Re: Building Muscle and Losing Fat...at the same time????

[Guest guest]

If you've never trained really intensely before, it's possible to lose

fat and gain muscle at the same time. It's kind of a beginner's

phenomenon though, a dramatic adaptation to the new demands. Once

you've been training for a long time the two become mutually

exclusive. You need a calorie surplus in order to gain muscle and a

calorie deficit in order to lose fat.

There are a couple of ways to handle it. One is a calorie zig-zag that

alternates high and low calorie days throughout the week. More high

cal days will tip you toward muscle growth while minimizing fat gain.

A zig-zag with more low calorie days will tip you toward fat loss

while hopefully preserving lean mass with the occasional high days.

(Body for Life has a natural zig-zag built into it if you eat a

variety of different foods, use palm/fist portions, and take a free

day.)

The other option is to just do one phase then the other. Like you

might eat and train for muscle gain for 8 weeks, put on 3 pounds of

new lean mass and 2-3 pounds of fat. Then you would focus on fat loss

for 4 weeks, lose 4-8 pounds of fat while preserving your new lean

mass. So, at the end of 12 weeks maybe you've gained 3 pounds of

muscle and lost 6 pounds of fat, you just didn't technically do it at

the same time.

Now, as far as what happens to a new Body for Lifer, it's both that

they're gaining muscle from the challenging new routine, and that

losing 10-20 pounds of body fat really shows off the muscle they have.

Muscle definition is all about being thin skinned enough for it to

show.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 03:32:06 -0000, Ruth <dogmomruth@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi everyone!

>

> I have been beginning to understand the muscle building process and

> now I have more questions about it. Is it really possible to build

> muscle while you're losing fat?

>

> I thought you need extra calories for your muscles to build, in

> which case, how can you burn fat while you're consuming extra

> calories to build muscle?

>

> I know there must be more to it.

>

> Is it that we're not really building that much more muscle but

> losing the fat just shows it more? Or is it that, for those of us

> who haven't been working with weights a long time, our muscles are

> like, " AAAAAAaaaah! We need to get bigger, this bitch is killing

> us! " So they take whatever calories they can get, extra or not?

>

> I would love to hear more about the mechanics of muscle building in

> your own words. Everything I find online doesn't really explain it

> well.

>

> Thanks so much in advance!

> -Ruth

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

When you say people who have trained " for a long time " can no longer

burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, is there a certain amount

of time or does it depend on the person?

And with regards to the people train for weeks at a time to gain

muscle, then train weeks at a time to lose fat. How do they lose fat

without losing muscle? I assume they're still doing weight training

in addition to cardio, so maybe they don't gain muscle, but just

maintain it while being in their fat loss mode?

The more I know about the way the body works, the more it helps me

to understand what to do. Knowledge is power I tell ya!

Thanks again!

> >

> >

> > Hi everyone!

> >

> > I have been beginning to understand the muscle building process

and

> > now I have more questions about it. Is it really possible to

build

> > muscle while you're losing fat?

> >

> > I thought you need extra calories for your muscles to build, in

> > which case, how can you burn fat while you're consuming extra

> > calories to build muscle?

> >

> > I know there must be more to it.

> >

> > Is it that we're not really building that much more muscle but

> > losing the fat just shows it more? Or is it that, for those of us

> > who haven't been working with weights a long time, our muscles

are

> > like, " AAAAAAaaaah! We need to get bigger, this bitch is killing

> > us! " So they take whatever calories they can get, extra or not?

> >

> > I would love to hear more about the mechanics of muscle building

in

> > your own words. Everything I find online doesn't really explain

it

> > well.

> >

> > Thanks so much in advance!

> > -Ruth

[Guest guest]

There's not a set cut-off period where it becomes impossible to lose

fat and gain muscle at the same time. It's extremely difficult for

people who have been training hard for years, but if you're somebody

who's been going through the motions for years and suddenly you start

a grueling new program, you can still have that miraculous beginner's

phenomenon. All of a sudden you make dramatic adaptations to a new

program that's nearly killing you. LOL

If you lose fat correctly (balanced diet, plenty of protein, heavy

weights, enough calories) there's no reason to sacrifice any of your

muscle. If you do it right, the muscle stays put.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 14:37:58 -0000, Ruth <dogmomruth@...> wrote:

>

>

> Thanks so much for the quick reply!

>

> When you say people who have trained " for a long time " can no longer

> burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, is there a certain amount

> of time or does it depend on the person?

>

> And with regards to the people train for weeks at a time to gain

> muscle, then train weeks at a time to lose fat. How do they lose fat

> without losing muscle? I assume they're still doing weight training

> in addition to cardio, so maybe they don't gain muscle, but just

> maintain it while being in their fat loss mode?

>

> The more I know about the way the body works, the more it helps me

> to understand what to do. Knowledge is power I tell ya!

>

> Thanks again!

[Guest guest]

Awesome. Thank you so much.

> >

> >

> > Thanks so much for the quick reply!

> >

> > When you say people who have trained " for a long time " can no

longer

> > burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, is there a certain

amount

> > of time or does it depend on the person?

> >

> > And with regards to the people train for weeks at a time to gain

> > muscle, then train weeks at a time to lose fat. How do they lose

fat

> > without losing muscle? I assume they're still doing weight

training

> > in addition to cardio, so maybe they don't gain muscle, but just

> > maintain it while being in their fat loss mode?

> >

> > The more I know about the way the body works, the more it helps

me

> > to understand what to do. Knowledge is power I tell ya!

> >

> > Thanks again!