Stop me if you’ve heard any of these before: ‘Weight loss is everything calories‘, ‘Calories in, calories out’, ‘Calories are king’. Over the past 20 years, dieters have been empowered to pay attention to the number of calories consumed, and when it comes to fat loss, it’s a solid strategy. To burn fat stored in the body, you have to spend more calories than you consume and give your body the real need to use its reserves. That’s physics.
So surely the opposite must be true when it comes to increasing size? You want more muscles, you need more calories, right? This is certainly true when it comes to increasing body fat, but when it comes to lean muscle, the relationship between calories and the scale is not so linear. Thanks to us, this is what makes it possible fat loss And gain muscle Together – a process known as body recombination.
Yes, overgrowth (or muscle growth) is an energy-heavy process. You’re asking your body to repair tissues, lay down new fibers, and restock fuel – all of which costs calories. You might traditionally think this would require extra calories, but this extra muscle-building energy can actually come from stored body fat, so if training and nutrition are incorporated, the body can support or maintain muscle growth while drawing calories from fat stores, especially when the reserves are adequate.
Think of it this way: You can’t break the laws of physics, but you can convince your body to pay for new muscle tissue from its fat savings account.
There is science to support this. one in four week trial Men with an extreme calorie deficit of 40%, which is a high protein diet Combined with heavy training, 1.2 kg of lean mass was gained, while 4.8 kg of fat was lost. The second group in the test gives us some hints as to how we can achieve similar results. This group ate a low-protein diet, and although they lost fat, they didn’t gain muscle. This indicates that high protein and hard training are the keys to preserving muscle or even increasing it.
alert? This drawback appears to be more pronounced in some groups than others. People who are new to training or returning after a long break are ready to build muscle. Their bodies are designed to increase in size, even when fuel is scarce. Those people who have too much body fat to lose are also lucky. even if they are eating in a calorie deficitTheir bodies have access to abundant stored energy to fuel gains. Less fortunately, people who have been training for a long time – where it becomes more difficult to build muscle even under the best of circumstances – and those who are already very lean will have a much harder time.
bottom line
yes you can do Build muscle while burning fat – both science and real-world evidence say so, but it’s less than optimal.
My advice? Improve your training – use smart, hard lifting where you want more reps and more weight each week. Destroy your protein – In the study mentioned, the fat loss and muscle gain group ate 2.4 grams of protein per pound. Destroy your cravings – eat your carbs during your sessions to boost training, don’t skip meals, etc. Sleep Like you’re getting paid for it. But No Break the loss. You should not eat more than 500 calories less than maintenance per day (an online calculator can determine this). In the worst case, this strategy will help preserve your hard-earned muscle while reducing fat. At best, you can have your cake and eat it too. Simply do it before a workout to maximize benefits.
