Can I Gain Muscle And Lose Fat At The Same Time?
Here at FitnessReviewGuru.com we know we’re not the only Fitness Lovers out there, so when we run into someone who has the same passion for Fitness as we do we like to share their knowledge with our readers!
Below Fitness Guru Drew shares his answer to a common question he received that we often receive from many of our readers as well, check out his insightful thoughts on the possibility of gaining muscle while losing fat:
Dear Drew,
Can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?
From,
John
Hey John,
Great question. To put things in a simple perspective, the goals of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time seem to contradict each other. To lose weight, it’s common knowledge that you need to create a calorie deficit each and every day to do so. This means that you’ll consume fewer calories than your body needs each day to maintain your current weight. On the other end of the spectrum, in order to gain muscle mass, you need to be creating a calorie surplus each day – taking in more calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. As a general standpoint, it’s typically advised that you should consume 250-500 calories above your maintenance amount of calories each day to gain muscle.
This is the primary reason why many bodybuilders will go through a “bulking phase” to bulk up and gain muscle and then will enter their “cutting phase”, to shed off the fat they gained as they were building muscle as well. It’s typically not going to be an incredible amount of fat if you bulk up correctly, however.
I always recommend focusing on one goal at a time, with a couple of rules.
To start, you need a nutrition plan that focuses on creating this calorie deficit each and every day. Once you’ve gotten down to your ideal body fat percentage, you can then start consuming a calorie surplus each day to gain muscle.
But do these rules apply to the typical workout buff who simply wants to improve their health and become more fit? Can this person gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?
There are actually numerous studies done on this subject.
With one study, scientists put females on a six-month long workout routine that combined weightlifting and cardio. While doing this, the women lost about 10% body fat and increased lean muscle mass by about 2.1%. Another study done on men resulted in the same results.
So to put simply, if you eat a proper diet and lift weights intensely enough, you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Although this is typically not going to be the most efficient manner for doing so, for those of you who want to avoid the typical bulking and cutting technique that many bodybuilders go through it is an excellent solution.
Hope this helps!
Love,
Drew
