When it comes to getting fit, gaining muscle while losing fat is the goal. Do you know the best ways to do both at the same time?

After all, body recomposition is achievable. But do you know the best methods?

Some people say it’s impossible. Other people say the only way you’re going to get there is with hardcore diets and training sessions.

What if neither side is right? Well, we’re telling you – neither side is completely right. And while this can be a difficult thing to do, it’s definitely doable.

What it doesn’t require: Anything hardcore, extremely fancy or complicated. What it does require: A few items you have to do correctly.

We’re going to address how to build muscle and lose fat so you can decide how you’re going to achieve this – and how you’re going to get started.

So let’s take a look at the different issues that come along with being able to get away with a body recomposition. Losing Fat While Building Muscle is no doubt a challenge, but we’re here to help.

The Challenge: How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

There are a few reasons why people truly believe you can’t gain muscle, lose fat without retreating to the old body building proverb. These tend to be the believers in having to allow some fat gain in order to produce muscle growth.

While it is challenging to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, it is not impossible.

Now, getting to this body recomp (ie, burn fat, build muscle simultaneously) doesn’t exactly come without effort. It isn’t just one thing you have to do constantly – it’s essentially a shift in lifestyle.

There are a few important things you have to do often and correctly, with your training and your diet, to get the results you want and lose fat while you gain muscle.

But….why?

Basically, the obstacle we have to jump across is the whole protein synthesis issue. We’ll give you a quick summary on this.

Every single day, your muscle cells are going through a natural cycle. Here, any ruined cells are disposed of, and newer, healthier cells go in their place. This is the process of protein synthesis.

One of the first questions we get asked as soon as protein comes up, is always: how much protein do I need to build muscle?

First, back to protein synthesis. Now let’s assume you have a healthy lifestyle and good overall health.

In this case, the tissue in your muscles is going to be in good shape, so the process of cell degradation and (then regeneration) should stay relatively even.

What this means is you are going to gain (or even lose) any muscle at a quicker pace – your lean mass basically stays the same.

But when you start getting into things like resistance training, and start to damage the cells found within your muscle fibers, you’re sending your body the signal to start picking up the pace with the usual amount of protein synthesis in order to start fixing and repairing the larger amount of damaged cells you have now.

Got that? Resistance training breaks down muscle to rebuild it stronger, but your body needs fuel.

One of the best things you can do to keep protein synthesis fueled is choosing one of the Best Protein Powder options.

It doesn’t stop there – our bodies are too smart for that. Your body isn’t just set on fixing muscle fiber – it works hard to help it adapt and grow in order to be able to deal with this certain kind of motivational activity that actually cause the damage better. So it ends up throwing more cells toward your muscle fibers, so this helps them become stronger and bigger.

So when you think of muscle growth, it isn’t just growing – it’s the whole result that comes from protein synthesis amounts exceeding the breakdown of protein rates.

After about 24-hours, if the body ends up making a ton more muscle proteins than you had originally lost, this then means you were able to gain muscle. But if it didn’t end up making more, you didn’t gain muscle.

Now think about how we can apply that little science lesson. Basically, if you want to get rid of fat, you have to supply your body with less energy (basically, food is your source of energy) than it gets rid of every single day. And this process is known as calorie deficit.

The equation is simple – no calorie deficit? No fat lost. Just like that.

Easy, right? Not really. Honestly, is anything with the body ever that easy? There are a few physiological changes (outside of fat loss) that are likely to happen when you make the switch to a calorie deficit.

The first is a drop in your levels of anabolic hormone. The second is the impairment that occurs to the protein synthesis process when you cut back on calories. This is the challenge of not overdoing it on calorie deficit when you want to build muscle.

Balancing Act: Burn Fat Lose Muscle

Essentially, cutting calories also cuts back on your body’s ability to repair the damaged caused to your muscle during exercise correctly.

That’s a little bit of a problem. So let’s dive into how you can get past that. First we have to consider the question of Body Types.

Maybe we should have mentioned this before, but there are two types of people: ones that can build muscle and lose fat at the same time no problem. And then there are people who can’t.

So that’s the bad news. But the good news is, if you’re already checking out this article, you’re probably on the “can” side. And that’s because usually, the people who are Team Can’t are either already training regularly or have already gotten a big chunk of genetic potential for muscle mass.

Does that describe you?

Then you probably aren’t too surprised that body recomposition is more challenging for you and you might have better results going with a cut/bulk routine instead.

If you have trouble in this area, you might also want to check out Gaining Weight for Skinny Guys.

But if you’re fairly unfamiliar with weightlifting, or if you still have a ton of areas to grow in terms of muscles, or even if you were stronger and bigger now than you are right now, then you can definitely build muscle on top of losing fat.

This is still accurate even if you aren’t exactly overweight.

The following methods have been proven in countless clinical studies and research so basically – it can happen. Now that you’ve got a clear understanding of what happens, let’s focus on how to make it happen.

Putting it to Work: How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle.

The million dollar question. Now even though your body is capable of achieving your desire to lose fat and build muscle at the same time doesn’t mean it’s going to be a piece of cake. Losing Fat While Gaining Muscle is no walk in the park, but fear not.

The process is called: Body Recomposition (losing fat while gaining muscle to change Body Recomposition).

What you should understand first is that, if you go full speed and do everything correctly, when you’re doing a body recomp, muscle growth is even slower than usual. So like we had mentioned before, you’re going to be fighting upstream, because of the protein synthesis process.

The rule here: be patient!

Achieving body recomp takes a balance of intense training and slight calorie deficit to burn fat and leave ample fuel for protein synthesis.

Achieving body recomp takes a balance of intense training and slight calorie deficit to burn fat and leave ample fuel for protein synthesis.
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You’re working hard to building muscle and getting rid of fat. We know it can be difficult, especially with all the fluff flying around the Internet about getting rid of huge amounts of weight and gaining mass amounts of muscle at the same time.

