losing fat but building muscle...

[Gib]

Is it possible? Can you balance ingesting extra calories to maintain or build muscle mass with increasing calories burned to shed fat?

This is the first time in my life ive needed to shed a few pounds around the midsection, so this is new territory for me!

[deleteduser0002]

Yes, athletes do it all the time. Football players,hockey players, gymnists, track and field etc. But for the level of additional mass required for bodybuilding at a competitive level, no.

[Houstonbc]

i think it is im in the same boat im gonna be going for that with my upcoming cycle so we'll see how it goes. training naturally i dont think its really possible..

[Gib]

lol well im certainly not a competitive body builder. But i only need to lose a few around the belly to keep my waist trim, and with my metabolism it shouldnt take long. I just dont want to lose any strength or mass, as it takes forever for me to build those.

Thanks for the opinions so far!

[warlock]

It is possible BUT is a slow process...

Shitload of weights, low reps, tons of protein, only good fats, starches only when needed....

Tricky and doable

[Boost]

Double post. Read below.

[Boost]

If you are gaining muscle easily then you have room to also work on dropping fat at the same time. If the muscle is hard to attain, then losing fat at the same time is not smart. This is the answer I tried to say in the above post.

[Boost]

At a higher level of muscle size and overall shape doing one at a time works best imo. IMO you can only go so far by doing both at the same time.

[Musclehead]

Of course it's possible, it's just hard to notice. You add muscle, you increase your metabolism...burn more calories, lose fat.

[bigdaddydrew123]

if you gain 10 lbs of muscle but dont gain fat in effect your bf % has dropped. its easier to gain on sauce no matter what, but as said above lots of protein low carbs plus efas and you can gain while lowering bf. plus look at the fact if you eat like shit to get fat, then clean up diet start reg training add good nutrition you will gain quality muscle. yhats why alot of guys find they start gaining muscle when they start diets they are more consistant with diets

[rated_rko]

one word for you
tren!

[Felinecougar]

Like everyone said, it's possible. I did 10 lbs of lean mass in 5 months once.

I'd like to hear from someone who did it naturally though and how much did they gain?

[Gib]

OK then follow up question:

How does this work on a physiological level? To build muscle you need to take in more calories than you burn off: the excess calories (if you are weight training) will go to build muscle. How is it that you can take in enough calories to build muscle, and yet be in caloric deficit to lose fat?

Or are you adding muscle in order to increase your metabolism, which will then shed the fat? OR, does the addition of synthetic test allow you to still buuild muscle, even if your calories are lowered??

Thanks for the replies so far! Im a science nerd though, so knowing why things work helps me understand the whole process!

[Boost]

How is it that you can take in enough calories to build muscle, and yet be in caloric deficit to lose fat?

The more muscle you have to feed, the harder it is to cut at the same time.



Or are you adding muscle in order to increase your metabolism, which will then shed the fat?

This is correct; but if you're "bulking" and gaining fat at the same time, you will not notice this happening, even though it IS happening. In the long run, the fat gained while bulking has been slowed down because of the muscle gained.



OR, does the addition of synthetic test allow you to still buuild muscle, even if your calories are lowered??

At a slower pace yes. If cals are too low then no. The drug will be wasted.

[Boost]

So, the more muscle you have, the harder you have to work to lose fat at the same time; until it gets close to impossible, which is when people usually start doing one at a time. At a certian point it's the only realistic way to do it.

Bulk up as leanly as possible, and then maintain muscle while dieting or just bulk with fat gain, and then maintain + cut at same time.

[O-Train]

So, the more muscle you have, the harder you have to work to lose fat at the same time; until it gets close to impossible, which is when people usually start doing one at a time. At a certian point it's the only realistic way to do it.

Bulk up as leanly as possible, and then maintain muscle while dieting or just bulk with fat gain, and then maintain + cut at same time.

Actually no. The more muscle you have the easier it is to lose fat. Skeletal muscle is very metabolically active. So the more you have the higher your basal metabolic rate and the more calories burned.

It is possible to gain muscle as you lose fat. Last time I cut down for a show because my diet got a lot better and my protein intake went up I think I at least maintained muscle if not gained a little bit. You wouldn't be able to restrict your calories a lot though and still gain (at least not naturally). On AAS is another story. I know of a couple pros who would diet up to a show.

If anything this would be a very gradual process and you wouldn't want to do any high intensity cardio or stuff like that.

[bigben]

The closer you are to your genetic potential for maximum muscle mass the harder it is gain more muscle. Now add onto that the simultaneous desire to shed fat and you will find it virtually impossible to make significant further lean gains. On the other hand if you are untrained and overweight, it will be much easier to gain muscle mass while you shed fat. So it depends on the person's present state of conditioning in my opinion. Gaining muscle mass while losing fat is certainly an attainable goal for the uninitiated. But for someone who has been training hard for years, unless they have been short changing themself on essential nutrients such a protein, you will likely only lose fat and quite likely some muscle at the same time as you drop in body fat percentage.

[Boost]

Actually no. The more muscle you have the easier it is to lose fat.

Well yeah, I agree with you. Why did you say no? You obviously need to re-read what I wrote.

[Boost]

You really have to pay attention to the words "at the same time".

[O-Train]

My reading comprehension is just fine. If anyone needs to pay more attention it sure isn't me.

Regardless of what you meant I can only read what you write.

[Boost]

Even though a bigger leaner guy with a more efficient body can do it EASIER, The smaller fatter guy can do it MORE, making it look easier when it's actually harder. The bigger leaner (efficient) guy is the one who can actually do it easier but he gets less results making it look harder. In order for the bigger leaner guy to gain as much muscle and lose as much fat as the smaller fatter guy, it would be harder for the bigger leaner guy to do this as he is simply closer to his limit and results are less.

If I see results as being less, I see them as being harder even thought they are not. I understand that gaining 5 lbs of muscle when you are jay cutler is the same as gaining 25-30lbs when you are peewee. In my eyes gains for peewee are easier even though peewee has less muscle and has a less efficient body.

[Tank]

To lose the fat i suggest interval cardio to keep the cortisol ratio at bay. Also if it is your mid section you need to control the cortisol and insulin. Try this normal weight routine with 5 work outs a week of cardio which would be 20 seconds all out and 10 seconds stop but make sure you are at maximal effort for the 20 seconds and repeat the 20 and 10 7-12 times or until you puke- works even better with squats lets say 315 or higher. And then take 10-15 grams of glycine before every meal.