Gaining muscle while losing fat - Q&A

[lylemcd]

Article on the main site

[artvin1001]

So, what you are saying in a nut shell....for the average trainee (the person with a few years of training under their belt)..forget it?

[lylemcd]

Yes

[Jr88]

Are you also saying that a beginner to weightlifting is primed for optimum fat loss?

[lylemcd]

Depends on how fat they are.

[BillRempel]

Originally Posted by lylemcd

Depends on how fat they are.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but these are my takeaways from the many site articles on the subject:

1. In the first year of serious strength training, with proper nutrition, a man could maybe gain 1.5 lbs of muscle a month

2. Realistic diet goals for a moderate caloric deficit of 20-25% or so are about 1 lb per week

3. Once a person gets “lean enough,” then 1. and 2., above, are incompatible, because the person no longer has enough extra “over-fatness” to provide the caloric requirements to build the muscle mass

4. Building on 3., above, those who are already “lean enough” must choose between accepting a) losing fat while holding onto muscle, b) gaining muscle while putting on a little fat, c) mediocre results at best when trying to do both simultaneously, or d) UD2.0.

5. Newbies are capable of doing both 1., and 2., simultaneously, only if they’re pretty fat when they start.

SO here’s the question:

At what bodyfat percentage does the “newbie bonus” start to fade? What is “overfat” and capable of losing fat while gaining muscle, and what is “lean enough” to have to choose one or the other?

Is the cutoff (in rough terms) around 20% BF? Or higher? Or lower?

[lylemcd]

Well, very roughly speaking, insulin resistance resistance tends to start to go really south (and note that this is a continuum, NOT an on/off switch) at perhaps 15%, that's where the issues tned to start getting lean and, IME< where the fat gains often becomes disproportionate.

So I'd say about that cutoff *roughly*. higher than that, you can maybe pull off the gain muscle/lose fat (and keep in mind that the amount of muscle mass also factors in here). Below that, good luck.

Then again, with things like UD2, even lean people can gain muscle while losing fat, just keep in mind that it's a specific alternation of discrete diet and gaining phases.

Hope that's clear.

[BillRempel]

Yep, that's very clear, and also happens to fit in with my personal goals, which are more about lowering BF to a "healthy" number around 15% for long-term chronic disease risk factor benefit rather than a 10% or lower percentage for vanity/athletic reasons.

With the deficit and exercise program I’ve set, thanks in part to your site’s information, I’m targeting a move from 180-ish at about 25-27% bodyfat to the mid-high 160s at 15% bodyfat in about six months. Knowing that 15% is a rough area of cutoff, I know longer have to worry about having to choose a priority (strength gain Vs. fat loss) until I’m closer to my goal (if I have to choose at all).