, one which I use with my personal training clients with great effect.
Regards, Clayton
Personal Trainer | Adelaide, Australia
I dont like these posts you keep having us waiting, cant you just tell us? hahaha
As I expected…
Joel doesn’t mean ‘simultaneously’ at the same instance of time but he refers to the goal being achieved in a strategic time frame where we don’t feel like we’ve put on some fat or like we’ve lost some muscle… Striking the balance!!
This is the ever-elusive information, right?!
Lay it on me, brother.
Ponder for a moment, eating whole unprocessed foods, drinking a lot of water, making a caloric deficit unnesessary. Eating superfoods and whole unprocessed foods creates a hormonal balance in your body, urging your body to use only what it needs, and eliminates cravings. Just saying
@Rachel –
Bingo! Thank you, ztrekus.
Frankly, I can’t see the idea of dieting (meaning moderate starvation) on “off-days” while trying to build muscle. Muscle is built over several days after a workout, particularly when it is an intense one designed to add bulk muscle (usually the body is rebuilding for 5-7 days following that kind of workout). Eating “slim” the day after such a workout would be extremely self-defeating and possibly even harmful.
The proper way, as ztrekus points out, is to eat enough to encourage that muscle building, but not overdoing it so the body stores fat. That’s a delicate balance and will differ from person to person AND workout program to workout program. I know some body builders who consume as much as 8000 calories a day who are in awesome shape because their training program burns away that much. Others I know consume 1/2 or even less than that yet still are big and ripped.
However, cutting calories (unless one is eating way too many in the first place) while trying to gain muscle is not the answer. The answer is to change the nature of those calories by eating wisely (high fiber, especially green veggies but WHOLE grains as well – especially oats, and moderately high protein with low fat and sodium) while incorporating STRENUOUS exercise instead of lame “low-impact” or “low-intensity” workouts. That will build muscle and lose fat s the body uses up the fat to help build the muscle. A diet that is high in protein and veggies likely will end up being fewer calories than the high processed carb, high sodium, high fat diet most Americans eat anyway.
As I said, the trick is figuring the balance act of what is enough food to support the muscle growth without eating too much so the body stores fat on top of it.
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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...