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Q. Is it possible to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, or do I need to pick one or the other?
Great question, one I hear all the time. So is it possible to add lean muscle mass while maintaining or even reducing your body fat percentage?
In a word, Yes.
Many in the fitness community see physique change as an either/or proposition: You're either bulking to gain size or cutting to lose body fat, and never the twain shall meet, as they say. Those same people assume that to bulk means to slow your workouts down, while focusing on increasing resistance; and to cut means to train faster and lighter, while doing a lot of steady-state cardio and reducing calories.
Instead of looking at fitness as two stages, bulking and cutting, look at fitness as one stage: maximum exertion regardless of your goal. Instead of challenging yourself in resistance or speed, challenge yourself in resistance and speed! No one has ever experienced poor results from working too hard, so it's time to increase the intensity.
For Exhibit A in what I'm saying, look at most of today's top athletes. These men and women are in fantastic shape. Do you think they are doing extensive steady-state cardio? Do you think they are restricting their diets to reduce their body fat? Absolutely not! These are real athletes who exert maximum effort while training, which leads to an accelerated metabolic rate and enhanced fat-burning metabolism.
No one has ever experienced poor results from working too hard, so it's time to increase the intensity.
By now everyone knows about high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but very few people apply this to weight training. Utilizing this mentality while weight training can and will boost your body's natural fat burning metabolism. At the same time, it can improve your strength and endurance. As long as you fuel your body with sufficient calories to grow, you'll build lean muscle mass while accelerating your metabolic rate.
In other words, to answer your question, you'll build muscle and burn fat.
This back workout offers an example of what I'm describing. Both the resistance and speed will challenge you. Between sets, rest only as long as needed to catch your breath.
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Great article!!
Even before I read this article, I've been doing a similar regiment and it works great. My big brother tells me I need to finish bulking before trying to lose weight, but I've increased my dumbbell curling from 35 to 55/60 in 2.5 months along with other muscle groups significant strenght and size increases while also dropping 20 lbs. This is definitely doable!
Awesome article, I went from 125-155lbs in a year and stayed under 10% bodyfat.
Kill it in the gym, and have a good nutrition under your day and you will be fine !
Terrible article. No science, no citation, no information on diet and no specific examples of real results.
Ladies and gents, I'd look elsewhere to settle this question.
From what I've gathered, doing both is usually not an option for most people (non-fitness careers demand too much time for an effective program that does both).
I think for most beginners or amateur lifters, one should stick to one or the other. It's incredibly hard to dial in a diet that allows for both fat loss and lean mass gain. Have you ever tried to eat a surplus of calories on a completely clean diet AND throw in fat burning workouts? It's out of the question for most people (and believe me, most beginners fail at the simplest of goals to begin with).
In short, advanced or professional athletes can do both but it's difficulty makes it prohibitive to most others. You will see faster results by doing a bulking cutting cycle rather than fumbling aimlessly with an advanced dual-goal approach.
I think, as with anything, it works for many, maybe not for all. Still found it reassuring, especially the bottom line.... Exertion = results....
he forgot to mention that you need a professional nutritionist on hand to measure your macro nutrients and all around calorie intake. Get real this is a pipe dream its possible but so is winning the lottery and having insanely lucky genes like 'pro athletes' have. Far better to gain muscle while minimizing fat gain and cut while minimizing muscle loss.
Or just incorporate IF, and train during the eating windows, (not that fasted training garbage that people promote), I've seen marginal strength gains while cutting in the past by using IF.
That's what I am doing and it is working great for me
Articles like this are what is wrong with the fitness industry. This guy is not natty, so yes HE can gain muscle and loose fat. What works for him and every other top pro will not work for you.
There are diet tricks you can do as well, I incorporate IF, and I will honestly see marginal strength gains while I'm cutting because during my feasting windows I'm eating at a pace as if I'm bulking.
It's not as dramatic as when I'm actually bulking, but it is possible.
Except this article dosent mention anything about diet at all. Instead it tells you to train harder and faster, to turn your lifting session into basically a hybrid HIIT workout. Sounds like crossfit to me...
The cut/bulk cycle is simple and effective for 100% of people. This article will cause countless people to spin their wheels...
Yeah, I don't know who this guy is, but elite athletes work for years before they get to where they can train like they do. The average individual is going to get themselves injured trying to take this guys advice.