Can you lose body fat and build muscle at the same time?
Introduction:
A hot topic in fitness is whether it's possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You’ve probably seen reels on IG with this caption many times over, but here I’ll try and give a more in depth explanation.
Understanding Body Recomposition:
The goal of body recomposition is to improve your physique by simultaneously losing fat and gaining muscle, rather than putting your focus on one or the other. This approach can seem contradictory because generally, gaining muscle requires a calorie surplus, while losing fat requires a calorie deficit.
The Science Behind It:
Energy Balance: To lose fat, you must expend more calories than you consume.
When in calorie restriction, you are not in ‘optimal’ conditions to build muscle, but that does not mean it isn’t possible.
You are much more likely to see improvements on both sides if you’ve had little to no exposure to weight training. Furthermore, the more body fat you have to lose the less likely you are to lose muscle along the way.
We’ve seen clients lose body fat and build muscle at the same time via hard data on our inbody scanner. You can read more about that here.
Protein and Nutrition:
Adequate protein intake is crucial; it supports muscle protein synthesis and helps maintain satiety when calories are restricted.
Balancing your macronutrients—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—can optimise muscle gain and fat loss when aligned with your training schedule as you will get the most out of your workouts and give you the best chance of progressively overloading (improving weight, rep and some other variables beyond the scope of this blog)
Training Intensity and Experience:
For untrained individuals, the body responds well to even moderate exercise, making significant gains in muscle and reductions in fat more feasible.
In comparison, experienced gym-goers might find this process slower. Many believe they are training intensely enough to grow muscle, but without the right intensity or progressive overload, they might not be optimising their workouts for muscle growth. In that example, they might still have the potential for body recomposition.
For someone that has years of training under their belt, they will likely be better to optimise one at a time. This is the common ‘bulk’ and ‘cut’.
General considerations if you want to lose body fat and build muscle at the same time
Consider your training experience and amount of body fat you have to lose.
Consume adequate protein. It will keep you fuller for longer and give you the best chance of building or maintaining muscle whilst dropping body fat.
Train hard. Progressive overload IS required. More weight. More reps.
Prioritise recovery. In order to train well and make good decisions around food, you need to rest well.
Conclusion
This stuff is not easy. You should consider your own circumstances and how much time/bandwidth you have available. At Riverside Fitness House, we specialise in creating personalised plans that cater to your unique fitness level and goals.