How long can you burn fat and gain muscle at the same time?

[jdbaker82]

Started out at 36% BF 6 months ago measured in BOD POD at my gym, been on strict diet and weight training and am now at 28% BF and have continued to gain muscle but from everything I have read this magic pill only works for beginners and am wondering when I will have to switch to either just cutting BF or switch to just gaining mass? I would hate to start spinning wheels where I am neither putting on new muscle or losing body fat. I will know if I have been spinning wheels in about a month when the BOD POD visits my gym again.

I have always pondered these questions.... If you are training with weights 3 days a week and not eating quite enough to build muscle mass does this automatically mean you will at least be losing body fat? (Yes on a clean diet)

Can you actually gain strength and increase your lifts without actually putting on muscle mass?

and finally why do half the books you read and advice you hear recommend weight training to lose weight since supposedly you cant gain muscle at the same time? Are they saying you will be basically lifting your ass off just to lose body fat but you wont put on one bit of muscle?

 

[jdbaker82]

Any advice on these topics would be greatly appreciated I know these topics are kind of broad and probably hard to answer.

 

[joe d]

Started out at 36% BF 6 months ago measured in BOD POD at my gym, been on strict diet and weight training and am now at 28% BF and have continued to gain muscle but from everything I have read this magic pill only works for beginners and am wondering when I will have to switch to either just cutting BF or switch to just gaining mass? I would hate to start spinning wheels where I am neither putting on new muscle or losing body fat. I will know if I have been spinning wheels in about a month when the BOD POD visits my gym again. you can put on mass and keep your bf reasonably low. you wont gain as fast though.

I have always pondered these questions.... If you are training with weights 3 days a week and not eating quite enough to build muscle mass does this automatically mean you will at least be losing body fat? (Yes on a clean diet) you would just be wasting time

Can you actually gain strength and increase your lifts without actually putting on muscle mass? to a digree yes

and finally why do half the books you read and advice you hear recommend weight training to lose weight since supposedly you cant gain muscle at the same time? Are they saying you will be basically lifting your ass off just to lose body fat but you wont put on one bit of muscle?
you can find books that will say anything. any body can write a book and get it published.

just keep pushing for progress. once what you are doing stops working then look into how to get moving again.

 

[jdbaker82]

just keep pushing for progress. once what you are doing stops working then look into how to get moving again.

Alright thanks JoeD, I guess the last question is that if you are lifting weights and eating clean but not getting enough calories to gain muscle mass does that automatically mean you will be losing BF? Or is it possible to do neither gain muscle or lose body fat? If that can happen can you explain how that would be possible?

 

[joe d]

Alright thanks JoeD, I guess the last question is that if you are lifting weights and eating clean but not getting enough calories to gain muscle mass does that automatically mean you will be losing BF? Or is it possible to do neither gain muscle or lose body fat? If that can happen can you explain how that would be possible?

its not just about eating calories. its about eating the right amounts of the right macros. a good start point is 60% protein 30% carbs and 10% fat 6 meals per day. the first meal as soon as you get up and the last right before you go to bed. in addition a whey protein, simple carb, low fat shake post w/o on training days.

if you are eating 5000cals but only 100g of it is protein in a day then you will gat fat and you will gain verry little muscle if any at all because muscles need more protein to develop. if you where eating 500g of protein out of that 5000cal diet you would gain more muscle.

its not only protein though. the diet is a magical thing. it is also verry complicated. there are many aspects to manipulate what your body can do with food. right now you may only be able to handle a 3k diet with success. with self research and a few years you may be able to effectively eat 4,5,or 6k cals. the idea is to find the ratio that works for you then focus on getting it to work better.

right now you have to figure out your ratio. look at around 2g protein, 2g carbs .5g fat per lb of bw per day. play around with it for a while. you will figure it out.

i see tons of gym rats lifting that never change.

 

[jdbaker82]

Ok i have been getting around 2500-2700 cal/day with 50% protein 30% carb 20% fat roughly. I only work out 3 sessions a week for about 1 hour and I have not done cardio in the past 3-4 months. I have always split 6-7 small meals a day and have always had a protein/carb shake before and after a workout. One last thing is that because of what I am eating high fiber and high protein I find that I am rarely hungry to eat over the 2500-2700 cal a day should I be force feeding myself to hit the 3000 calorie mark so I can put on the extra muscle? I keep reading that when you follow a clean diet and eat 5-6 small meals a day that's the magic to it you never have to count calories is this advice generally wrong? This is the one part that is confusing me the most about my routine

 

[kx250rider]

the diet is a magical thing. it is also verry complicated. there are many aspects to manipulate what your body can do with food.

You're not kidding. I'm always getting myself screwed up with eating correctly to aim for my goals... My main goal is low body fat, cut and hard, and not as concerned with mass. As soon as I increase my intake of food.... even the right food, I start to see my veins on my abs disappear, and maybe some bulk gain in the upper body. To me, that's not a good trade. I eat a very low calorie diet with plenty of fiber, and a lot of protein (1/2 cup of scrambled egg whites) in the morning, meat and carbs for lunch, and a very small portion of red meat or chicken for dinner (no carbs or side fats). That keeps me where I want to be, but I'd like to crack that magic code so I could increase mass a little, but keep my abs with all the veins showing.

Charles