View Full Version : Is this possible?
Gunshow
02-26-07, 11:45 pm
Hey i was just wonderin, is it possible to continue to gain muscle while at the same time shedding body fat. Like if i'm eating good, high protein and moderate carbs and low fat. working out 5 days a week and hitting the cardio like a fuckin slave then wouldn't that work out? I want to know this b/c i only weigh 170, and i dont want to get lighter, but i need to get my bf% down.
I want to know this b/c i only weigh 170, and i dont want to get lighter, but i need to get my bf% down.
What you can do is maintain your fat and gain muscle, 20 lbs of fat on a 100 lb kid = 20% bodyfat, kinda chubby. 20 lbs of fat on a 200 lb kid = 10% bodyfat, pretty damn lean dude right there.
benihonasghost
02-26-07, 11:53 pm
yo bro i always thought that to get yr muscles bigger you have to feed them food... you need a surplus of food to make muscle so ull gain some fat... but thats ok because u can always cut later on... so i dont think its possible to gain muscle without gaining a little fat... i hope that helps a little
DreamZero
02-26-07, 11:57 pm
in my first monthes, i did it.. i lost maybe 5 pounds of fat and gained 8 of muscle, in 2 monthes. Right now, im eating twice as much as i used to do and im getting good results.. i think it's possible to do both at same time, but you wont get insane gains.. If you want serious results, try to bulk for a while, then cut the fat down.
peace
invictus1
02-26-07, 11:59 pm
personally i like what you are doing, just make sure you are eating clean and enough to top out your calorie expenditure and getting at least 2 grams of protien per pound you weigh. If you do it right, you wont notice too much change on the scale. You will notice it in your body fat measurements and the tightness of your shirts. The idea is to take little baby steps, not yo-yo your weight (long term thats not such a good idea) Ideally no more than 2 pounds in either direction a week and play the ol' trial and error game. Soon weeks will turn into months, months in to years, 1-2 pounds into 10-15 and a better, stronger you.
BitterNdThenSome
02-27-07, 12:44 am
honestly, these posts really bother me. your gonna have to make some sacrifices if you want solid progress. this might mean you lose your six pack for a while. boohoo. suck it up. it might mean you dont make much in the way of muscular gains while you shred down. boohoo. suck it up. bodybuilding aint that easy. unless you have the genetics of a god, its gonna be virtually impossible for you to make noticeable gains without upping your caloric intake, which means your gonna gain a little fat. excessive cardio is counter productive to muscular gain. like ive said on the ten million other "how do i get big and stay lean" posts: you either bulk or cut. pick one and stick to it.
personally i like what you are doing, just make sure you are eating clean and enough to top out your calorie expenditure and getting at least 2 grams of protien per pound you weigh. If you do it right, you wont notice too much change on the scale. You will notice it in your body fat measurements and the tightness of your shirts. The idea is to take little baby steps, not yo-yo your weight (long term thats not such a good idea) Ideally no more than 2 pounds in either direction a week and play the ol' trial and error game. Soon weeks will turn into months, months in to years, 1-2 pounds into 10-15 and a better, stronger you.
Exactly, that is what's happening to me. So I second your post. Going with the same weight of 165, and then uping my bench max a good 20 pounds is great, but I've seen that throughout the whole board. Bench, Deads, Squats, Curls. You name it, I've gone up. Just shows hard work and eating right goes a long way.
BigTruck
02-27-07, 12:50 am
nick is right on point --
keep your fat in take low. watch your diet and count your calories.
you don't want to cardio too much as you might end up burning more than just fat (catabolic vs. anabolic)
try and keep your cardio routines to 30-40 minutes at 60-65% of your max heart rate.
check this thread ref cardion: http://forum.animalpak.com/showthread.php?t=2116&highlight=cardio+resting+hear+rate
Gunshow
02-27-07, 12:58 am
Thanks everyone this helps alot. Just to let you all know i try to eat all clean foods right now my diet consists of only chicken, tuna, whole wheat bread, brown rice, my protein shakes and some fruits and veggies. Also for cardio i do a small session before and after all my workouts except on leg day. usually 12-15 minutes for each session. Thanks for the posts.
Very hard to do both I gave up on it I added on like 9 lbs in two months I am gonna add until like april then cut shoould gain like 18 lbs by hen but eat clean and you know it is muscle supprisingly I am lookng mush better bro my wife thinks it is crazy I eat like a horse and all she sees is more and more muscle so keep it up good luck.
