Building Muscle AND losing fat at the same time..how?

[1C5]

I have read here and other places that this is next to impossible to do but is technically possible.

I am wondering what conditions have to be met for this to be possible.

Reason I am wanting to do this is because it is summer and I am playing cardio intensive sports 7x a week and sometimes twice a day. (hockey, soccer, tennis) that burn A LOT of calories. And on top of this, doing a version of the Starr 5x5 workout 3x a week and still would like to build some muscle.

I know the best way to build muscle would be to cut back on cardio but as it is summer, that is not an option for me now so looking for your suggestions calorie and eating wise in order to gain muscle. (I have a feeling the amount of cardio will help with the fat loss)

[kyleb]

If you're already obese, this can definitely happen. However, simply losing fat pounds and doing your best to maintain lean body mass will make you look much, much better, and it's not necessarily true that more LBM means you become stronger.

My suggestion would be to focus on eating clean, cutting back on calories, and doing a regular routine of high intensity cardio work. After you lose a bunch of fat pounds and get to a good point, then start thinking about adding more muscle.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

Kyle,

Quick question I have been pondering. Theoretically let's say you need 2000 calories in a day, and you take in 2500 but none of them are fat. Would this enable you to build muscle while forcing your body to use up your fat reserves, or would you just convert the excess carbs and protein into fat?

[kyleb]

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Kyle,

Quick question I have been pondering. Theoretically let's say you need 2000 calories in a day, and you take in 2500 but none of them are fat. Would this enable you to build muscle while forcing your body to use up your fat reserves, or would you just convert the excess carbs and protein into fat?

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The misconception that eating fat is bad or causes fat deposits is common, but wrong. You can eat tons of simple carbs that quickly turn into fat, and protein also can be stored as fat if overconsumed or isn't used.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

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Kyle,

Quick question I have been pondering. Theoretically let's say you need 2000 calories in a day, and you take in 2500 but none of them are fat. Would this enable you to build muscle while forcing your body to use up your fat reserves, or would you just convert the excess carbs and protein into fat?

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The misconception that eating fat is bad or causes fat deposits is common, but wrong. You can eat tons of simple carbs that quickly turn into fat, and protein also can be stored as fat if overconsumed or isn't used.

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Ok, but if I'm working out and I'm fat, would my body convert those extra 500 calories into fat, or would it use the fat on my body and use those extra 500 calories to build muscle mass?

Sorry if this is a dumb or basic question, I was just curious how this works.

[kyleb]

There's a lot more to your question than what you're asking. If you want to lose fat, a quick and easy solution is:

1) Eat 4-6 small meals per day that are low in fat and have good amounts of protein and complex carbohydrates.
2) Do high intensity cardio (search for HIIT) 3-4 times a week.
3) Lift heavy weights every other day - full body workouts. Squats, deadlifts, cleans.

As for your question about "using the fat on your body," while it's true that doing low intensity cardio targets fat deposits more than high intensity cardio does, it's also true that low intensity cardio is boring as [censored], less efficient than high intensity cardio, and studies have pointed out that training your body to burn fat deposits via low intensity cardio may in fact signal the body that these deposits are necessary for future use.

[Grolsch]

I'm not exactly an expert on this subject but I've read a few exercise books before and have had good results so far.

* disclaimer * this is not a workout for guys trying to get huge, but those that wanna lose fat and get cut/toned look for summer to bang mad hotties at the beach. its not gonna make you a power lifter by any means and but is a good foundation for beginners trying to improve their appearance overall. this has worked pretty well for me.

my suggestion would be to focus on building lean muscle while simultaneously concentrating heavily on your diet. I would typically plan out my exercises on a weekly basis but breaking down all major areas of the body to focus on a key group each day (compound sets are key for this - ex. working both front and back of arms in a single workout. for instance - mondays would focus on upper body - chest, arms (bis/tris), forearms and shoulders. tuesdays - go for legs (quads, hamstrings, calves, etc... wednesdays - upper/lower back, abs, + 1hr cardio. now go back to mondays plan and start over, w/ sundays for a day of rest.

most of these exercises (except probably abs and calves) you wanna do both medium weight and a decent number of reps, especially if you're just starting out. 2 sets of 10 reps, with whatever weight works for you - don't worry if you're a pussy to start out, this is just getting your body used to working these muscles on a regular basis. doing high rep workouts w/ moderate weight builds lean/toned muscle rather than bulk + provides a decent workout w/ regard to calories burned b/c or the number of reps you're doing. continue this program for a couple weeks until you can comfortably perform 2 sets of 15 reps, at which time you can bump up the weight until you're back doing 2 sets of 10. continue on and repeat as necessary. - it's also a good idea to mix this up every couple of weeks w/ some heavier/lighter weights, just so your muscles don't get used to the same program and refuse to grow. choose a heavier weight than scheduled one week and only do 2 sets of 6 or 7, or choose a lighter weight and do extra reps.

now, also key to this workout plan is your diet. as you probably know, your average bmr (basal metabolic rate) is around 2000 calories/day for a typical guy. in order for your body to grow muscle, you're gonna need at least another 500 calories/day to provide your muscles with building blocks to grow.

my standard daily diet looks something like this

breakfast- 8am: 1 multivitamin, bowl of quaker weight control oatmeal - v. tasty and low in calories + 1 scoop whey protein in water/2% milk

lunch- 12pm: usually a sandwich (lettuce, tomatoes, no cheese/mayo) loaded w/ lean meat (turkey or chicken breast) and whole wheat bread. an apple, w/ water.

afternoon snack - 3pm: protein bar - about 300 calories w/ like 30 grams protein works well. water

dinner - 7pm: some type of lean meat (this is one meal of the day that I usually just go with whatever - I find that restricting your diet too much makes in unbearable, one meal a day where indulge yourself in what you really wanna eat isn't gonna hurt. just make sure it's in good portions), steamed/grilled veg, baked potato. water, diet soda.

before bed - 1130/midnight: 3 scoops protein shake (60 grams protein total), apple, handfull of peanuts. glass of water.

this is just a general day and of course it varies a lot but as long as you focus on eating 5-6 small meals that are loaded w/ good protein, u should be fine. a good guideline for each meal is 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat as each are necessary in your diet. also, stay away from high glycemic index carbs as much as possible... you can look these up online. high glycemic index carbs are the suck for dieting, they spike your insulin levels and tell your body to start storing glucose into fat - very bad thing when you're trying to get cut. and also remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day as your body is gonna need it. if you're eating correctly, you'll find that you're eating WAYYYY more food than you used to but that you're also kinda hungry every few hours - this is a good thing b/c your body is constantly using the carbs/fat in your diet to sustain you w/ your daily activities while taking the protein to various muscles throughout your body.

also, make sure you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night. your body does most of its muscle repair/growth while you're asleep. doing a killer workout and then getting only 4-5 hrs of sleep is gonna do more harm than good b/c your muscles won't have enough down time to rebuild themselves.

the key to this workout is getting all 3 apsects together. exercise, diet, and sleep are all essential and neglecting either one is gonna hurt your results.

[TheJubilantMale]

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2) Do high intensity cardio (search for HIIT) 3-4 times a week.
3) Lift heavy weights every other day - full body workouts. Squats, deadlifts, cleans.



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Kyle,

I thought you weren't supposed to do HIIT that many times a week and also lifting every other day???

[kyleb]

I don't see anything wrong with doing HIIT every other day. What's wrong with full body workouts every other day, to boot?

[PLOlover]

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Ok, but if I'm working out and I'm fat, would my body convert those extra 500 calories into fat, or would it use the fat on my body and use those extra 500 calories to build muscle mass?

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fat/increased metabolism.

can't build muscle by eating more i don't think. maybe you're thinking of not building muscle because you're not eating enough/not eating enough protein.

Interesting non practical deal is that if you long distance ran everyday before eating (marathon runners burn a pound of fat during a marathon I think), then you could burn fat and if you (over)ate later in the day you could put fat back on I guess.