Is it possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

If you are a bodybuilding enthusiast who spends several hours a week in the gym, work hard, eat a healthy, balanced diet and secretly hope to one day look as good as Chris Bumstead himself, you've probably wondered at least once in your life if it's really possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
After all, if professional bodybuilders can do it, why can't we ordinary natural exercisers with average genetics do it too? If we work hard in the gym, follow our diet and get enough sleep, we can build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Can't we? I will try to answer this and many other things in this article. So if you are wondering if it is possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, definitely keep reading.

Who is best placed to lose fat and gain muscle?

As it happens in this industry, it is important to note that an extremely large number of factors play a role in this issue as well. As a result, it is not possible to find and compile a unique recipe that would generally work for everyone. But who has the advantage in this respect?
First of all, it will be complete beginners. This is because their body reacts to training in an extremely positive way, thanks to which, regardless of their inexperience, their muscles simply and easily grow like water. Similarly, overweight people, who may be, thanks to excessenergy stores in the form of fat, are in a caloric deficit while effectively building muscle mass.
In addition, former exercisers have an advantage, mainly due to muscle memorymemory, which allows a relatively large amount of muscle mass to be rebuilt in a short period of time. The last group of people who have a certain advantage in this respect are, of course, genetically endowed individuals. Genetics is perhaps one of the most important factors in muscle gain and fat loss.
The legendary bodybuilder Kevin Levrone is an ideal example of the latter two groups in particular. Not only did he take long breaks from exercising regularly, but his body reacted to the calorie loss in an incredibly positive way. In dieting, he naturally became more chiseled over time, but paradoxically also much bigger and more muscular. Such people, of course, we mere mortals can only silently envy.

Caloric surplus vs. caloric deficit

If you've been around the fitness world for a while, you've probably heard the oft-repeated saying thatthat if you want to build muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus, and conversely if you want to lose fat you need to be in a caloric deficit. Of course, this instruction makes sense to a certain extent, but people often don't quite understand what it actually means. Why, you ask?
First of all, we need to point out the fact that fat tissue and muscle tissue are two completely different systems. So while it's true that in a calorie deficit we're likely to lose some of that weight, it doesn't automatically mean that we can't gain muscle at the same time. To better understand this issue, I'll give a slightly simplified, and more importantly, overstated example here. If you lose, say, 3 kg of body weight, it's entirely possible that you've actually lost 4 kg of adipose tissue while gaining 1 kg of muscle mass.
And in the same way, you could also look at another example in which you wouldyou could exercise completely and still be in a high calorie surplus. Your body weight would then go up gradually, but this would not mean that you are building muscle, quite the contrary, you would lose muscle and gain fat.
Caloric deficit and surplus are very nice sounding phrases, which at first glance can be understood by everyone.However, on closer reflection, they are much more complex and complicated than you might think. And this is also closely related to the misconception that it is only possible to gain muscle in a properm caloric surplus in which you have to eat as much as you can in a day for maximum muscle growth. But it doesn't really work like that in practice. On the contrary, a caloric surplus, let alone a really excessive one, is in many cases greatly overestimated for muscle growth.
This is also proven by the results of a scientific study from 2013, which clearly show that a large caloric surplus is not necessary for building muscle mass at all. Observed individuals who ate 600 kcal more per day than others gained much more weight, and more importantly faster than those who ate less, but they did not see a visible increase in muscle mass.
The point I'm trying to make is that you really don't need a lot of muscle mass to build the perfect body.It is not necessary to undergo an unnecessarily excessive bulking phase only to suffer during the extreme losing phase. A much better strategy, depending on your body fat percentage, is to gradually, and most importantly moderate increase or decrease in caloric intake.

How to achieve muscle building and fat loss at the same time?

