How To Build Muscle And Lose Body Fat At The Same Time - Blog Kalori

Blog Kalori - Build muscle and lose fat at the same time, Is it even possible? Let's talk about that.

How's it going guys, my name is Richie Kirwin, and today we're going to talk about what is considered to be the holy grail of body changes - building muscle while losing fat, otherwise known as body recomposition.

We'll talk about what conditions are needed for body recomp.

And at the end, we'll talk about some practical points people can apply to give themselves the best chance of efficiently body recomping.

So let's be honest, when most people start out with their fitness or healthy eating journey, they often have the exact same goal in mind, build some muscle and lose some body fat.

Even if they don't specifically say they want to build muscle, they might say they want to get toned.

That literally just means building some muscle so that it shows better under slightly less body fat.

Is it possible?

It's a very desirable goal because we all want the best of both worlds and we want it right now the thing is wanting to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time has a pretty major inherent problem.

Both are two completely separate goals.

For fat loss, we need to be in a calorie deficit, which means we need to be eating fewer calories than we burn, consistently for long enough to see an effect.

Fat Loss is a catabolic process, which means we are breaking down tissue, the tissue is mostly fat.

But if you don't plan your diet and exercise well, it can include a lot of muscle too.

On the other hand, muscle gain is an anabolic process, which means we're building up tissue.

And for that, we need a calorie surplus or more calories than our bodies need.

This is why body recomposition can be so hard.

Both goals are polar opposites, but it is possible.

Sometimes, There are a couple of situations where muscle gain and fat loss happens simultaneously.

Bulking and cutting

Specifically, when someone has a lot of body fat to lose, or when someone is a total newbie, to training.

In the case of having a lot of body fat to lose.

That means that someone still has a lot of extra energy to use in the body despite the fact that they might be in a calorie deficit and losing body fat.

Having that extra body fat means someone can probably still eat a decent amount of calories while losing weight.

And that extra body fat might slow down changes in hormones that can reduce anabolism when somebody loses weight.

For example, extended dieting and low body fat levels are often associated with drops in testosterone, which promotes muscle growth and increases in cortisol, which increases muscle breakdown.

Someone with higher body fat who isn't in a very extreme calorie deficit might not suffer from these extreme changes in hormones and may be able to continue building muscle.

The other example I mentioned was newbies or people who are new to resistance training.

Everyone knows what newbie gains are those very quick and usually very noticeable gains in muscle size.

When somebody starts lifting for the first time.

This happens because untrained muscles are very sensitive to anabolic stimuli and adapt and grow when they get worked hard.

To be honest, if someone is completely untrained, you could probably get some muscle growth just by getting them to start jogging regularly.

This means that total newbies can gain muscle even when in an overall calorie deficit.

And even when their nutrition isn't great, which means they can pretty easily body recomp.

But anybody who's been lifting for a year or more will know that those newbie gains don't last long.

There is another example where body recomp is pretty common.

And that's in lifters who are returning from a layoff of a few weeks, months or even years without any consistent training.

This is because muscle memory can actually allow de-trained lifters to regain muscle pretty quickly as soon as they restart training, which means they can probably gain muscle and lose some body fat at the same time.

For example, in a group of elite rugby players who had been de-trained for four weeks, and then put through a high-intensity training cycle for 11 weeks, there was an average loss of 2.

2 kilogrammes of body fat and a gain of 1.

8 kilogrammes of muscle mass.

Those kinds of gains are really only possible in elite athletes after they've de-trained for a while and lost some of their original muscle size.

So up to now, we've spoken about a couple of examples where gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is pretty common, namely newbies or people who will detrain and people with a lot of body fat to lose.

Body recomp with less body fat?

But what about people that don't fit into those categories? Namely experienced lifters with lower levels of body fat? Can they still body recomp? You'll be happy to know that the short answer is yes.

But as always, we'll have to talk about some conditions in a really interesting review paper, Barakat et al discuss a number of papers that show just that.

I think it'll be useful to describe some of the studies mentioned in their review.

So for example, in one study, a group of recreational bodybuilders with at least two years of training experience did a linear progressive overload training plan for 10 weeks.

That means that the training intensity was increasing as they got stronger.

They also supplemented with whey protein and were getting a total of 2.

1 grammes of protein per kilogramme of body weight per day.

At the end of the experiment.

They had lost 1.

4 kilos of body fat and gained five kilos of muscle mass if that sounds like a lot, it is.

I'll talk about that a little more in a moment.

In another experiment by Haun et al.

They had a group of young resistance trained men supplement with greater doses of whey protein and train three days a week with a linear progressive overload programme for six weeks, they were eating 2.

2 grammes of protein per kilogramme of body weight per day, and we're in a 500 calorie surplus.

After six weeks, that group lost one kilogramme of body fat and gained 2.

9 kilogrammes of fat free mass.

Again, that sounds pretty damn impressive.

Now, these are just two examples of a number of studies that show the same thing that in certain situations, it's possible to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time, some of the common factors of these groups that were able to do that were having a well structured, progressive overload based training plan, following a high protein diet of at least two grammes and up to four grammes of protein per kilogramme of body weight per day.

