How to Lose Body Fat While Gaining Muscle

Often times when it comes to personal fitness, people’s goals fit into one of two categories: Losing body fat, or gaining muscle. It is often considered that these two gears of fitness goals cannot overlap, due to the nature in which each of these goals are executed.

For people looking to gain muscle, they are often consuming enough calories to keep themselves in a calorie surplus. Meaning the body has plenty of fuel to feed into the muscle building process. You will often put on a little extra fat in this process.

Similarly, when people seek to lose fat, they will strive to consume less calories, and keep themselves in a calorie deficit. This, over time, will cause your body to reach ketosis, and thus shed a lot of your fat reserves. Resulting in some muscle mass being lost in the process.

Yet this false dichotomy within the fitness world is not one you should subscribe to. It is absolutely possible to both lose fat, and gain muscle, at the same time. However it’s important that you understand exactly how certain methods can achieve this, which is what we will be exploring today.

 

It’s All in The Protein

Protein is at the core of every muscle gaining diet, and because of this, has often gotten a reputation of being part of the bulking process. Which it absolutely is, but that’s not inherently fattening, nor the only role protein plays in muscle gain. If you are striving to gain muscle whilst also losing fat, it all starts with a protein rich diet.

Protein is your best friend when it comes to this struggle, and in fact, according to a 2016 study published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, men who were regimented to a high protein but low carb diet saw their fat shed, whilst gaining lean muscle at the same time. Men who followed the same exercise regiment, but followed a low protein diet with the same carbs saw significantly less fat loss and a fraction of the muscle gain in the same time frame.

You will often hear varying numbers around the level of protein you should be consuming, but the general rule is between 2 to 3 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Coupled with regular exercise, your body will begin a process of shedding unwanted fat reserves, whilst also building lean muscle at the same time.

 

Exercise the Right Way

When it comes to losing body fat, whilst also gaining muscle, there are a few important factors around the obvious choice of activity, the dreaded cardio. For anybody that has lost a lot of weight, they know that cardio is the best form of exercise to place a consistent stress on the body and help it tap into those unwanted fat reserves.

However, if you plan to gain muscle at the same time, you’ll need to change your strategy. It's far more effective to perform high-intensity interval exercises, such as a full on sprint, or an intense session on the treadmill, elliptical, or bike. It’s important to only keep these sessions between ten to fifteen minutes.

These workouts will put intense cardiovascular stress on the body, and burn fat as a result, without giving the body time to feel it needs to tap into your muscles for that extra boost. When you undergo low to moderate intensity cardio, your body will begin to burn your muscle mass to keep itself fueled.

Keep it short when it comes to cardio, and return to do a few intervals per visit to the gym, and you’ll see your fat drop whilst your muscle continues to grow.

 

Focus on Strength Training

Strength training is at the core of every muscle building journey, and it should come as no surprise that it continues to be regardless if you choose to shed fat at the same time. Adults who strength train at least three times per week, according to a 2015 Harvard School of Public Health study, gain less abdominal fat over time.

It’s easy to understand why. If you are consistently engaging in strength training, your body will be more inclined to make sure your daily calories are being sent to the muscle building process. Leaving less to be converted by your insulin levels into fat reserves.

 

Patience is Key

Patience is one of the hardest aspects to master when it comes to any form of exercise, yet it is vital when it comes to trying to lose weight and gain muscle. Both on a physical level, and on a mental.

On the physical side, if you place too much stress on your body in a short period of time. Such as too much strength training, an incredibly strict diet, your body will be inclined to shed far more muscle mass to try and keep up.

This is especially true for dieting, as obesity studies show that obese individuals that underwent a strict low calorie diet lost 18% of their weight directly from their muscle mass. Similarly, if you place your body under intense stress through overworking in the gym, and couple this with a low calorie diet, no amount of protein will stop your body needing to shed muscle mass to keep up.

On the mental side, this is far more important. It is completely understandable to go into fitness goals with a fiery passion to do the best you can, yet it’s this very mindset that can foster a toxic relationship with the gym, and your eating habits.

If you push yourself too hard mentally, you will likely burn out. Returning to an unhealthy diet perhaps, or become absent at the gym. This will cause you to lose more progress than if you just stuck it out, and took slowly gradual steps towards your goal.

Keep your goals realistic, and remember to be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself for the little failures, and keep to the golden rule of all fitness. Just keep going, and just keep doing your best.

 

 

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