Is it possible to lose fat and gain a lot of muscle at the same time? I have been plagued with this question for some time now. Right now I work out with moderately heavy weights on a two off one on schedule. I do three sets of each excersice twice, usually lifting until failure. On my off days I run on a treadmill at a speed of 4 mph for 30-35 minutes. On a daily basis I consume around 1800 calories, 200 grams of protein, less than 125 grams of carbs and less than 100 grams of fat. I have been on this program since June 21st and while I have no lost weight on the scale, my stomach and legs have trimmed down. And my lats, biceps, traps, and triceps have gotten bigger. I can tell I have added muscle. My question is, should I completely get off the weights and just strictly concentrate on cardio to lose the fat and then once I am trimmed down pick the weights back up again? I honestly think it would take 6-8 months to completely lose the gut that I am walking around with. By the way I am a male, 5'7 and I weigh about 215 lbs. Thanks!

It is possible to gain muscle while losing fat, and especially so if you're new to it.

Of course one can compromise the other. If you're at 1800 calories/day you won't be able to put on muscle as easily as if you were at 2800/day.

You should absolutely not stop doing weights. If you do that your fat loss will not be aided, but you will suffer a significant loss of lean body mass.

Some cardio can inhibit muscle gains due to its catabolic nature, so sometimes people will avoid it when bulking, but weights will not inhibit fat loss, so whether you're doing cardio or not you need to continue with weights to either increase muscle, or at the least slow down the loss of it.

[QUOTE=MAB]Is it possible to lose fat and gain a lot of muscle at the same time? On a daily basis I consume around 1800 calories, 200 grams of protein, less than 125 grams of carbs and less than 100 grams of fat. I have been on this program since June 21st and while I have no lost weight on the scale, my stomach and legs have trimmed down. And my lats, biceps, traps, and triceps have gotten bigger. I can tell I have added muscle. My question is, should I completely get off the weights and just strictly concentrate on cardio to lose the fat and then once I am trimmed down pick the weights back up again? [QUOTE]

A lot of muscle, no. (200x4)+(125x4)+(100x9)= 2200 possible calories. Look at diet closely, I won't suggest percentages. You do need to make sure you are eating clean and get a good count on calories.

If you have read my posts in last couple of days, you see me pushing point - muscle burns 19 times more calories than fat. If you are building muscle, it will raise your metabolism and pay off in future. Keep up the weights! Cardio is a fat burner if done right, not a muscle builder. If you have energy do the cardio.

It took you years to put that fat on, why shouldn't it take a few months to come off.

Is it possible to lose fat and gain a lot of muscle at the same time? I have been plagued with this question for some time now. Right now I work out with moderately heavy weights on a two off one on schedule. I do three sets of each excersice twice, usually lifting until failure. On my off days I run on a treadmill at a speed of 4 mph for 30-35 minutes. On a daily basis I consume around 1800 calories, 200 grams of protein, less than 125 grams of carbs and less than 100 grams of fat. I have been on this program since June 21st and while I have no lost weight on the scale, my stomach and legs have trimmed down. And my lats, biceps, traps, and triceps have gotten bigger. I can tell I have added muscle. My question is, should I completely get off the weights and just strictly concentrate on cardio to lose the fat and then once I am trimmed down pick the weights back up again? I honestly think it would take 6-8 months to completely lose the gut that I am walking around with. By the way I am a male, 5'7 and I weigh about 215 lbs. Thanks!

To add to what the others are saying, it is a myth that cardio burns fat. Cardio uses more fat as fuel DURING the activity, but it does not burn more fat overall. Your caloric balance (how many calories you burn versus how many you take in) determines how much fat you burn. Weight lifting is the king of burning calories - in addition to what others mentioned about muscle burning calories, note that weight training elevates your metabolism for 24 - 72 hours after your session as well. Finally, when you grow muscle tissue, that tissue comes with organelles called "mitochondria" and "myoglobin" both of which are designed to help utilize fat for energy, so you actually increase your body's CAPACITY to burn fat.

Jeremy

On a daily basis I consume around 1800 calories,

At 215lbs I don't think 1800 cal are near enough. I know you're trying to lose weight, but you need more calories than that to do some muscle building. Eat clean...but eat more.

doc

A related question:

Is it possible to lose fat at a constant rate, but have your scale weight go up? I've been eating 1800 (give or take a couple hundred), performing a laborous job, and doing resistance training and occasional cardio and my scale weight has gone up... should this be disappointing or not? Is it even possible for me to gain weight with that kind of calories from all clean foods?

A related question:

Is it possible to lose fat at a constant rate, but have your scale weight go up? I've been eating 1800 (give or take a couple hundred), performing a laborous job, and doing resistance training and occasional cardio and my scale weight has gone up... ?

Gone up, how much? for how long? No, it is not normally expected. What do you contribute this to?

Gone up, how much? for how long? No, it is not normally expected. What do you contribute this to?


Like 3 lbs. I'm getting a little harder, and it seems like my 34's are going on a little easier-- but a weight... gain? Oh well. I've learned not to trust the scale so much anyways. It's but a number, but still, a bit disheartening...

Hey guys, I really appreciate all the help! I was wondering one last thing. How many calories, fat, carbs, and protein should I consume on a daily basis? I want to gain muscle and shed this fat. I am worried about eating too much calories because of gaining weight, but then again like you guys said, I need enough calories to build some muscle. Thanks for the help!

Hey guys, I really appreciate all the help! I was wondering one last thing. How many calories, fat, carbs, and protein should I consume on a daily basis? I want to gain muscle and shed this fat. I am worried about eating too much calories because of gaining weight, but then again like you guys said, I need enough calories to build some muscle. Thanks for the help!

I suggested you look closer at your present diet, the number you gave didn't add up to 1800. You were up to 400 calories off. Your first need is to lose weight, you need to take in less calories than you expend. 1800 might not be a bad number in my opinion.

If you aren't diabetic or pre diabetic, you might be able to handle the popular 40/40/20 split of P/C/F. Go to the nurition forum and look at the post from Marus at the top. In fact get to reading as many posts as you can this weekend, see what john did. You choose the path you want to go, you have to live with it.

My BIG suggestion is don't drop weights.

I suggested you look closer at your present diet, the number you gave didn't add up to 1800. You were up to 400 calories off. Your first need is to lose weight, you need to take in less calories than you expend. 1800 might not be a bad number in my opinion.

If you aren't diabetic or pre diabetic, you might be able to handle the popular 40/40/20 split of P/C/F. Go to the nurition forum and look at the post from Marus at the top. In fact get to reading as many posts as you can this weekend, see what john did. You choose the path you want to go, you have to live with it.

My BIG suggestion is don't drop weights.

Yeah, I am not going to drop the weights. I actually love lifting way more than getting on a treadmill for half an hour. Anyways, I plan to stick to my weight training routine of one on two off and run on those off days. I am going to keep my calories right around 2000 while keeping my protein close to 215 grams per day. Any suggestions on how many carbs and fat grams I should consume in a day? Thanks again. You guys are helping me change my life :bow:

Like 3 lbs. I'm getting a little harder, and it seems like my 34's are going on a little easier-- but a weight... gain? Oh well. I've learned not to trust the scale so much anyways. It's but a number, but still, a bit disheartening...

If your pants are getting loose and your gaining weight... Consider that a good thing!. That means (most likely) your gaining some muscle and at the same time losing fat.