Torque757
02-27-07, 1:10 pm
Hey i was just wonderin, is it possible to continue to gain muscle while at the same time shedding body fat. Like if i'm eating good, high protein and moderate carbs and low fat. working out 5 days a week and hitting the cardio like a fuckin slave then wouldn't that work out? I want to know this b/c i only weigh 170, and i dont want to get lighter, but i need to get my bf% down.
Listen, you WILL gain fat when you put on muscle. HOWEVER, think about this:
If you gain 1 lb of fat for every 3 lbs of muscle, you are still gaining fat BUT your bf is going DOWN because of the proportion of muscle to fat you are gaining. SO, although you cannot lose fat and gain muscle, you can more muscle than fat therefor DECREASE your bf %.
IMO, If you look fatter after a bulk, to me that means you put on more fat than muscle, I could be wrong but it makes sense.
IronLeague
02-27-07, 1:30 pm
Very hard to do both I gave up on it I added on like 9 lbs in two months I am gonna add until like april then cut shoould gain like 18 lbs by hen but eat clean and you know it is muscle supprisingly I am lookng mush better bro my wife thinks it is crazy I eat like a horse and all she sees is more and more muscle so keep it up good luck.
No doubt you're gaining weight...but 9 pounds in 2 months, that isn't all muscle gain. I'm sure you are aware though... If you train hard and eat big you can gain a solid 10-12 pounds of muscle in a years time.. Not two months. Keep pluggin away bro, you gotta go the distance for every hard earned pound.
Respect,
IronLeague
I just read an article on this in the last issue of Muscle and Fitness. As you gain muscle you lean out as far as your actual bodyfat percentage goes. As long as your muscle gains stay higher than your fat gains your bodyfat doesn't go away, but your percentage goes down because you are heavier but have only put on (hopefully...) a small amount of bodyfat compared to the muscle you've put on. Correct me if I'm wrong.
IronLeague: I thought you could synthesize at least a pound of muscle a week with a good diet and supplement regimen along with your training. Are you saying that no matter how good that stuff is you can only gain .25 lbs of muscle a week? I know you're a ton bigger than me and probably know a ton more... but I've witnessed better muscle gains than this in my friends, as well as myself. My last bulk I gained 7 lbs of muscle in 2 months. I got BF tested by a 7 point caliper test and it showed about a 1% increase in bodyfat. Are you saying that someone who's like already big can't gain more than another 10-12 lbs of muscle a year? I'm confused.
Adding to what kiwi said about quick muscle gains, it must be possible to gain more than 12 pounds of muscle a year. I've known guys who were using gear, and they were putting on 15 pounds solid mass in 8 weeks. So I'm thinking if you did the same thing working clean you must be able to get atleast half of that in the same time. No? And about what i asked initially, my diet is very high in protein, and moderate carbs and my fat intake is very minimal. Not alot of red meats or anything else thats fatty, just enough to stay healthy. With that diet and moderate cardio it would make sense to not gain any fat while gaining muscle, wouldn't it? I'm no expert so i'm not trying to act like i know everything thats just what makes sense to me..
Nah sorry bro but you'll put on some fat... it's inevitable. But look at what I gained: if you eat clean you can keep the fat really low. I gained 7 lbs of muscle and increased my bodyfat from 10% to roughly 11-11.5%, which I was really happy with.
I can handle that, how long did that take you to do?
That bulk lasted two months... so it was just short of a pound a week. Keep in mind though that I'm not big at all, so my gains come a little easier than someone who's already strong/muscular.
Torque757
02-27-07, 9:11 pm
I just read an article on this in the last issue of Muscle and Fitness. As you gain muscle you lean out as far as your actual bodyfat percentage goes. As long as your muscle gains stay higher than your fat gains your bodyfat doesn't go away, but your percentage goes down because you are heavier but have only put on (hopefully...) a small amount of bodyfat compared to the muscle you've put on. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yea thats where I got my post from, it was an article by cutlers dietician or something...
Yep, exactly the same article I read.
Torque757
02-27-07, 9:26 pm
Some dieat "tricks" that will help you get in the cals for mass gain without adding so much fat:
Never eat fats and carbs in the same meal. Meals should be Protein/fat or protein/carb.
Carb cutoff: No carbs after 6-7 pm.
Drink green tea. 8 tea bags a day with anywhere from a gallon to half gallon of water, depending on how concentrated you want it.
haha thanks for the tricks, i've already cut off my carbs after 6, and i've wanted to start drinking green tea forever. good to see that those ideas are are actually known b/c i cant even remember where i heard them.