A challenge to the "impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time"

[Will Goes Boing]

Ok maybe not so much a challenge, but after doing some extensive reading about bulking and cutting, and articles regarding how it is impossible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. I have this theory that I want some of you to critique.

First of all I'm a 26 yr old male, 5'10 145lbs, 10% bodyfat. I've been lifting weights ever since I was in highschool but never got serious about it until now. And I certainly never followed a strict healthy diet up until now. My goal is to be 155lbs @ 5-6% bodyfat.

So here's my theory....

They say in order to gain muscle you need to eat at a surplus of calories, and to lose fat you need to eat at a deficeit. But what if all you eat is lean meat, vegetables, fruits, protein shakes, whole grain at a surplus.... AND you do heavy weight lifting and high intensity cardio?

The fact that you're eating healthy lean food at a surplus and lifting heavy weights will help you build muscle, and the fact that you're not consuming junk carbs and junk fat (soda, candy, etc) and doing high intensity cardio you will lose fat as a result.

I'm torn between doing the bulk and cut or if I should just stick to my "Theory". I'm a hard gainer, so gaining enough weight for me to cut I would have to go up to at least 165, and the most I've EVER hit was 162 and that was cramming 7000 calories into my diet and did no cardio. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thebigoz]

No-one ever said it was impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. 'Cutting' and 'Bulking' can't be thought of as simple 'losing fat' and 'gaining muscle'.

The logic behind most people's views on this topic is that you cannot EFFECTIVELY bulk/cut at the same time. If you want to bulk, then focus on bulking. The same goes for cutting.

The thing that a lot of people forget is that if your diet is right and you're adding more lean muscle mass than fat, then you're effectively dropping your bf% also.

 

[2DIEZEL]

Its easier to loose fat then it is to gain muscle especially at your size and being a hard gainer. EAT EAT EAT....LIFT HEAVY= GROWTH. Worry about loosing the fat after gaining the muscle.

 

[Will Goes Boing]

Ok I have another question regarding bulking......

Lets just say Person A puts on 20lbs by eating just anything and everything (junk food), and Person B puts on 20lbs by eating healthy food (following 40/40/20 ratio).

The 20lbs that Person A put on will have a lot more fat compared to Person B correct? I know this sounds like common sense, but apparently a lot of people off other forums seem to say that mass is mass.

What they're saying is, if you're eating 4000 calories it doesn't matter where those calories come from whether it's proteins or carbs or fat because when protein and carbs eaten at a surplus converts to fat anyways.

Is that true?

Also it is said that in order to lose bodyfat you have to lose weight. But why is it that I was able to lower my BF while staying at the same weight?

 

[rikishi]

What they're saying is, if you're eating 4000 calories it doesn't matter where those calories come from whether it's proteins or carbs or fat because when protein and carbs eaten at a surplus converts to fat anyways.

Is that true?

Also it is said that in order to lose bodyfat you have to lose weight. But why is it that I was able to lower my BF while staying at the same weight?

Fuck no its not true. If you eat shit all day, your body will be in storage mode all day. If you eat a surplus of good, slow digesting calories, your insulin levels will be low during the day, and since the food is being slowly broken down your body will turn to stored fat for energy. Insulin is the key. Crap foods bring out a lot of insulin, which is a storage hormone. Slow digesting good foods bring out very little insulin, and hence less storage during the day. If at the end of the day your body cannot burn off excess calories, yes some will be stored. But that is ridiculous to say that eating a surplus of good fats, complex carbs and other slow digesting foods is the same as drinking soda, eating sugar and bad fats. What a load of crap, whoever suggested that should be banned from their forum and lose their job if they're a personal trainer.


In order to lose bodyfat, you do not have to lose weight if you are also adding some muscle at the same time. HOWEVER, this is very hard to do because results are always very, very slow. You can drop fat and add muscle at the same time, but in very minimal amounts. It would take forever to reach your goals. This is why you should cut or bulk at once, fasterand better results in the end.

 

[elmarcouk]

Trying to do both at the same time is like walking two steps forward and one step back. You CAN do it, but its going to take you longer to reach your goal. So if you just concentrate on bulking, then its 2 steps forwards, followed by 2 more steps forward. Likewise for cutting, 2 steps, then another 2 steps. If you see what i mean.

 

[thebigoz]

Also it is said that in order to lose bodyfat you have to lose weight. But why is it that I was able to lower my BF while staying at the same weight?

You can lose bodyfat and still maintain/increase your weight. However, you would need to be adding more lean mass than what you're losing in fat.

When talking about BF%, the same principle applies. If you're adding more lean muscle mass than fat, then your BF% lowers. So you can theoretically lower your BF% even when you're putting on fat...