Calories to gain muscle

[ics]

If you are over 20% body fat should you still increase your calories to gain muscle?
Or will your body just use the excess fat calories to gain new muscle ?

If the later is true then if I keep my calories the same I should gain muscle but Body fat will drop. Eventually I will become too lean to gain any new muscle and will then have to worry about increasing my calories.

Am I correct?

Thanks

ICS

 

[casualbb]

Here's the thing with bulking and fat %-age.

WHen you have calories and energy floating around the blood, they'll get taken up by whatever tissue is around. The fatter you are, the more fat you have chilling around, taking up additional calories.

so the fatter you are, the more fat you'll gain in bulking relative to muscle. At 20%, I'd advise that you diet down to at least 10-12% before thinking about bulking. 20% is also high enough that if you diet reasonably you could see little muscle loss, or even some gain.

 

[vin01]

Here's the thing with bulking and fat %-age.

WHen you have calories and energy floating around the blood, they'll get taken up by whatever tissue is around. The fatter you are, the more fat you have chilling around, taking up additional calories.

so the fatter you are, the more fat you'll gain in bulking relative to muscle. At 20%, I'd advise that you diet down to at least 10-12% before thinking about bulking. 20% is also high enough that if you diet reasonably you could see little muscle loss, or even some gain.

So is this saying fat needs energy, similar to muscles and organs?

Doesn't fat just sit there, I didn't think it was active?

Can somebody explain?

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

I've heard the same Casual, but I'm not entirely sure as to the validity of what you said. In the end, I agree though - don't bulk at 20%. Diet down to 10-12%, bulk up until you're at 15-16%, diet back down. Adding too much fat will be a pain to get off later anyway, so try not to go above that.

Here's an excerpt from McCallum's book from the 60's:

"If you want a herculean physique: do this

Keep increasing your bodyweight with bulk and power exercises until you start looking too soft and weight begins to accumulate on your waist and hips. At this point you should stop gaining weight for a while. Train back down 10 pounds or so, or until you look fairly hard again. You don't have to look like an anatomy chart, but get into fairly solid condition.

Now hold this reduced bodyweight for a month or two and work hard on your showy muscles, such as arms, pecs, deltoids and so on. After a coupl of months you start bulking up again from your new base.

Never let your body accumulate too much fat. It's too hard and time consumin working it of gaain. Keep careful watch on your condition. As soon as your waist gets to the point where it's spoiling your appearance, work off the flab, sharpen your overall appearance and then start bulking up again.

If you train this way, you'll end up with a much better physique. You aim should be for a herculean body, not a fat one. Don't confuse muscle with blubber. yo'ull notice that even the big bodybuilders like Park and Pearl maintain some definition. Not as much, perhaps, as small men, but still enough to emphasize their muscular development."

The best part is, they knew this in the 60's. Why people don't get it now, I don't know. The only part I tend to disagree with is the month or so he recommends people to stay at their new weight. I can see two reasons for what he suggests, but neither are of extreme importance, so I'd just bulk, cut down to a reasonable level (maybe lightly visible abs [6]), then repeat the process.

 

[Guinness5.0]

The only part I tend to disagree with is the month or so he recommends people to stay at their new weight.

I dunno... to me the whole homeostasis argument seems valid.

ANd to the original poster, if you're new to weights recompositoining should be no problem IMO. Even if you've been around the gym a while, at 20% i think you can both add muscle and lose fat. But I'd still advise foscuing on one or the other for best results.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

That was one of the two reasons I didn't bother getting in to. It's not important enough, in my opinion, to sit at the same weight for a month or two. It's not going to kill anyone, nor will it suddenly shave years off your life. It's also healthier to sit at a nice, even bodyweight all the time (like my body will sit around 170 lbs. if I let it). What's healthiest, and what we desire, don't always coincide. And that's awesome.

 

[ics]

Good advice guys. Right now I weigh about 195-200 lbs at probably 20-25% BF. My goal is muscle mass but I want to be lean as well.

Thanks

ICS

 

[kiosk]

I am doing the same as you...also at 20% and want to get down to 14% while keeping muscle. I am reducing 100 calories a week for now until i get down to a net reduction of +/- 500 cal. and adjust from there wether I am gettin weak at lifts or not losing fat (aiming at no more than 1lbs per week)