Gaining muscle in caloric deficit

[Big Taco]

I understand the basics on being in a caloric deficit or surplus pending on what your goal is. However, is it possible to gain muscle while in a caloric deficit while on a cycle? My thought behind it would be that you aren't natural so its possible for you to do things that someone naturally wouldn't be able too.

I also know some people believe its possible to burn fat and gain muscle at the same time naturally.. obviously gaining muscle would be a lot slower but still "possible".

My question however is specifically for gaining muscle in a caloric deficit while on cycle.

Thanks for any info!

[Test Monsterone]

I understand the basics on being in a caloric deficit or surplus pending on what your goal is. However, is it possible to gain muscle while in a caloric deficit while on a cycle? My thought behind it would be that you aren't natural so its possible for you to do things that someone naturally wouldn't be able too.

I also know some people believe its possible to burn fat and gain muscle at the same time naturally.. obviously gaining muscle would be a lot slower but still "possible".

My question however is specifically for gaining muscle in a caloric deficit while on cycle.

Thanks for any info!

No. You can gain more muscle in relation to fat while on a cycle, but you won’t be reducing existing fat. Your total bf% will go down, hopefully, but that’s just talking ratios. At best you can keep existing muscle during a cut.

By definition, being in a calorie deficit means you won’t be putting on muscle or fat.

[Quester]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

[Obs]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

How you been bud?

[tarmyg]

Good to see you post Quester. Always appreciate your insights!

[HoldMyBeer]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

Yeah, I thought it was possible for the obese and untrained (and that's all)
Good to see you post Q, haven't seen you around in a while

[kynetguy]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

Quester is spot on. But I just want to expand on this to arm you with a little more knowledge to consider and research. (I always research and verify anything I read, its a habit)

I agree. You absolutely can do both.

The main key here to remember is that calorie deficient does NOT mean nutrient deficient. If your calorie deficiency is driven by fasting, then yes it is detrimental and counter productive. Your body will go into starvation mode and want to store Anything it can as fat. Diet is everything. When I try to decrease body fat and maintain or increase muscle I am religious about a couple things:

In my macros I decrease carbs and to some exten fat and I boost up proteins. Basically this is most like an low carb/Adkins type regiment. You can cut your calories to 1200 a day and still eat a crap ton of fish and chicken and not be hungry. veggies are good fillers to. As is water. Water is important to help flush out the body.

I do early morning, empty stomach cardio. Drink a big glass of water to fill your stomach and quench hunger, then get work done. Low impact cardio for about 20 minutes every morning. Little cycle, treadmill or whatever hits my mood. The key here, don’t miss it, is keeping your heart rate in the calorie burning, low cardio range. When you do this on am empty stomach it forces your body to burn the fat you so desire to rid yourself of as there is no glucose in your blood to burn. If you do cardio much more than about 20 minutes, you run the risk of loosing muscle. High intensity cardio is very catabolic and will destroy muscle mass. Ever see a bulked marathon runner?

I like to do wind sprints about 1 or 2 times a week. Just run about 10 yards. As FAST AS YOU CAN. To the point you feel like you are going to fall. I will do about 5 rotations of this. Run. Rest 1 minute, Repeat. I do not know the science behind this, but it seems to help me grow.

Then keep your workouts strong. Always finish with some protein.

Eat lean protein FREQUENTLY. About every 2-3 hours. A chicken breast,tuna, whatever you like. This keeps fuel for your muscles as well as helping keep your body out of starvation mode and metabolic rate high.

Good luck.

[Quester]

Hey OBS, Tarmyg, & HMB. I'm doing good brothers. I had put on some muscle in the spring but hurt my shoulders doing 1 armed dbell flat presses. I took two months off and reserved all that time for being depressed and turning 45. I got so depressed that food didn't taste good so, I lost some weight. It just seemed like a good opportunity. I'm now back to my routine and feeling good about it. No alcohol, very low card-I'm trying to lower my blood sugar for continued weight loss. School is going well and I got some girls coming around now and visiting them in other cities. So, I'm doing pretty well.
I'll be on from time to time to comiscerate and absorb all of this good inspiration. KEEP IT UP!

[Big Taco]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

Appreciate the article!

[Big Taco]

thanks for all the info gentleman

[Tim1985]

Muscle and fat tissue are different functional compartments in the body and your body directs calories towards muscle and fat mass independently through calorie partitioning. The conservation of energy law only means that you must gain energy in energy surplus and lose energy in a deficit. It says nothing about how these calories are partitioned or about how your body composition changes.

As long as your body has sufficient stimulus to build muscle mass, which it has if your training program is optimized, it has both the means and the will to build muscle mass while simultaneously losing fat. Your body is also capable of storing fat while burning muscle.

While it is easiest for untrained individuals to see body recomp, there is a ton of studies showing successful recomp in trained individuals too. I’m sure the addition of gear can only help, but it can be done without it.


Untrained Individuals:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/10838463/
Study on overweight cops (26% bf) that started weight training program – lost 9.3 lbs of fat and gained 8.8 lbs of lean mass in 12 weeks.

Trained Individuals:
https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/1173
Study found positive body recomposition in men benching well over 4 plates

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/a...ency_of.3.aspx
Study found positive body composition in NCAA Division IAA football players already squatting over 382 lbs and benching over 289 lbs

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26132746/
Study found positive body recomposition in competitive rugby players

[Obs]

Hey OBS, Tarmyg, & HMB. I'm doing good brothers. I had put on some muscle in the spring but hurt my shoulders doing 1 armed dbell flat presses. I took two months off and reserved all that time for being depressed and turning 45. I got so depressed that food didn't taste good so, I lost some weight. It just seemed like a good opportunity. I'm now back to my routine and feeling good about it. No alcohol, very low card-I'm trying to lower my blood sugar for continued weight loss. School is going well and I got some girls coming around now and visiting them in other cities. So, I'm doing pretty well.
I'll be on from time to time to comiscerate and absorb all of this good inspiration. KEEP IT UP!

Hope to keep seeing youand hope the shoulder is 100% soon

[charger69]

https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-...myths-debunked
2 – You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

You absolutely can lose fat while gaining muscle. Research has demonstrated this in variety of populations, like:

• Overweight, sedentary adult males (6)
• Older men and women (7)
• Physically active healthy men (8), and
• Young women (9)

From a nutritional perspective, although a caloric deficit is needed to lose fat, a caloric surplus isn't necessarily needed to build muscle. This is because stored fat is stored energy. So, those stored fat calories are available for the body to use as fuel for the muscle-building process.
But hold on, get this part straight: Your body can't turn fat into muscle or vice versa. Fat is fat and muscle is muscle. But, if you're overweight, your body can use your stored energy (fat) to actually fuel the muscle-building process when that fuel isn't coming from additional food intake.
The science, noted above, tells us that the more fat and the less muscle you have, the greater your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This doesn't mean you should go get fat. It just means your biology is working in your favor when you want to pack more muscle on, but have some fat to lose.

Good to hear from you!!!
You can and I did during my last contest prep. There are many components to do this, however it can be done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk