One of the questions I get asked the most is, can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time?
The answer is yes.
But your diet and training need to be set up correctly, and depending on how experienced you are in the gym, some of you are going to have a much easier time doing this than others.
I’ll explain why shortly.
But first, you need to understand what actually causes fat loss and what causes muscle growth.
How to Lose Body Fat
If you want to lose body fat, you need to be eating fewer calories than your body burns.
That’s a calorie deficit.
At the end of the day, if you are not eating in a calorie deficit, you are not going to lose body fat.
How to Build Muscle
Building muscle comes down to progressive overload.
Simply put, you need to get stronger in the gym over time.
That could mean getting more reps with the same weight or eventually increasing the weight.
Think about it like this.
If you go into the gym every week and your body is doing the exact same thing it was doing three months ago, why would it have a reason to change?
You have to give your body a new demand to adapt to.
That’s why getting stronger matters.
Simply eating more calories does not automatically mean you’re going to build more muscle.
Your training still has to give your body a reason to grow.
How Do You Lose Fat and Build Muscle at the Same Time?
Simple.
Make sure you are progressing in the gym while staying in a calorie deficit.
Another important thing to remember is you still need to be eating enough protein.
Around 0.8 grams per pound of goal bodyweight is a good target.
Make sure you include carbs and fats in your diet too.
Carbs are not bad for you. They’re amazing for you.
They’re going to help fuel your training, which becomes pretty important when one of our main goals is getting stronger in the gym.
Two of my favorites are fruit and potatoes.
IMPORTANT: You Need a Plan for Progression
This is one of the biggest things I focus on with my clients inside my Built Coaching app.
You cannot just walk into the gym every week, do random workouts, and hope you are making progress.
You need to know what you are trying to beat.
My clients log their workouts so I can see exactly what weight they used, how many reps they got, and what we need to improve the next time they train.
Typically, I’ll have them working inside a rep range.
We focus on adding reps first.
Once they reach the top of that rep range, we increase the weight and start building the reps back up again.
You go into the gym knowing exactly what you are trying to improve.
Who Can Actually Build Muscle While Losing Fat?
This is where your training experience matters.
If you’re newer to lifting, you have a lot more room to get stronger and build muscle while you’re losing fat.
The same thing can happen if you used to train, took some time off, and are now getting back into it.
But if you’ve been lifting correctly for years and you’ve already built a lot of muscle, adding new muscle while you’re dieting becomes much harder.
At that point, your bigger goal is usually going to be losing body fat while maintaining the muscle and strength you already have.
How I Use This With Built Training
Another thing I like doing with my clients while they’re losing fat is putting more focus on a body part that needs work.
Maybe your arms are already good, but your shoulders are lacking.
Instead of just adding more work everywhere, we can put a little more attention on your shoulders while keeping the rest of your training where it needs to be.
Depending on the person, I may also bring calories closer to maintenance on a harder upper-body training day so they have more fuel going into that workout.
The goal is still to lose body fat overall.
But while the fat is coming off, we’re also trying to improve the parts of your physique that need it most.
Common Mistakes
A lot of people make this much harder than it needs to be because they simply do too much.
They drop their calories extremely low, start doing a ton of cardio, and then train five or six days a week on top of it.
Now they’re exhausted, their recovery sucks, and their strength starts going backwards.
How are you supposed to keep progressing in the gym when you’re completely burnt out?
Your body can only recover from so much, especially when you’re already eating in a calorie deficit.
And the same thing goes for your diet.
If you’re starving all day and your diet feels impossible to stick to, eventually you’re probably going to fall off of it.
Can You Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?
Yes.
But realistically, one is usually going to be the bigger goal.
If your main goal is losing body fat, eat in a calorie deficit and continue progressing in your workouts.
If your main goal is building as much muscle as possible, eating in a calorie surplus makes more sense.
If you’re trying to lose fat while giving yourself the best chance of building or maintaining muscle at the same time, make sure you’re eating in a calorie deficit, getting enough protein, keeping carbs and fats in your diet, and continuing to get stronger in the gym.
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