Build Muscle - How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time
If you ask any guy in the gym what his goals are, he'll often state, "Build muscle and lose fat."
Unfortunately, this isn't that easy.
The problem is that in order to build muscle, you need to eat more calories than your body needs, and in order to lose fat, you need to eat fewer.
Obviously eating more and eating less do not go well together, thus combining these goals would seem impossible.
Luckily, it can be done if you pay very, very close attention to your diet and workout programs.
Here's what you need to do.
Rate Of Muscle Gain
First, you need to realize that the rate of muscle gain that you do see is going to be slower. Any time you are really only adding a small surplus of calories to your week overall, gains will take longer than if you were using a larger surplus.
This only makes sense because the more ingredients you supply your body with, the more body tissue it will build (both protein and fat).
As long as you are aware of this and are willing to accept a slightly slower rate of muscle gain, you are good to carry on.
Your Weight Training Days
Now, in order to maximize the muscle building portion of your week, you are going to need to lift hard and lift heavy.
You should be doing three, full-body workouts a week, as these are the days you are going to be in 'growth' mode.
On these days, be absolutely sure that you max out your calorie intake immediately following your weight lifting session. Basically, eat until you can eat no more.
It is at this time that the body is most likely to use these additional calories to add muscle mass tissue, so you need to take advantage of this.
Avoid fat immediately post workout though, because this will only slow the process of getting those nutrients into the muscle cells.
Your Off Days
Next up we have your off days, otherwise known as your fat loss days. On these days you should be eating slightly fewer calories than it would take to maintain your weight.
So, let's say you maintain your weight by eating 3000 calories. On your lifting days, bump this up to about 4000. On your weight loss days, bring this down to about 2500. This will still allow you to 'net' a surplus so you will still see a weight gain, but by putting this surplus on training days, you should be able to minimize fat gain.
If you'd like, also consider doing some cardio activity on your weight loss days, to even further help with that aspect of things. Note though that you don't want to be doing sprinting on every single off day because this will hinder your ability to lift optimally.
So, if you really want to try and build muscle and lose fat, give this plan a try. It's a hard mission to accomplish, but if you are diligent enough, it can be accomplished.