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There are a lot of opinions on the subject of losing fat while either maintaining or gaining muscle and many people believe that you can not lose fat and gain muscle at the same time let alone keep all the muscle you have.
Now keep in mind this is just my opinion on the subject, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, having an opinion does not make you right and what is right for one person may not be right for another.
I base my beliefs on this subject from my personal experience and also from what I have seen others achieve.
The bottom line is yes, you can keep your muscle and maybe even gain a bit while cutting fat, is it the optimal environment for muscle retention and growth? No it is not but with the right approach it can be done.
If you are a newbie (someone new to working out and or body building / weight training) and you are trying to gain muscle while losing some fat, you will see better than average results because your body is new to the demand of the added resistance you are exposing your muscles to. Even in a calorie depleted diet, your body will understand that it needs to priorities and grow your muscles to adjust for the added strain or demand on them. Your body will take from its stored fat and leave your muscles alone as it realizes the need to become stronger because of the extra load on your muscles.
Now lets take a person who has been weight training or body building for some time and has built up a good base of muscle, their body is used to them training hard and in some ways has become accustomed to the extra strain they put on their muscles. Their body see's this as normal and this person will only see very minimal muscle gains over time even in a calorie rich environment. If this individual wants to now cut weight and lose a bit of fat, they need to put their body in a position where it is calorie depleted so that the body will use up stored fat.
This is all good but the problem is most seasoned body builders take the wrong approach to this. They cut their calories which is good, but then they also start to do lots of cardio while usually changing their workout program from lifting heavy weights with low reps to lifting lighter weights with more reps. This is done in an attempt to try and burn more calories. They will often cut most of the carbs out of their diet again in an attempt to reduce calories.
Here are the problems I see with this approach and why many weight lifters and body builders who are trying to lose fat, also lose muscle along the way. We need to first look at this from the point of view of how the body see's what's going on...
- Body - I see there is less food around so I guess we need to take some energy from somewhere else, hey that stored fat sure looks tasty...
- Body - Wow, you are really moving around a lot these days with all this high level activity that doesn't require much strength at all. And by the way you seem to be lifting lighter weights too, I thought you wanted to get stronger? I'm thinking if there was a bit less muscle on us, we could be more efficient so all this new cardio activity would get a lot easier for us. Hey man, I'm only trying to help!
- Body - What's up with all this lettuce and broccoli? Where did the rice and sweet potatoes go? How am I supposed to make insulin to keep your muscles fueled and healthy without the simple carbs. I'm thinking we just don't need those big calorie absorbing muscles as much as we used to? No biggy, I can turn them into much needed energy just like the stored fat I've been using up until now.
I'm hoping you can see what I'm getting at here? Your body is going to do the logical thing based on what you are telling it is the priority. If you stop lifting heavy weights, get super busy doing high level cardio, cut out the carbs which supply the insulin that is vital for muscle growth and health, and then reduce the energy supply substantially. You will lose weight but it won't just be fat, it will also be some of the the muscle that you don't seem to need as much these days.
So as a seasoned body builder / weight lifter with a good base of muscle, how do you keep your muscle while losing fat?
- Keep lifting heavy in the gym just like before.
- Don't change your diet too much, keep the carbs in there, just eat less food overall and adjust your food intake based on your energy level. If you have lots of energy you may be able to cut calories a bit more, if you are super tired, bring a few more calories back in.
- Don't even think about cardio unless you have a super crazy deadline to meet but keep the cardio to a minimum!
- Don't get fat in the first place ;)
Watch my YouTube video where I talk about this subject and tell you how my current weight cut is going: