# How can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time?



## Derek Wilson (Aug 24, 2020)

Research has shown that if you have a lot of body fat to lose, and are strength training, you can increase muscle mass while the scale falls.


The cited study demonstrates that both body fat and total weight can drop while the muscle is growing. However, don?t assume that the scale has to go up if you are gaining muscle.


It?s a common mistake I see people make: ?I started strength training, and the scale went up. I probably gained 10 pounds of muscle and lost 5 pounds of fat, that?s why the scale is up.?


Maybe. Probably not.


Body composition can be complicated. For example, even if you are losing muscle mass during a caloric deficit, you could still be maintaining or increasing your strength. There could be a lot of different factors at play.


For example, it?s important to know that muscle size, while correlated to strength, does not exist in a 1-to-1 relationship. Muscle can grow stronger without getting bigger. So even if the scale is dropping because you are losing fat and muscle, if you are strength training, you could still be getting stronger.


I would encourage you to follow the three points below to lose body fat while gaining muscle:


Sustain a caloric deficit
Lift heavy
Prioritize protein.
Those three steps will help you keep the muscle you currently have, and potentially grow more while burning through your fat stores.


Make sure you are tracking your progress, taking photos, and taking measurements.


Follow this process, and you should be able to get to a lean physique ? and then you can decide what to do next.


At some point, you?ll reach a status where there just isn?t enough fat on you to help with ?Rebuild Muscle.? At this stage, you can no longer stay with a caloric deficit. You?ll need to flip to ?caloric surplus.?


Which means you?ll have to eat more.


It?s debatable when this will actually occur, and we are all different. Reaching 8% body fat for men and 16% body fat for women could be a good rule of thumb.


Once you are that low in body fat, and you want more muscle, you?ll need to increase your calories. For a lean person to put on muscle, you?ll need enough calories to get the job done.


I want to stress that if you are lifting heavy, and not gaining muscle, diet is likely the culprit.


----------



## Derek Wilson (Sep 21, 2020)

Research has shown that if you have a lot of body fat to lose, and are strength training, you can increase muscle mass while the scale falls. The cited study demonstrates that both body fat and total weight can drop while the muscle is growing. However, don?t assume that the scale has to go up if you are gaining muscle.


----------