So, as it follows from the above, many scientific studies dealing withon this issue have indeed shown that it is possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. But the problem with the vast majority of these studies is that the test subjects were often obese or non-exercising people. But what if I can't fit into either of these groups? Can I still gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?
The authors of an extremely large-scale 2020 survey came up with the answer to these questions, which suggests that they can achieve body recomposition, i.e. offeringgaining muscle mass and losing fat tissue at the same time, also experienced individuals who have been training for many years. But it will take them much longer and they will have to put in much more effort than for example, a complete beginner or an overweight person. Although there is no single formula for achieving body recomposition, the results of individual studies and the experience of the entire of many athletes suggest a few key aspects that you should definitely take into account.

Caloric intake

The first of these aspects is a properly adjusted caloric intake with respect to your body fat percentage. A slight caloric surplus is generally recommended for men with a body fat count of less than 15%. For women, it is then less than 24%. However, if your body fat percentage is higher than these two values, it is instead recommended to be in a moderate calorie deficit.
Once again, I will explicitly stress the importance of the word "moderate" here. As I mentioned above, an unnecessarily high calorie intake does not automatically lead to greater muscle gains. What it can lead to, however, is the gain of fat tissue, which you would then have to lose in the weight loss phase. By doing this, not only are you unlikely to gain more muscle mass than if you were in a slight calorie surplus, but you will wind upc you will put your body under unnecessary stress, which may later have a negative effect on the proper functioning of your body.
Of course, the opposite extreme can also be problematic. A large reduction in daily caloric intake can lead not only to rapidloss of adipose tissue and muscle mass, but also create a catabolichormonal environment and metabolic changes in the body, which can latecause problems with gaining any body weight, to put it mildly. A moderate caloric deficit or surplus is thus, in view of the above, the most appropriate and, more importantly, the most sustainable route to a dream physique.

Diet

Of course, the right calorie intake is also closely related to other aspect, namely an optimally selected diet full of quality sources of protein, carbohydrates and fats.In general, the recommended protein intake is around 1.6 to 2.4 grams per kilo of body weight. Fat should then be at least 0.7 grams per kilo of body weight and the rest of the caloric intake should be filled with carbohydrates. Of course, it should be taken into account that these are only general recommendations that will not apply and work for everyone.
It is the increased protein intake, then, especially in a caloric deficit, that is quite crucial for the protection of muscle mass. During a deficit, the rate of muscle protein synthesis is reduced, which is often the main cause of muscle loss. However, increased protein intake can minimize or even completely reverse this reduction.

Training

The last piece of the puzzle is, of course, a hard and properly composed training. It is the one that plays an absolutely crucial role during body recomposition. Not only does it give the muscles a proper growth boost, but it can also minimize the decrease in the rate of protein synthesis in the muscles in a deficit. Thus, even training in a calorie deficit or surplus should not be underestimated in any way. Meanwhile, if you want to learn even more about training issues, feel free to check out our older articlearticle dealing with the optimal amount of reps and sets to maximize muscle mass gain.

What can you take away from this article?

With this article I have tried to point out a few facts. The first one is the fact that for effective muscle building you really don't need to expose youryour body to excessive extremes, either in the form of a high caloric surplus or, on the contrary, a deficit. Such extreme procedures are unnecessarily demanding for the body and in the long run, moreover, quite problematic and unsustainable.
First of all, I need to determine, with regard to body fat percentage, whether my primary goal is to buildbuilding muscle mass or fat loss and then adjust my total daily caloric intake accordingly. It is by following this procedure that you will achieve the greatest results and will not have to undergo theNo unnecessary extreme overeating or weight loss. Your body will thus be spared a great deal of stress, which will create the ideal conditions for the recomposition of your figure.
The second and key fact is, of course, the conclusion that losing fat and gaining muscle mass depends onis a very complex and, above all, difficult process, but as this article shows, it is definitely not impossible. If you are a beginner, obese, or have ever exercised before, you have the ideal prerequisites for it. Even as an advanced exerciser, however, you don't have to lose hope.
If you eat properly for a long time, maintain a high protein intake, don't overdo it with a calorie deficit or tooE surplus, train hard and get enough sleep, it is quite likely that you will also achieve body recomposition sooner or later. You will just have to wait a little longer for it.