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Real Life Fitness Questions Answered

Kelly Marshall
Fitness Consultant

Posted 02 Feb 10

Can I lose body fat while I build muscle?

Hi, I'm doing a fair amount of weight training at the moment and would like to know whether it is possible to both lose body fat and gain muscle whilst maintaining a calorie deficit. Lots of the information around on ?bulking? and ?cutting? cycles is rather confusing. My goal isn't really weight loss anymore as much as body fat reduction, improving my fitness and making some modest gains in muscle. I think that my current regime is causing me to lose lean body mass as well as body fat - for example I've noticed looseness in a pair of boots that used to fit tightly around my calves. If I switch to maintenance and carry on weight training, will I continue to see a reduction in body fat? I'm intending to switch to tracking body fat rather than overall weight and I'd like to know what I should be doing nutrition and exercise wise to continue to lose body fat. Thanks

Our expert says...

 

Hi,

 

It is entirely possible to lose body fat at the same time as increasing lean muscle tissue and these processes happen simultaneously without directly influencing each other. They are very different processes. Information can be confusing as it can depicted that individuals focus on one at a time like professional bodybuilders who train and eat for size and then ‘shred’ for competition. This however is not the way to approach achieving a sustainable lean but muscular physique. To get your strength and muscle shape gains as well as reducing overall body fat, ensue the following:

 

- Strength train and do it well – use advanced training methods to target the various muscle groups. Use techniques like super setting, drop sets and pyramids to really fatigue each muscle group sufficiently to force them to adapt and progress. Always work to fatigue but give priority to the 8-12 rep ranges as this promotes muscle strength and shape without the mass bulking.

 

- Ensure you consume enough protein to support your training

 

- Minimise saturated fat – in order for the body to lower existing body fat stores you must minimise the amount of saturated fat being ingested! Fat can only be stored as fat!

 

- Stay hydrated – as muscle tissue increases it stores more water and so hydration levels are important!

 

Hope this helps,

 

Kelly

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