We’ll tell you point blank – these are either complete lies or there was some type of drug use involved. Since you’re going to take the honest, healthy route it’s going to take some time.

Plan of Action: Body Recomposition Workout

Here’s what you need to know in order to achieve body recomposition and lose fat gain muscle.

1: Create a calorie deficit and stick with it.

Like we said, the fewer calories you have, the higher the amount of inhibited protein synthesis. Because of this, it’s really significant that you don’t jump the gun with a calorie deficit more than 20 to 25%.

Do you know the 5 Best Ways to Lose Fat?

Here’s how you can do this successfully. If you’re exercising for about four to six hours per week, and are looking to do a 20% caloric deficit, you will want about 1.2 grams worth of protein for every pound of your body weight (daily).

For carbs, 1 gram per body pound every day and fat is .2 grams per pound. This doesn’t have to be set in stone – start here and adjust it as you see fit. If you’re one of those people that think eating too many carbs each day is going to hinder your weight loss, think again.

Eating a moderate amount of carbs is important when it comes to building muscle for one main reason – it keeps your strength and energy high at the gym. Your body makes insulin that processes these carbs and helps avoid protein breakdown.

Once you figure out what numbers work for you, you might want to come up with a meal plan. This means specific meals that will help you hit those specific numbers. Play around with different types of food and frequency to find the way that works best for you. And give yourself a cheat meal maybe once a week to keep yourself motivated.

Sounds manageable, right?

With the right diet, you can expect to lose fat at a rate of one to two pounds of every week. You should also never feel like you’re starving, and your energy and strength should be high while at the gym.

#2 Use compound, heavy weightlifting.

The best way to getting to that lean ripped look is to get fat levels down low while lifting for growth. There isn’t one specific style of lifting that’s going to get you there faster than the other. So in order for that to happen, you want to do what’s best for muscle growth.

Focus on a rep range from 4 to 6 or switch to 5 to 8.

Mix in movements like military press, bench press, squats, and deadlifts. The entire timer you’re training, set a fairly adequate workout capacity, with about 9 to 12 intense sets for every workout.

It isn’t always about high reps with high volume. You can also perform body weight oriented mass building workouts geared towards building muscle size, even when you’re limiting your caloric intake.#3 Use HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to blast fat and build muscle.

#3 Use HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to blast fat and build muscle.

You really want to make the most of muscle growth and get rid of fat? Focus on HIIT (high intensity interval training). This works because you’re burning more fat for every minute rather than keeping it at a steady rate.

It’s literally a proven fact that this method works.

A study by the University of Western Ontario shows how effective HIIT can be. A group of researchers asked 10 men and 10 women exercise 3x a week. One group focused on doing 30-seconds sprints on the treadmill 4-6 times, resting 6 minutes in between the sprints.

The other group did thirty to sixty minutes of a steady pace. Guess which group had the better results? The one with the shorter sprints. HIIT is able to preserve a lot more muscle over keeping a steady pace cardio.

Want to lose fat and build muscle? Try HIIT.

Because the protein synthesis amounts are being hindered, preserving that muscle is especially important when you’re trying to lose fat, but also build up muscle. HIIT is able to do this because it actually relates to the production of growth hormones.

There’s a ton of research that shows HIIT causes a jump in GH levels, more so than regular steady-pace cardio – and growth hormones are a powerful preserver for muscles.

Similar research also shows the longer you take your cardio session, the more it’s going to impair both your strength and your hypertrophy. Therefore, the shorter you make your cardio session, you’re going to preserve a lot more muscle.

Because of that, we suggest starting to use HIIT for about twenty to thirty minutes for every session. And don’t do more than 3 to 4 sessions every week. A cardio schedule like this will have you drop some major fat and not have to worry about losing muscle mass in the process.

#4 Want to lose fat and gain muscle? Sleep.

And of course, sleep is critically important if you want to lose fat and gain muscle. Being sleep deprived can cause a drop in muscle growth, as well as growth hormones. Plus, it’s going to make it really hard to lose fat. Because of this, aim for seven to even as high as nine hours of sleep every night.

How much sleep do you really need? Well it depends on how much you want to succeed. Make it a priority if fitness is your goal.

#5 The right supplements can help you lose fat and build muscle.

Finally, consider taking some supplements to boost your results. Whether you’re in caloric deficit or not, a clean effective pre-workout formula will supercharge your workouts. This can include an energy boost, as well as a nitric oxide boost to provide your muscles an ample pumped up feeling.

Secondly, an effective creatine supplement is a great choice because it can help you bulk up and gain strength for your workouts, even if you’re cutting calories. Creatine is one of the most widely agreed upon and used supplements in the body building world. This is why you’ll find creatine in our Gym Junkies Muscle Building Tablets.

Or if you have a specific weight loss supplement you feel comfortable with, this can help you lose fat quicker. Many fat burners include a boost in energy that will help you continue to work hard in the gym while you lose fat through calorie deficit. If you want a supplement to help you lose fat, our strongest recommendation is to consider Ripped Muscle X, a safe natural formula.

Conclusion

Body recomposition is the process of simultaneously trying to lose fat and gain muscle. This is not easy to do, because basically, some of the things that help us gain muscle (aka calorie surplus, ample protein, carbs and fat) keep us from losing fat (calorie deficit).

Success comes down to finding the right balance between the two goals of trying to lose fat and build muscle. This means working hard and smart in the gym, using heavy lifts, HIIT, plenty of rest and the right supplements to boost your progress.

It’s not easy to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, but with a patient balanced approach, you can achieve this goal through changing your lifestyle, and fine tuning your diet and training based off the results you see.

-Terry Asher