Note: this is a guest article by my friend and colleague, Tom Venuto.
“How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?” That’s right up there with “How do I get six pack abs” as one of the most frequently asked fitness questions of all time. The problem is, when you ask it, you get all kinds of conflicting answers – even from experts who are supposed to know these things. So what’s the deal? Is it really possible to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously?
Short answer: Yes, you can gain muscle and lose fat at the “same time.”
Long answer: It’s difficult and it’s complicated. Allow me to explain….
First we have the issue of whether you really lose fat and gain muscle at the “same time.”
Well, yes, if your definition of the “same time” is say, a month or 12 weeks. But in that case, you’re probably not gaining muscle at the “same time” literally speaking, as in, right now this very moment you are reading this, or 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for months in a row.
The best explanation for what’s really happening is that you alternate between periods of caloric surplus (anabolism) and caloric deficit (catabolism) and the net result is a gain in muscle and a loss in body fat.
You see, if you stay in a calorie surplus, it’s the body’s natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go up together. And if you stay in a calorie deficit, it’s your body’s natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go down together.
There may be exceptions, but the general rule is that it is very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time – the mechanisms are mostly antagonistic to one another. When it does happen, it’s almost always the result of “unusual conditions” – I call them X factors. Continue reading How To Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time
This is a guest column by Dr. Kathryn Woodall for expressing health first. It was originally published in the RMAX Magazine, volume 7, issue 6. I thought it was such an excellent piece, and Kathryn was kind enough to allow me to republish it here for you. The knowledge she conveys in this article doesn’t come from mere education, it comes from in-the-trenches experience. You may be shocked or even scared to digest this food for thought, but I assure you that this is the reality we are facing today. We are in desperate times, and knowledge is the greatest asset we can share with each other.
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