And starting out with a slightly higher body fat percentage.

It's also really worth pointing out that just because a research study says that someone has two years of training experience doesn't necessarily mean that they're an advanced lifter.

For example, in the study I mentioned, where they gained five kilogrammes of muscle mass over 10 weeks, it's very possible that the participants had pretty inadequate training programmes before the study.

And the study, it was the first time that they had really been challenged by their training that would have led to a form of newbie gains or gains in response to a decent training programme.

Remember, one of the most important factors for building muscle is a solid, consistent, progressive overload based training system.

Unfortunately, most recreational lifters go to the gym and don't really have a plan when it comes to training.

Lose weight on a calorie surplus

Oh, and for anyone wondering how it's even possible that someone could lose fat in a calorie surplus or build muscle in a deficit.

It's worth pointing out that the balance between catabolism and anabolism changes throughout the day, catabolic or breakdown reactions and anabolic are building up reactions are happening all the time in our bodies.

But it's the overall balance that matters when it comes to what happens to body composition over time.

So for example, someone could be in an overall daily or weekly calorie deficit.

But if they eat enough protein at a meal, that can stimulate muscle protein synthesis for a few hours after that meal.

So there may be enough spikes in muscle protein synthesis throughout the day to stimulate muscle growth, even though the person may still be losing body fat at the times of the day, when they're not eating enough, in some situations.

So we spoken about lifters with some decent experience, and it seems that they can still body recomp.

But what about elite level physique athletes who are pushing the limits of body composition? Can they gain muscle while losing fat too? Well, that's probably a lot less likely.

In fact, in the same review paper from Barakat at all.

They included a number of case studies that followed bodybuilders through their competition preps to see how their body composition changed.

Of the six case studies they included only two showed an increase in muscle mass.

One was a female competitor who dropped from 30% to just over 15% body fat and increased fat free mass by 1.

3 kilos over 24 weeks.

The other was another female competitor who dropped eight kilogrammes of body fat and increased fat free mass by 0.

7 kilogrammes over a 32 week prep.

All of the case studies in men showed a drop in fat free mass during their preps.

So it would seem that when someone is pushing their natural genetic limits of muscle mass, someone who's been training well and consistently for years, and aiming to get as shredded as possible body recomp is a lot less likely, especially in men it seems.

The little bit of evidence we have on women is a little more encouraging and might have something to do with the fact that women naturally have higher body fat than men.

But that's pure speculation at this point.

But the good news is most of you listening to this are probably not physique competitors, so there's still hope for simultaneous Fat Loss and Muscle Gain.

Luckily, the same review paper had a list of recommendations to help increase the likelihood of a successful body recover.

How to successfully body recomp

Firstly, and most importantly, use a well structured resistance exercise plan that incorporates progressive overload to make sure you're giving your body the signals it needs to stimulate muscle growth.

If you don't know what progressive overload is, well, that's the first thing you need to start learning about before you even start thinking about anything else.

Next, eat a high protein diet, preferably from 2.

6 to 3.

5 grammes of protein per kilogramme of body weight per day to try and get even better results from that protein.

Try to evenly distribute that amongst at least four and maybe up to six meals a day.

Next, track your progress.

You can't manage what you don't measure.

So track your body weight changes, changes in body circumference, performance in the gym, the weight you lift, how you feel and the food you eat.

That way you can adjust your training and diet over time to help improve your results and finally, prioritise sleep well I haven't discussed it in this video.

I have done a whole other video on the import So sleep for body composition.

Basically, a lack of sleep can make building muscle harder and make you more likely to lose muscle.

If you're in a calorie deficit.

I know how hard it can be to prioritise sleep.

But believe me when I say it's damn important for body composition, and health in general, finally, something that I would add to the list of things necessary for a successful body recomp is a patience.

Body recomp is an incredibly slow process that doesn't lead to noticeable results very quickly.

In most cases, unless you're a newbie, or have a lot of body fat to lose.

That's why you're going to need a lot of patience to make it work.

I have had many clients that have come to me and told me that their goal is to build muscle and lose fat.

And often I have to tell them that they'd be much better off just picking one and focusing on that for a few months before then trying to focus on the other.

If that sounds familiar, it's because that's how a typical bodybuilder bulking and cutting cycle works.

They spend a good chunk of their time in a small calorie surplus building muscle and hopefully not putting on too much fat, then they go into a small calorie deficit for a chunk of time to help them lose body fat.

While holding onto as much muscle as possible.

It's much easier for people to focus their attention on one specific goal with their training and nutrition.

It allows them to see improvements in either muscle size and strength or fat loss a little more quickly, which can have a really powerful effect on motivation and adherence.

So if you're not easily motivated, or don't have a lot of patience for slow results, body recomp might not be for you.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

I just want people to be fully aware of what they're getting into before they dedicate a big chunk of time to it.

Any more questions on body recomp?

So did that help tear things up around body recomp? As always, if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

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